Unpublished crash photos show end of Amy Johnson’s flight and her marriage
Taken by a local resident and stored in a family album, these photographs of rescue workers attending to the Yorkshire aviator and her husband in 1933 have never been published before.
Dr David Marchant, registrar at East Riding Museums, said their donation by a nephew of photographer Edna Nichols Jacobsen, was a bolt from the blue. “I have never seen any hard-copy pictures of the crash before,” he said. “These are really unusual and quite exciting.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“We have to assume that the photographer was near the scene in Bridgeport, Connecticut.”
Ms Johnson’s husband, the Scottish pilot Jim Mollison, is believed to have been at the controls of their aircraft, which bore the name Seafarer, when it ran out of fuel en route to New York. Neither was badly hurt.
“There are some suggestions that he had pushed to try and keep going when he should have changed course,” Dr Marchant said. “It was clear that Amy and Jim weren’t getting on well, and you really have to read between the lines here. They were both very strong characters.
“Amy eventually went back England on her own.”
The pictures will go on display in a gallery dedicated to the Hull-born Ms Johnson at the Georgian country house of Sewerby Hall, near Bridlington, whose public opening she performed in 1936.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdEditor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.
Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.
And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.
Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIf you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.
Sincerely. Thank you.
James Mitchinson, Editor
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.