On a cold Autumn day in 1908, high above the grey blanket of the North Sea, a pair of daring German adventurers were in trouble. But what links their air-based escapades to famed New York media mogul James Gordon Bennett and the port of Leith?
1908 saw the third iteration of the much-anticipated Gordon Bennett Cup. The hot air balloon race was established by newspaper owner, socialite and adventurer James Gordon Bennett, the son of Scottish emigrant and founder of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett Senior. It is widely thought that the expression of incredulity ‘Gordon Bennett!’ came about due to the outlandish exploits of James Gordon Bennett junior, who raced yachts, played polo and sponsored explorers. The Gordon Bennett Balloon Race continues today.
The 1908 Gordon Bennett Cup race began in Berlin, Germany and involved twenty-three hot air balloons piloted by teams from eight countries. The aim of the race was to fly as far away from the launch point as possible without landing along the way. Consequently, contestants ended up in some peculiar locations. The winners of the 1910 race ended up in the wilderness of Quebec, Canada, finally emerging after ten days during which they were presumed dead. Other balloonists have ended up in less exceptional surroundings - one team in the 1908 Berlin race hit a fence soon after ascending and ended up rapidly descending 3000 feet before landing on the roof of a house in a Berlin suburb. Luckily the balloonists and the house’s inhabitants survived.
At five in the morning on 15 October 1908, four days after their embarkation from Berlin, team-mates Dr Niemeyer and Hans Hiedemann found themselves lost. The pair of German balloonists in the balloon ‘Busley’ had passed over the German seaside town of Cuxhaven four hours previously with a wind driving them towards the centre of England. However, something was wrong. The wind changed and instead of heading west they found themselves picking up speed and going further north. The team ascertained they were north-west of Heligoland and somehow managed to communicate with a passing coal steamer that was heading to Edinburgh. Niemeyer and Hiedemann vented their balloon to bring them close to the ship but just as they were alongside, the balloon was picked up again by strong winds and was carried further away.
The balloon eventually crashed into the sea, and the lucky adventurers were picked up by the ship. The balloon was later recovered but its log-book and instruments were lost. Niemeyer and Hiedemann joined the ship’s crew on their journey to Edinburgh and arrived at Leith the same day. At 3.24pm on 15 October, Niemeyer sent a telegram to confirm the team’s location and their removal from the race.
This piece of material formed part of the recovered balloon ‘Busley’ and was presented to Museums & Galleries Edinburgh. It’s tempting to imagine the crew of the Leith-bound coal steamer looking up at the sky above the North Sea and exclaiming ‘Gordon Bennett, that balloon’s coming straight for us!’
