Piece of envelope from Schutte-Lanz airship SL11 : Lieutenant C E H Ferguson, 40 Battalion AIF

Piece of fabric envelope from the Schutte-Lanz airship SL11. The piece is made of two layers glued togather, the bottom layer is a cream colour, and the top layer green. There are small holes in the envelope and much of the cream layer is now discoloured.

Piece of the Schutte-Lanz type German airship, the first German airship to be shot down over England during the First World War. The airship was shot down by Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, a member of the Royal Flying Corps No. 39 Home Defence Squadron on the night of 2/3 September 1916 and crashed at Cuffley in Middlesex, in full view of London. The entire crew of 16 were killed. For this action Leefe-Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross. In April 1917 he was posted to France, was shot down and wounded, and taken prisoner. After returning to England, he died in the influenza pandemic on 31 December 1918. Many souvenirs were made from the wreckage of the airship.

This piece was collected by Captain Charles Edward Hamilton Ferguson. Ferguson enlisted in the AIF on 1 March 1916. He had worked as a public accountant before his enlistment and was 38 years old. He had previously served in the militia with the 92nd Infantry Regiment. He was appointed second lieutenant upon enlistment and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 May. On 1 July he embarked from Hobart, Tasmania in HMAT Berrima with C Company, 40 Battalion. On 25 October Ferguson transferred to 3 Division Signals Company and in November proceeded to France from England. In May 1917 he was wounded in action, rejoining his unit a few weeks later. Ferguson was promoted to temporary captain on 3 July. He was awarded the Military Cross for his devotion to duty, when, in August 1917 he was wounded while burying cables under heavy fire, but returned to duty that day, continuing the task and extending the cables to maintain communications. Ferguson was promoted to captain in October and in April 1918 was Mentioned in Despatches. In October 1918 he transferred to the Australian Corps of Signals Company. Ferguson left England to return to Australia on 15 May 1919 aboard HT Ypiringa. His appointment was terminated in September 1919.