This weathervane, which was originally mounted on the roof of Weymouth College in July 1932, commemorates the establishment of a world speed record of 406.92mph on 29th September 1931 by Flight Lieutenant G.H. Stainforth AFC, an old boy of Weymouth College and member of the British Schneider Trophy Team. Weymouth College closed in 1940 and the weathervane was subsequently presented to the borough and has been on display in Greenhill Gardens, Weymouth since May 1952. The weathervane depicts the R.J. Mitchell designed Supermarine S.6B racing seaplane. It is well documented that R.J. Mitchell used the technological advancements gained from the Schneider Trophy aircraft designs to formulate his design for the Spitfire. Therefore, if it wasn’t for the Schneider Trophy races, R.J. Mitchell probably would not have conceived such a radical aircraft as the Spitfire. Either way we still owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for persevering with an aircraft design concept, which was originally rejected by the Air Ministry for being too unconventional - how little did they know!
Sadly on the night of 27th September 1942, Wing Commander George H. Stainforth was killed in action whilst piloting Beaufighter X7700 at Gharib, near the Gulf of Suez. He was buried with full military honours at the British Cemetery at Ismailia, Egypt. |
