RETIRED brewery worker Richard Townsend has been on a trip down memory lane to visit a site where his father's airship crashed in Holland in 1917.

The story of Arthur Townsend and the rest of the crew of the Coastal C26 airship was told in Devizes in November when a picture of him was created in sand in St John's Church in November as part of the First World War centenary celebrations.

His son Richard, 71, was delighted when Rangoli artist Milan Arvindkumar re-created a photograph of the former Royal Navy man in sand in the lead up to Remembrance Sunday.

He had carried out extensive research into his father's war record and the interest shown by the Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts team inspired him to do even more.

His father's airship had crashed into van Heek's baker in Eemnes Buiten in Holland and all the crew were interned in the Engelse Kamp Groningen until the end of the war.

With help from David Dawson director of Wiltshire Museum Mr Townsend managed to track down a man from Eemnes historial society that was staging a special exhibition on the crashed airship for its own First World War tribute.

Mr Townsend exchanged emails and was invited to the Dutch town a s a special guest.

He said: "It was wonderful to go there and see for myself where the airship crashed. Everyone I met was excited to meet me.

"I was treated like a king."

The side of the house, which was once a bakery, has long since been repaired but looks little different to the pictures taken back in 1912.

Mr Townsend met the current owner of the house, who is related to the original owner, who was also fascinated by Mr Townsend's connection.

In the museum display in Eemnes Mr Townsend was shown a pair of binoculars recovered from the airship and also part of the skin of the ship which had been brought to Eemnes especially from a different collection.

Mr Townsend is now planning to return to Holland in March to visit the site of the camp where his father was held.

Mr Townsend said his father never spoke about his war exploits and he only found out the extent of what he had done when his sisters asked him to look after suitcases of photographs two years ago.

He became fascinated by his exploits and managed to make contact with airship experts and the story unfolded.

Arthur Townsend joined the Royal Navy in April 1912, just after his 16th birthday, two years before the start of World War One.

He began his service as a boy sailor at RN Training Establishment, Devonport.

As his son put together a history of his father’s naval career he found that in 1917 he was promoted to Petty Officer when he was serving at RNAS Pulham which was one of the UK’s main airship stations.

He became a coxswain of the Coastal C26 airship and regularly patrolled the North Sea and English Channel in search of enemy submarines.

Mr Townsend said: “The Coastals were vulnerable to enemy aircraft, so the tactic was to make for the nearest coast, where anti-aircraft guns could drive away the attackers.

“On December, 12, 1917, under the command of Flt Lt Kilburn, PO Townsend and his crewmates were tasked to search for their sistership C27 that was shot down the day before. However, their ship developed engine problems and they encountered fog, making navigation difficult.

“Floating with the wind, they reached Holland, and my father and others had to jump from about 30ft into a field at Sliedrecht. He broke his leg in the fall. The airship drifted until it crashed into van Heek’s bakery in Eemnes Buiten. All the crew were interned in the Engelse Kamp Groningen, Holland until the end of the war."