Description:On Sunday, 15 November 1931, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) flew from Windsor to Meir aerodrome, en route to open the Rosemary Ednam Memorial Hospital for Cripples at Hartshill. After safely delivering his passenger, the pilot, Captain Fielden, took off to fly to Wolverhampton but had to turn back owing to fog and subsequently made a forced landing at Fulford, near Blythe Bridge.
Captain Fielden became the first Captain of the King's Flight. During the war he took charge of RAF Tempsford, where he directed the operations of No. 138 (Special Duties) Squadron in support of SOE and the Resistance in Europe. He then returned to royal service, first with King George VI and then with Queen Elizabeth II, until his retirement in 1969. Air Vice-Marshal Sir Edward Hedley Fielden died in 1976.