The Demise of an Airship that Crashed Off Castle Point, Rockcliffe
A few years ago a very interesting letter was handed in to Dalbeattie Museum by Mrs Leyland, who is a resident of Dalbeattie. She had a hand written letter sent by a young girl to her Daddy, and in this letter she tells her Daddy about an Airship that has crashed off Castle Point near Rockcliffe.
In the letter was attached a small piece of silk taken from the actual Airship.
Tommy Henderson chairman of Dalbeattie Museum did a bit of research into this story and it was discovered that during the Great War a British Airship from Stranraer Aerodrome caught on some trees near Auchencairn and crashed into the water near Almorness point. Help was quickly at hand from Kippford,but the boats sent were powerless to tow her because of the stronge wind. The great Airship drifted into the Bay at Castle Point, where it was possible to remove all the important material and parts from the Airship. This was done by the men from the Aerodrome at Stranraer. The local people were left to dispose of the other bits that were left, much to their delight.
A few weeks later the pilot of the Airship returned to Colvend in an up to-date aeroplane. It was his intentions to pay the fishermen and all those that had helped in salvaging his Aircraft, but unfortunately in landing in afield at Rockcliffe he missed judged his distance and his plane was completely wrecked through running into a wall.
The Letter is now in the archives of Dalbeattie Museum.