Afounding father of the UK aviation heritage, Peter Thomas, died on May 18. With his passing, we have lost a pioneer who helped to establish the concept of 'living' aviation museums. In the late 1950s, Peter approached the French Aeronavale about the likely fate of the world's last operational Short Sunderlands, then coming to the end of their tenure flying from Dakar, West Africa. Peter's Zeal impressed the French and they agreed to donate former RAF MR.5 ML824. Peter determined that Pembroke Dock - wartime home to many flying-boats - would be an ideal venue and he started to make that happen! The Sunderland Trust was born. On March 24, 1961, ML824 touched down in Milford Haven, was beached and moved to a wartime hard-standing.
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