The Col. James Fitzmaurice Commemorative Society – in co-operation with the Irish Air Corps and Laois County Council will hold its Annual Wreath Laying Ceremony to mark the 96th anniversary of the first transatlantic east-to-west flight on which Portlaoise man, Col. James Fitzmaurice, was the co-pilot:
At Fitzmaurice Place, Portlaoise, Friday 12th April 2024 at 12 noon followed by light refreshments at Kavanaghs Bar (R32 EP2K).
This was one of the most famous flights in Aviation history in which Col Fitzmaurice, then Officer-in-Command of the Irish Air Corps, along with two German aviators, Capt. Hermann Koehl and Baron von Huenefeld in the German Junkers W33 plane, the Bremen, achieved what was considered impossible with the aircraft and technology then available – an east-to-west transatlantic flight. The plane took off early on Thursday, April 12th 1928 from Baldonnel Aerodrome, and landed on American soil over 36 hours later.
