Celebrations!

The Parade for the flyers wends its way up Fifth Avenue.

Photograph of the reception given to the Bremen Flyers as they parade up Fifth Avenue, New York City on Monday 30th April 1927. The photograph of these scenes shows the magnitude of what Major James C. Fitzmaurice, Captain Hermann Koehl and Baron Guenther von Huenefeld had achieved. The successful trans-Atlantic flight of the Bremen was greated with delight world-wide.

out of copyright

The Parade for the flyers wends its way up Fifth Avenue.
out of copyright

The Parade for the flyers wends its way up Fifth Avenue.

Photograph of the reception given to the Bremen Flyers as they parade up Fifth Avenue, New York City on Monday 30th April 1927. The photograph of these scenes shows the magnitude of what Major James C. Fitzmaurice, Captain Hermann Koehl and Baron Guenther von Huenefeld had achieved. The successful trans-Atlantic flight of the Bremen was greated with delight world-wide.

out of copyright

Enlarge image

The 'Three Musketeers of the Air' then returned to New York where they were given a massive welcome. The Irish Independent stated: "Extraordinary scenes of enthusiasm were witnessed, and at times the cheering of the people was on a scale never before experienced in this city, in which spectacular events are not altogether unusual." The three aviators stayed at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York. That night there was a big function for them in the hotel and the speeches made at it were broadcast worldwide. The lavish party was to give the men a taste of what was to come as the next day the city of New York was to give them the official welcome. The following morning, Monday 30th April, the flyers boarded the steamer Macon and toured New York Harbour. The parade began from Battery Point, the very southern tip of Manhatten. Along the ten mile route tickertape fell and the heroes were cheered by more than 2 million people who lined the sidewalks of Broadway and 5th Avenue. Mrs. Fitzmaurice (and her daughter Patricia) and Mrs. Koehl had arrived by liner from Europe hours earlier and they were to be reunited with their husbands at a reception at City Hall.

There, Mayor Walker presented the flyers with Medals of Valor and Honorary Freedom of the City. He said: "New York joins in the rejoicing of Germany and the Irish Free State in your accomplishment and hails the symbol of the tie binding the countries. The flight will not soon be forgotten, and will intensify the affection for your countries in New York". At the end of the ceremony the national anthems of Ireland and Germany were played. Fitzmaurice was overwhelmed by the events of the day: "This welcome of ours has been...so significant in its suggestion of international friendship, that I cannot do it justice. All I can say for my two comrades and myself is that we are grateful, very grateful, and that we will carry the memory of it as long as we live."

On Wednesday 2nd May the flyers met the U.S. President Calvin Coolidge at the White House where they were presented with the US Distinguished Flying Cross, the first foreigners ever to have received the award. This was followed by an extensive tour of American cities. Everywhere they went they were met with adulation.