On 20 May, 1932, aviator Amelia Earhart, aged 34, set off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, on a solo trans-Atlantic flight bound for Paris in a red LockheedVega 5B single-engine plane. Having endured almost fifteen hours across the Northern Atlantic Ocean, inclement weather conditions of ice and northerly winds caused technical hitches, leaving Miss Earhart with no option but to land her plane.
Whilst many will have heard of the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, relatively few will have heard of the name Frederick Sammis. For those familiar with the story of the Titanic disaster and the inquiries which followed, Frederick Sammis is probably best remembered for the role he played in helping to arrange the sale of surviving wireless operator Harold Bride's exclusive story to the New York Times.
In these years of centenaries the well known heroes of the Rising and of the War of Independence are being written and talked about. And rightly so. But there are many others who are practically forgotten. They served the country in tough times, some gave their lives, others made their lives miserable and very difficult forever afterwards, and many lost loved ones. Families were decimated and homes broken up.
