James Fitzmaurice and Transatlantic Flying

Fitzmaurice's biggest ambition was to make a crossing of the Atlantic. He started a fundraising campaign in 1925 and approached the government with his idea. Money was scarce, however, and the plans came to nothing. In September 1927, Fitzmaurice made his first attempt at the east to west crossing, as co-pilot in the Princess Xenia with the English pilot Captain Robert Henry McIntosh, who had the financial backing of the American millionaire William B.Leeds. The pair took off from Baldonnel Aerodrome at half past one on 16th September. Five hours after take-off, weather conditions began to worsen and the men were forced to turn back.They landed on Beale Strand near Ballybunion, County Kerry.

Fitzmaurice did not have long to wait before he would fly west again in his attempt to reach America. On 12th April he set off from Baldonnel on the Bremen with the two Germans, Captain Hermann Koehl and Gunther Freiherr von Hunefeld. They landed on Greenly Island in Labrador on Friday 13th April 1928. They made aviation history for having made the first successful East-West crossing of the Atlantic. The news was greeted with jubilation throughout the world and the Bremen pilots were bestowed with many honours. When Fitzmaurice returned to Ireland, he tried to interest the government in the development of commerical aviation. His efforts were ignored and, disillusioned, Fitzmaurice resigned from the Air Corps. He went to America where he lived for a few years, working in aircraft design.

He returned to England in 1939 and operated a club for servicemen in London during the war years. He then moved home to Dublin in 1951 where he tried his hand at journalism, with little success. Niall Weldon refers to Fitzmaurice as the 'forgotten hero in Irish aviation history' (Weldon, p.39) and it seems, sadly, that this was the case. Towards the end of his life he lived in poor circumstances and with failing health near Harcourt Street in Dublin. He died in Baggot Street Hospital in September 1965. He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery and his funeral was that of a national figure, with his coffin draped in the tricolour and dignitaries in attendance. It was certainly the first time since the glory-filled days of April 1928 that the 'forgotten hero' was remembered.