Edwin Moon: Southampton Aviation Pioneer & War Hero
On 29 April 1920, Edwin Rowland Moon from Southampton – pilot, inventor, and war hero – was killed in a flying accident at Felixstowe. He was just thirty three but has an incredible aviation and wartime heritage linking him to the New Forest and Waterside area, all of which began in a medieval warehouse near Southampton docks.
From Wool House to wings
If you’ve wandered along Southampton’s old waterfront, you’ve probably passed the striking medieval Wool House near Town Quay. Built in the 1300s by Cistercian monks from Beaulieu Abbey, it once stored wool ready for export to Europe. Today it’s the Dancing Man Brewery. But in the early 1900s, it became the unlikely launchpad for one young man’s dream of flight.
The Moonbeam Engineering Company, a family boatbuilding firm, operated out of the Wool House, and it was here that Edwin Moon, the nephew of the founder, Egbert, began building his first flying machine. It’s very possible that he was inspired by the Wright brothers’ success in America after they claimed the first powered flight in December 1903, North Carolina. Moon claimed a corner of the building and got to work.
Early experiments in the New Forest
Moon soon realised that he needed space to test his creations, and he found it across Southampton water in the New Forest. While courting a young woman from Hythe, he frequently sailed into Ashlett Creek. It was here that he met a local man named Theo Smith. Smith had the practical know-how for building the aircraft, and the two began experimenting with flight in nearby fields with built Moon’s first aircraft: the Moonbeam.
The experiments of early flight took place on fields at Ower Farm, between Fawley and Calshot in the summer of 1909. It wasn’t a huge success, with Moonbeam achieving just a handful of ‘bunny hop’ across the field.
This test helped to inform the development of his second attempt, named Moonbeam II, to a spot that seemed made for the job due to its name and landscape – Moonhills, near Beaulieu. There on 3 February 1910, on flat and open land not far from the Royal Oak pub at Hilltop, he launched the second iteration of his aircraft. The aircraft didn’t manage to get off the ground and achieve proper, sustained flight – but it was a promising test.
The Hampshire Independent reported on the event:
The first Southampton-built aeroplane was tried on Beaulieu Heath on Thursday. The machine is an all-British made, and was built and designed by Mr Edwin Moon, of Southampton. It is a small monoplane, and contains several original ideas, one of which is in the steering arrangements, the machine being entirely controlled by one wheel… The aeroplane, which has been christened ‘Moonbeam’, was taken to Beaulieu on Tuesday night, but owing to the strong wind prevailing on Wednesday the trials were postponed till Thursday. Considering that the trials are only initial ones, they were quite as good as could be expected, though owing to the bumpy state of the ground, which was like a quagmire, the machine did not rise. The bumping broke the scag, which supports the hind part of the machine, and the tail striking the ground was broken, making further trials that day impossible. Mr. Moon hopes, however, to have another try on Monday.
The first to fly from land that would become Southampton Airport
Later in 1910, Moon would reportedly become the first person to take off from fields at North Stoneham Farm – now the site of Southampton Airport. He built several aircraft, each one improving on the last, and his flying demonstrations began to draw attention. Unlike many early aviators, Moon didn’t simply copy others – he designed, tested, and refined.
His wartime life
When the Great War broke out in 1914, Moon joined the Royal Naval Air Service. He was based at Calshot at point where he trained new pilots, many of whom had never even seen an aircraft up close. He also flew patrols over the Channel, hunting German U-boats in flimsy seaplanes that offered little in the way of protection.
By 1916, he was flying over enemy territory, carrying out bombing raids, reconnaissance missions, and artillery spotting. These were dangerous jobs, flying at low altitudes, heavy fire, unpredictable weather. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1917. His citation read:
“Since April 1916, he has carried out constant flights over the enemy’s coast, including reconnaissances, bomb-dropping and spotting for gun fire in all weathers. Has shown great coolness and resource on all occasions.”
Moon’s military service also took him to East Africa, where he was stationed aboard HMS Hyacinth. On 6 January 1917, he took off on a reconnaissance mission over the Rufiji River delta, with Commander Richard Bridgeman serving as observer. When engine trouble struck mid-flight, they were forced to make an emergency landing in a creek. To prevent the aircraft from falling into enemy hands, they destroyed it on the spot.
For the next three days, the two men struggled through the dense, swampy delta in a desperate attempt to evade capture and return to their ship. With no food and frequent river crossings that forced them to swim, their ordeal grew increasingly dire.
On 7 January, they fashioned a makeshift raft from the window frame of a derelict house. After drifting for two days, the raft was carried out to sea on the morning of 9 January. Tragically, Commander Bridgeman, exhausted and weakened by exposure, died after slipping from the raft into the sea. Moon tried in vain to save him.
Alone and adrift, Moon spent nearly thirteen hours at sea before the tide carried the raft back to shore. Local inhabitants found him and turned him over to German forces, who held him as a prisoner of war. He remained in captivity until his release on 21 November 1917.
He was recommended for the Victoria Cross – the highest British military honour. Sadly, it was not awarded to him.
Post-war life and death
Moon survived the war and continued working with flying boats, helping to improve their performance for the post-war world. But on 29 April 1920, during a training flight at Felixstowe, tragedy struck. Witnesses reported a loud crack from the tail of the aircraft. It went into a spin and crashed into the sea. Moon didn’t survive.
The incident was reported in the May 1920 edition of Flight Magazine:
The Flying Boat Disaster at Felixstowe
It is with the greatest regret that we have to record the disaster to a flying boat which occurred off Felixstowe on the morning of April 29. The Air Ministry announcement stated that the flying boat was engaged on an instructional cruise when it crashed into the sea. Squadron-Leader E. R. Moon, DSO, Flying Officer A. J. Fyfield, Sub-Lieut. Fonsecea (from the Portuguese Navy), and 1.65985 A.C.2 Bass lost their lives, but Flight-Lieut. C. O. F. Modin, D.S.C., and Observer-Officer L. H. Pakenham Walsh, D.F.C., were rescued, slightly injured.
At the inquest, on May 1, on the bodies of Squadron-Leader Moon and Flying Officer Fyfield, Observer-Officer Pakenham Walsh said that the flying boat started off all right, and it had made several practice landings on the water. After about an hour, and at 2,000 ft. up, Squadron-Leader Moon took control, as he wished to do a glide. When about 1,500 ft. up the machine received a bump on the tail, which threw the machine out of control and developed into a spin. Squadron-Leader Moon then did all he could to right the machine but the distance from the water was not sufficient to allow for a complete recovery. The machine struck the water on a fairly natural keel. Witness was of opinion that if they had had another 100 ft. or 200 ft. they would have got out of it all right. On striking the water the machine absolutely collapsed. It was impossible to do anything, because the boat was upside down. Witness went under, and when he came up, he did not see anybody else.
The coroner said, so far as he could make out, there was nothing wrong with the machine or the piloting. It appeared to be a pure accident. He recorded a verdict of “Death from injuries received through the sudden accidental fall of a flying boat.”
He was buried at Southampton Old Cemetery with full military honours.
References and credits
- Flight Magazine 1920
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Moon
- From Severn to Solent by Robin Somes
- Hampshire Independent – Saturday 05 February 1910
