Corhampton Golf Club gained
national fame in 1919 when a
small plane landed on the
course to make aviation history.
Lieut.Cdr,Kenneth Mackenzie-Grieve, of Fir Hill, Droxford, and Harry
Hawker, a pioneer aviator, took off from Newfoundland on May 19 that
year in a Sopwith biplane in the first attempt to fly the Atlantic.
A week went by without news and the aviators were considered lost. Then,
on May 25, a small plane, chartered by the Daily Mirror, landed on the golf
course to take the news to Lieut.Cdr. Mackenzie-Grieve's parents that their
son was safe. It was the first time such a message had been taken by air.
The aviators had ditched in the sea near a small tramp steamer which had
no radio and took some time to reach England with the glad tidings.
The two airmen were received by King George V at Buckingham Palace and
awarded the Air Force Cross.
When he arrived back at Droxford Railway Station the local hero was met
by a parade. His carriage, unhorsed, was drawn by ex-Servicemen to the village
green, headed by a band. All the village turned out to hear the speeches
and a school holiday was proclaimed.