[Luke Mercaldo]

Hi All,

Does anyone know where to locate the source documents for the German seaplane intercept by 2nd Lt. Montagu Chidson and Cpl. Martin in a Vickers Gunbus on Christmas Day 1914? The articles I’ve read (found online) relate differently aspects of the story and add or omit others. For example, they identify the Gunbus using several Vickers model numbers (e.g., F.B.4, F.B.5, F.B. 5 prototype). My sense is that it was an F.B. 5 prototype. Also, one article (Wikipedia) quotes- (“Martin resorted to a carbine, which only had nine rounds of incendiary ammunition, reserved for attacks on airships. Martin hit the FF.29 three times around the cockpits). This is the only place the use of a carbine is mentioned.

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks, Luke

[Adrian Roberts]

Hi Luke, sorry for the delayed reply. The source documents, if they still exist, will be in the National Archives at Kew – which I believe are searchable on-line now. Look in the AIR section. Henshaw’s “The Sky Their Battlefield II” is an authoritative document that uses the NA records: the entry states that the aircraft was the Vickers FB4 prototype. It mentions a Maxim machine gun but no mention of a carbine, and I am not sure that anti-Zeppelin incendiary bullets were in use then. It does say that German crewman von Frankenberg was wounded in the elbow, so some of Cpl Martin’s shots must have found their target.
Adrian

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