The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name. The image is a glossy real photograph, and the card was printed in England.
The card was posted in Blackpool on Wednesday the 25th. April 1956 to:
Miss Eileen Perrett,
Ministry of Housing and
Local Government,
18, Chester Terrace,
Regent's Park,
London N.W.1.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"25. 4. 56.
This is a 'hard'-looking
place compared with
the greenery around
Chester Terrace!
The air is good, however,
and although there's
little sun, it has so far
remained dry.
Greetings to all,
N. B."
The Imperial Hotel
The Imperial Hotel is a 4-star hotel located on the northern promenade in Blackpool. It was established in 1867 and is situated in a large Victorian red brick building, in what, before development, was once Claremont Park.
Owned by Barceló Hotels for many years, since June 2014 it has been operated by The Hotel Collection. The hotel features a gold and blue facade, and offers 180 rooms, The Palm Court Restaurant, and the Number 10 Bar.
Granada Television once set up a studio in the hotel to cover party conferences held in the town. It has served as a conference and party venue for a wide range of societies.
The Queen has stayed at the hotel when visiting Blackpool, as did Charles Dickens and many British Prime Ministers.
The Imperial Hotel used to host concerts in its ballroom in the 1970's. Some of the bands that performed at the Imperial Hotel include UFO, Judas Priest and Joy Division.
Dominique Blanc
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 25th. April 1956 marked the birth in Lyon of the French actress Dominique Blanc.
Dominique is known for her roles in the films 'May Fools' (1990), 'Indochine' (1992), 'La Reine Margot' (1994), 'Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train' (1998), and 'The Other One' (2008).
In a career that spanned nearly four decades, Dominique has won four César Awards from nine nominations.
The Hawker Hunter Multiple Crashes
Also on that day, the report of the Board of Inquiry into the 1956 Hawker Hunter multiple aircraft accident reported that the primary cause of the accident was a sudden deterioration in the weather.
However it was also concluded that it had been an error of judgement to divert the aircraft on the assumption that they could perform a visual landing.
On the 8th. February 1956 the Royal Air Force lost six Hawker Hunter jet fighters in a multiple aircraft accident. Eight aircraft from RAF West Raynham had been carrying out a 4x4 dogfight exercise at 45,000 feet (14,000 m).
Upon completion of the exercise, the eight Hunters diverted to RAF Marham, but due to bad weather, six of the aircraft were lost, including one fatality.
The Multiple Crashes
The eight Hunter F1s departed RAF West Raynham, Norfolk, at 10:50 to carry out the exercise in the local area. Due to the expected bad weather later in the day the aircraft were scheduled to return to West Raynham by 11:15. By 11:00 the weather at West Raynham had deteriorated with poor visibility, and the aircraft were told to divert to nearby RAF Marham for a visual approach.
The visibility suddenly reduced further, but due to the close proximity of the aircraft to each other it was not possible to complete ground controlled approaches. In the following confusion and with only 10 minutes of fuel remaining, only two aircraft landed successfully.
-- WT629 descended to 600 feet (200 m), but, unable to see the ground, he climbed away to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) and ejected, with the aircraft crashing into a field 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Swaffham.
-- WT639 descended to 600 feet (200 m), but, unable to see the ground, he climbed away. The pilot ejected when the engine flamed out. The aircraft crashed into a forest 2.5 miles (4 km) southwest of Swaffham.
-- WW633 descended to 500 feet (200 m), but, unable to see the ground, he climbed away. The pilot ejected when the engine flamed out. The aircraft crashed into a field 3.5 miles (6 km) northwest of Swaffham.
-- WW639 descended to 250 feet (100 m), but, unable to see the ground, he climbed away. The pilot ejected when fuel was exhausted. The aircraft crashed 3 miles (5 km) south of Swaffham.
-- WW635 crashed 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of Swaffham, pilot killed.
-- WW603 belly-landed following engine flame-out just east of the airfield, pilot unhurt.
Aftermath
Questions were asked in Parliament about the loss of six aircraft worth £750,000 and the suspicion that the Hunters were liable to be deficient in fuel if a crisis arose.
Concern was also raised about the carrying out of the exercise in the expected weather conditions.
However the Board of Inquiry stated that the decision to fly in the weather conditions was proper and reasonable - the pilots were all competent, the aircraft were serviceable, and had adequate fuel and endurance for the planned mission.
The Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command decided that disciplinary action should be taken against officers in charge of flying operations at West Raynham. One officer was reproved and removed from his job, and three other officers were reproved.
Winifred Atwell
Also on the 25th. April 1956, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'The Poor People of Paris' by Winifred Atwell.
