Bedford Tourism Office

The R101 in its final form was 1/7th of a mile long and 130 ft. high; larger than the biggest ocean-going vessel afloat at the time, with luxurious passenger accommodation; the largest flying object ever built when she first took to the sky in 1929.
Lord Thomson's Air Ministry ensured that every stage of the R101's development was conducted in a blaze of publicity. The airship was to be a symbol of national enterprise and every aspect of its design was to be a technological first. So when in the early hours of 5th October 1930 the R101 crashed over Beauvais, France, on her maiden voyage to Karachi, not only the expertise of the men who designed her but the national pride that had supported her development was crushed and lost.
48 men lost their lives including Lord Thomson, the Air Minister and Sir Sefton Brancker, the Air Vice-Marshall. The remains of the victims were brought back to England and laid in-state at Westminster Hall for 2 days, where an endless stream of people filed past to pay their respects including the Prince of Wales. A procession through London led by the Royal Air Force included representatives and ministers from across the Empire. A flower-lined grave in the Cardington village church of St Mary’s was the last resting place for those who perished in the R101
Discussions in Parliament following the crash led to the government’s final decision to dismantle the R100 in shed no.2, though it had successfully completed a round-trip to Canada. In 1931 the works were all-but closed with only a skeleton maintenance staff of around 44 remaining. More