Wilson, John William

Born York, 29/06/1894. Son of Fanny Wilson, of 13, Trafalgar Terrace, Brinkburn Rd., Darlington, and the late William Wilson. Served in the Great War. John died in the R38 Airship disaster on the River Humber/Hull, 24/08/1921, aged 27. Buried Hull Western cemetery.
The R38 class (also known as the A class) of rigid airships was designed for Britain’s Royal Navy during the final months of the First World War, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea. Four similar airships were originally ordered by the Admiralty, but orders for three of these (R39, R40 and R41) were cancelled after the armistice with Germany and R.38, the lead ship of the class, was sold to the United States Navy in October 1919 before completion. On 23 August 1921, R-38 was destroyed by a structural failure while in flight over Hull. It crashed into the Humber estuary, killing 44 out of the 49 crew aboard. At the time of its first flight it was the world’s largest airship. Its destruction was the first of the great airship disasters