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Hi Volker,
* *This is very interesting. Can you expand on this subject?
* * * *MacBain
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I can´t offer more than what Imrie wrote in the AAP booklet:
The HMS Maori (which, as an educated guess, must have been a destroyer of either the "M" class or the early "Tribal" class) was sunk by a mine near Blankenberghe (Belgium) on May 7, 1915. Her yardarm with the flag still flying remained above water after the sinking.
FF 29 No. 209, piloted by Olt. zS Drekmann landed near the wreck, and the observer, a Faehnrich zS von Bluecher (no idea whether this guy belonged to that Bluecher family) climbed out on the wing of the a/c. "With a open clasp knife between his teeth, pirate fashion" (to quote directly from Imrie) Drekmann positioned v. Bluecher (after some attempts) in such a way that he could cut loose the Ensign. After a "hazardous take off" they returned to Zeebrugge.
The photo coming with that story shows the crew with HMS Maori´s Ensign in front of 209. Disregarding the potential fatalities aboard the destroyer, I like that story for the fact that it shows how these guys tried to maintain a sense of tradition and even humor in an otherwise cruel beyond believe period of time.
Volker