Early Life :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

Accidents were a minor factor in the casualty list. Our definition is deaths resulting from activities that were not directly associated with 'active service'. We have excluded Naval Accidents which are seperately identified because of their numbers and impact. Many accidents involved the aviators, operating at the the limits of technology.

Detail :

Whilst attempting to return to base in bad weather from Beachy Head on 20th December 1917, he was with crew Dodd and Hughes, flying at a low altitude when they collided with a moored airship on the downs near 'Willingdon Hill Farm'. The resulting fire destroyed both airships. Swallow, aged 26, stayed with his ship and died. He was described as a quiet but determined personality, a skilful pilot who could have expected further success with his flying career but for his life being cut short. He had been married for only a matter of weeks. His young widow returned to her hometown of Gravesend and, never remarrying, she died aged 87 in 1980.

He was buried in Ocklynge Cemetery Eastbourne with full military honours. Richard is not included on the Willingdon or the Eastbourne war memorials but his name is entered in the Masonic Roll of Honour Freemasons Hall London. He is included here as a young man based in Willingdon who tragically lost his life on the border of Willingdon and Jevington.

Airship Disaster 20th December 1917

The weather was moderately fine on 20th December 1917 as five airships went out on patrol at noon. About 3pm a thick black fog developed and they were instructed to return to base. Conditions prevented this so the pilots made safe landings; two near Beachy Head coastguard station, one near Hailsham and two others on the downs near Willingdon Hill Farm. That evening a strong wind sprang up increasing to gale force and the two ships at Beachy Head were instructed to return to base. The fog and snow showers made observation difficult but the crew kept looking out for the lights of the aerodrome. Victor Dodd, navigator of S.S.Z.7 described how he hung over the front of the ship with an Aldis lamp trying to make out familiar landmarks as they flew at low level down through the Jevington gap. Suddenly the gondola of their ship bumped into the envelope of S.S.Z.10 moored on the downs. In attempting to ascend, S.S.Z.7 ripped open the envelope fabric, its exhaust igniting the escaping hydrogen. Dodd and Hughes leapt from the ship as the resulting explosion caused the S.S.Z.7 to rise in a blazing arc before crashing to the snow-covered ground killing the pilot. On the ground, Harold Victor Robinson and Eric Edward Steere rushed forward removing the dead pilot and the two badly injured crew from the crash area. They returned to the blazing gondola, detached the high-explosive scorching hot bombs, and carried them away to a safe distance. The S.S.Z.10 was blazing fiercely as Lt. Victor Albert Watson, fearing a member of the crew was still in the ship, rushed forward to investigate, despite there being bombs on board liable to explode in the heat. He found no one there and as he turned away a bomb exploded causing him to lose his right arm. The pilot of the S.S.Z.7, Lt. Richard Swallow, lost his life and air-mechanics Edward Hughes and Victor Dodd, were severely injured. The King conferred the Albert Medal in gold on Air-mechanic Robinson and Boy-mechanic Steere. Lt. Watson was awarded the bronze Albert Medal. Victor Dodd in a tape recording about the accident contradicts the story that they mistook lights from the moored ship for those of the base and were attempting to land. He went on to become Deputy Director of Communications for the Air Ministry. Eric Steer tragically died aged 21 in the 1921 R38 Airship disaster.

Masonic :

Richard joined Freemasonry in April 1917, but as is recorded in the records of Brownrigg Lodge of Unity at the United Grand Lodge of England, he "Died on Active Ser. Dec/r 17". It is a sad fact that he had only been in Freemasonry just a few months, but it is heart-breaking to understand that Richard only just married Hetty Mary Stoddart at Gravesend in the autumn of 1917 them having set up home at 21 Gore Park Road, Eastbourne to be close to Richard's station at Willingdon.

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley
• Archivist - Willingdon Church : Mrs Rosalind Hodge
• Web : Airships Online