14/09/2014
Richard T Gates (1878-1914)
Richard Thomas Gates (above) was holder of Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate No. 225, passing his test on a Howard Wright biplane on 4 June 1912. After being invalided out of the army, he had joined Claude Grahame-White in the development of Hendon Aerodrome – becoming its general manager. When war broke out, Gates was gazetted as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). On 10 September 1914, he was returning to Hendon from an anti-Zeppelin night patrol in his Henry Farman biplane, serial 940, when he mis-judged his landing in the dark and crashed. He died from his injuries on 14 September 1914 (100 years’ ago today). The photographs below are of his funeral. These, and other photographs of that event, from the Royal Aero Club Collection, can be seen on this web-site at Photographs> Pioneers> View> Funerals.