Flt Lt James Edward Maddock Pritchard
With grateful thanks to Rosalind Hodge Parish Archivist at Willingdon and Polegate we now have details of Flt Lt James Edward Maddock Pritchard O.B.E and A.F.C.
Born in Leighton Buzzard in 1889 he was commissioned in the Royal Navy Air Service in 1915 and later that same year became an airship pilot serving at East Fortune and Polegate and Howden. By 1917 he was called upon to inspect and research downed German zeppelins in France. He was also part of the triumphant R34 return trip to America in 1919. Like Maitland his death was a severe loss to the UK airship programme.