A stolen aircraft

In 1936 two employees of a local aviation company, Airspeed Ltd, broke into a hanger at Portsmouth airport and stole a small passenger plane, a Courier. They were intending to fly to Spain and sell the aircraft to either the Government or the insurgent forces. The machine stalled in takeoff, crashed in to trees at the north end of the aerodrome and was a total write off. One man, Arthur Gargett, was killed, and the other, Joseph Smith was imprisoned for four months for theft. Portsmouth Records Office I169