Flight Sergeant Norman Scull AFM

Norman Albert Scull was born in the Post Office (now known as The Flint House) in Ashmansworth on 20 May 1890. His mother, Martha, was the postmistress.

He joined the navy, later becoming a flight sergeant with the newly formed RAF in 1918. In 1919, he was an engineer on the world breaking flight of Airship R34, which was the first ever flight against the prevailing winds from Britain to the USA and then back. This was only 18 days after the famous flight by Alcock and Brown from Canada to Ireland.

It was the largest airship in the country and departed from East Fortune in Scotland early on 2 July and landed on Long Island USA on 6 July after a journey of 108 hours with less than an hour of fuel remaining! The return flight a few days later took just 75 hours.

On their return, they were welcomed as heroes and all received medals from King George V – the officers the AFC, those non-commissioned the AFM.

In 2019, members of the Scull family visited the Ashmansworth war memorial and left a plaque to commemorate the centenary of this great achievement. It is now attached to the memorial against Norman’s name – the memorial lists not only those who gave their lives in the Great War but also those who served and returned.

It is a fascinating story and more detail can be found by searching the Internet.