Qualla: 1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash

1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash: Introduction

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Camille van Hove was still in a hospital bed in Bruges when King Albert I presented him with Belgium's Civic Cross, First Class. His burns were too severe for him to attend any ceremony. On the foggy afternoon of December 30, 1933, van Hove had been among the first to reach the wreckage of the Apollo, an Imperial Airways Avro Ten that had struck a guy wire of the tall radio mast at Ruysselede. At least one passenger survived the initial impact. Then came the explosion. Van Hove and fifteen other rescuers rushed into the flames anyway. All ten people aboard the aircraft perished, but the courage of those who tried to save them became the story Belgium chose to remember.

Image: Public domain

1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash: Into the Fog

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The Apollo had entered service with Imperial Airways in May 1931 and had spent time flying for Iraq Petroleum Transport before returning to the British carrier. Registration G-ABLU, the trimotored aircraft was operating the regular Cologne-to-London route via Brussels that Decemb...

Image: Public domain

1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash: The Mast at Ruysselede

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Belradio's transmitter at Ruysselede stood as a steel needle above the flat West Flanders landscape. The mast was illuminated, its lights burning through the fog as a warning to aircraft. But the guy wires that held it upright extended outward in a wide radius, nearly invisible a...

Image: Public domain

1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash: Courage in the Flames

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The radio station workers were joined by twelve villagers from Ruysselede who had seen or heard the crash. When they reached the wreckage, they found chaos. At least one passenger had survived the impact and was struggling in the debris. Before anyone could pull the survivors cle...

Image: Public domain

1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede Crash: A King's Gratitude

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The families of the victims wrote letters praising the bravery of those who had risked their lives in a futile rescue attempt. They petitioned the Belgian government to recognize the courage displayed at Ruysselede. King Albert I responded by awarding Camille van Hove the Civic C...

Image: Public domain