READER Howard Stanley quickly identified the old picture in Malvern Memories last week of a crowd waiting expectantly.

He says the picture was taken in 1912 or 1913, and the crowd is watching the famous German aviator Gustav Hamel and his aeroplane, which landed at Jamaica Fields, Malvern Link.

Herr Hamel was a celebrity of the day who made appearances at the Hendon Air Show. He regularly flew post to different locations in the UK, and he also landed at Pitchcroft in Worcester and on a cricket pitch in Great Witley.

Inevitably, though, many regarded him as a spy, who was using his flights across the country to gather sensitive information.

Mr Stanley says that Herr Hamel died in a flying accident after the Great War broke out.