A Death Away from Home

Lucien Higgs’ fatal crash on a training flight from Castle Bromwich in 1917 ended his hopes of fighting the Germans who had invaded his home country of Belgium.

Higgs had been born in Belgium in 1892 in Schaerbeek, a well-to-do suburb of Brussels. With Higgs as his surname, and the English middle names of John Herbert, it may be that his father was British and his mother Belgian. Records show that he moved to Antwerp, 30 miles away from Schaerbeek, before 1915 and that he was in England by 1917.

The Germans invaded Belgium early in August 1914 and thousands of Belgian refugees crossed the English Channel to Britain. The numbers were enormous: on one day in October 16,000 refugees arrived at Folkestone alone.

During the four years of the First World War, it is estimated that a quarter of million Belgians found safety in this country. Many of those of fighting age volunteered to sign up in the military at the Belgian Embassy at London’s Eaton Square.

On 30 May 1917 Higgs was promoted from cadet to a temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps. This was a a role that might involve being in charge of a platoon. The class system which operated in the forces had broken down because of the sheer numbers of troops involved in the war and the enormous death rate. By 1917 anyone with some education and/or initiative would be promoted to fill the gaps.

Training to Fly

One month later Lieutenant Higgs was being trained to fly at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. The Maurice Farman S.11 Shorthorn was used for reconnaissance and bombing raids at the beginning of the war but by 1917 it was being used solely for training new pilots.

The priority for Castle Bromwich No.5 Training Squadron was to get as many young men airborne and off to the Front as quickly as possible. On Friday 8 June, 25 year-old Lucien Higgs took off in a Shorthorn on his first solo flight having had only 3¼ hours dual instruction.

It is thought that Higgs must have got lost. The Farman Shorthorn had a range of over 200 miles and a top speed of 66 mph.

Higgs had been in the air for three hours and he knew that he was getting very low on petrol. He must have decided to make an emergency landing before his fuel ran out.

He did not know it but he was flying over Northamptonshire and still some 50 miles from his base at Castle Bromwich. If he had not tried to land, he would have crashed anyway.

His aircraft was seen by Blisworth villager Edwin Freeston. He watched as the pilot attempted to land in a field of clover. As the plane touched down, it suddenly stopped, tipped over forwards and was wrecked. Freeston ran for help as Higgs lay unconscious in the remains of the plane. He was taken to Blisworth railway station a quarter of a mile away and then taken by train to Northampton General Hospital. Higgs had a fractured skull and never regained consciousness. He died the following day.

Inquest into the Crash

At the inquest his instructor was of the opinion that Higgs had landed with the wind behind him and that the field sloped downhill. This would explain why the plane tipped over forwards. What the instructor failed to say was that Higgs did not have the experience yet to fly solo and could not have been expected to know how to make an emergency landing in unforeseen circumstances. Sadly he was one of many trainees from Castle Bromwich who never made it as far as the War.

Lieutenant Higgs’ body was brought back to Castle Bromwich where Rev Bickersteth would have presided over his funeral. His memorial is not the usual one supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission but a private one, presumably paid for by members of his family.The gravestone is in the shape of a cross with the simple inscription:

‘In loving memory of Lucien Herbert J Higgs – Killed while flying’.

Acknowledgements: This article has been developed from research by Terrie Knibb and the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership. For more information about the Castle Bromwich Graveyard Project go to http://castlebromwichgraveyard.co.uk/.