R101 lengthening the ship by to add another gasbag, the R101 crashed in France during its maiden overseas voyage on 5 October 1930, killing 48 of the 54 people on board. Among the passengers killed were Lord Thomson, the Air Minister who had initiated the programme, senior government officials, and almost all the dirigible's designers from the Royal Airship Works. The crash of R101 effectively ended British airship development, and was one of the worst airship accidents of the 1930s. The loss of life was more than the 36 killed in the highly public "Hindenburg" disaster of 1937, though fewer than
When the Lilies Bloom in France Again a metaphor to assure listeners of hope and that everything will be restored at the end of the war. It also highlights a promise a soldier makes: "When the lilies bloom in France again," the soldier will return to his sweetheart. The song starts by describing lilies growing and birds singing in France. This scenery is now bare, but "the flowers will bloom again, That's a part of every soldier's vow." The chorus is as follows: When the Lilies Bloom in France Again "When the Lilies Bloom in France Again" is a World War I era song released in 1918.