A DINGHY which set off from Helensburgh during World War Two was nearly run down in the Clyde by the liner Aquitania.
But the dinghy and its occupant — young scientific officer Eddie Baird from the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment which was based at RAF Helensburgh during World War Two — fortunately escaped unscathed.
THE ICY blast of winter is nothing new for Helensburgh and district which has endured many cold winters over the centuries — and during World War Two the consequences were fatal.
For the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, based at Helensburgh and Rhu between 1939 and 1945, ice, snow, sleet and fog served up a deadly cocktail of weather.
THE World War Two research conducted by the secret Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment based at Helensburgh and Rhu is soon to be featured in both a scientific paper in Australia and a new book.
The book by retired newspaper editor Robin Bird (pictured) from the Liverpool area will be his second about MAEE and is nearing completion. He has issued a final plea to any local people who can add to his knowledge to get in touch.
IN November 1914, a service of thanksgiving, followed by an award ceremony, was held at Portkil Fort on the Rosneath Peninsula to mark an act of heroism that had taken place there.
It was a memorable occasion in the life of the Fort, which was an important base in the First World War.
DURING the Second World War the battle against the German Navy was key to defending British supply routes.
Not least of our problems was launching bombs, depth charges and torpedoes without them breaking up or setting off their fuses prematurely on impact with the sea.
A ROYAL Navy veteran of World War Two from Helensburgh who fought in the Battle of the Atlantic when the German battleship Bismarck was finally sunk won a Lottery-funded trip to meet his former comrades.
Walter Moffat (pictured above, then and now) is one of two burgh veterans who made emotional trips to places they served, thanks to the Big Lottery Fund.
RESEARCH into World War Two’s famous bouncing bombs — used by the Dambusters and to attack the German battleship Tirpitz — was organised at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at RAF Helensburgh.
MAEE expert and author Robin Bird, a retired Merseyside newspaper editor whose late father Bob was an MAEE photographer, confirms that the establishment worked closely with Barnes Wallis and 618 Mosquito Squadron in developing the Highball bomb to attack the huge battleship.
A HELENSBURGH man was one of 22 World War Two soldiers who survived the Dunkirk evacuation days earlier but died when their camp in north Cornwall was bombed.
Gunner William T.Hamilton (right) was just 21 when he perished with his comrades at the Penhale camp on the cliffs near Perranporth, following a strike by a lone German bomber on July 7 1940.
A RHU teacher who gave his life for his country during World War One at the age of 28 had earlier survived when a troopship was torpedoed.
Private John Thomas Cameron was born at Kilchrennan, Argyll, on March 21 1890, the third son of gardener John Cameron of Rose Vale Cottage in Rhu, at that time spelt Row.
A WORLD War Two victory parade was held in Helensburgh in June 1946 — and the search is on for a photograph of it.
The search was sparked off by a request to Helensburgh Heritage Trust from Jane Cooke in Ryde, Isle of Wight, on behalf of her father, Roger Bartrum.
A FORMER pupil of a Helensburgh school was one of the victims of the R.101 disaster in 1930 which led to the abandonment of the British airship programme.
One of three brothers, Noel Grabowsky Atherstone was born at St Petersburg in Russia in 1894, and came to the burgh to be educated at Larchfield School, which is now part of Lomond School.
A ROYAL question has arisen over the World War Two history of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment at Rhu and Helensburgh.
Retired local newspaper editor Robin Bird, who is currently completing his second book about the establishment, which was officially known as RAF Helensburgh, wonders if any local people can remember a visit by the then Duke of Kent.
