April 9, 2020 | 2 Comments Alfred Leonard Loewenstein was born in Brussels, Belgium on 11 March 1877. His father, Bernard, was a banker and it was no surprise when his son followed in his footsteps. Alfred, however, was a shrewd investor. Many went further, claiming he was unscrupulous or even downright crooked. Regardless of the legitimacy of his business dealings, by the 1920’s Alfred Loewenstein was one of Europe’s most powerful financiers, and thus among the richest men in the world at the time.His business interests ranged from a company providing hydro-electric power facilities to developing countries, to a purported drug deal made with American racketeer Arnold Rothstein. Apparently the pair planned to vastly increase the supply of heroin to the United States, and in so doing create an international drug ring throughout Europe and the U.S. In 1926 he founded a company called International Holdings and Investments Ltd., which raised vast amounts of money from wealthy individuals keen to invest in the business of such a successful man. However, by 1928 they had seen no return on their investments and were rapidly losing patience with the slightly dodgy financier. Alfred Loewenstein may have been wealthy and powerful, but he had his enemies. Alfred Loewenstein It was against this background that on the early evening of 4 July 1928, Alfred climbed aboard his private aircraft at Croydon Airport, England, for a comparatively short flight across the English Channel and Northern France, to Brussels, where he lived with his wife, Madeleine. Accompanying him on the flight were pilot Donald Drew, mechanic Robert Little, valet Fred Baxter, secretary Arthur Hodgson and stenographers Eileen Clarke and Paula Bidalon. The weather was fine, and Drew was expecting a smooth, uneventful flight. Smooth it may have been, but uneventful if certainly wasn’t.At a little after 6pm the aircraft, a Fokker FVII, was prepared for take-off. A short while later they were airborne and heading out over the Channel. The aircraft was cruising at about 4,000 feet when Loewenstein, who had been working quietly, got out of his seat and went to use the lavatory at the rear of the cabin. The configuration of the aircraft was such that the door to the lavatory and the exit door were situated opposite one another, and separated from the main seating area by a third door that opened to a short passageway. Apparently, after about ten minutes had passed, and aware that his employer had not returned to his seat, Fred Baxter went to check on him, fearing that he might have been taken ill. Accounts differ slightly as to what happened next. In one account Baxter found the toilet cubicle empty and the exit door of the aircraft open and flapping in the slipstream. In another version, Baxter forced open the toilet door only to find it empty, with no suggestion that he found the exit door open. Either way, Alfred Loewenstein was no longer on board the aircraft.As the Fokker FVII was a light aircraft, an airport runway was not an essential requirement for take-off and landing, and consequently Drew decided to make an emergency landing on, what he determined to be, a deserted beach near Dunkirk. What he hadn’t noticed was that, at the time, the beach was also being used by an army unit for training purposes. On seeing the aircraft land they realised that it must have gotten into difficulty and rushed to offer assistance, although it took them approximately six minutes to reach the plane and what remained of its passengers and crew. Oddly, the senior officer, a Lieutenant Marquailles, found Donald Drew to be evasive, and it took almost thirty minutes of questioning before he admitted that Loewenstein had disappeared from the aircraft whilst they were flying over the English Channel. The plane eventually took-off from the beach, but instead of continuing on to Brussels, it diverted to a local airfield called St. Inglevert, before returning to Croydon. On 19 July a body was discovered by fishermen in the sea near Boulogne. They hauled it aboard their trawler and took it to Calais, where it was identified as that of Alfred Loewenstein by means of his wristwatch. An autopsy was undertaken which revealed several broken bones as well as a fracture to the skull, although it was concluded that he was alive when he entered the water.To date, the question of what actually happened to Alfred Loewenstein remains unanswered, but there are a number of theories, within which the truth almost certainly lies. Clearly his demise was the result of either an accident, suicide or murder; but which?The most straightforward hypothesis is that he simply opened the wrong door and fell to his death by accident. Many acquaintances of Loewenstein had noted an increasing absent-mindedness in the financier in the months leading up to his death. However, it seems unlikely that he would have obliviously opened a door that was clearly marked exit, especially as it would have taken considerable force to do so in flight. Instead might he have deliberately opened the door and jumped in order to commit suicide? He was certainly under pressure from investors, and some have even speculated that as his corrupt practices were about the be exposed, he probably chose death over disgrace and ruin. The weakness of this theory however, is that no direct evidence linking him to corruption was ever produced.So, to murder. Loewenstein clearly had enemies, although it did not appear that any association existed between those on board the aircraft and those with whom he had crossed swords in the past. Nevertheless, the inconsistencies in Baxter’s account of events and Drew’s evasiveness when questioned, led many to suspect foul play. It was known that the tycoon’s relationship with his wife was not good, and it was alleged that she was desperate to get her hands on his vast fortune before things frosted over irrevocably. Might she have plotted with his employees to have him overpowered and thrown out of the aircraft? This theory would certainly account for the skull fracture, although it is also possible that this occurred when he hit the water at considerable speed.At a distance of almost a century, your guess is as good as mine. However, there is one last interesting twist to the tale, should you be inclined to believe in these things. Mrs. E M Taylor, a respected medium at the time, claimed to have been contacted by the spirit of Alfred Loewenstein, whom she alleged made the following statement: “ No idea of suicide entered my head till I went to inspect the plane before take-off. Later I suddenly felt an irresistible impulse to open the door and end my existence. I fought it but each time it grew stronger. A fierce longing took possession of me which I could not deny. What I went through you will never understand. I longed for death more passionately than a condemned man longs for life. Why, I could not explain. Shall I ever forget that awful plunge into space? Yes, I realised for a moment my mistake, but too late…”Sources: https://cool interesting stuff.com/the-strange-mystery-of-alfred-Loewenstein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Loewenstein The Airmen Who Would Not Die. John G. Fuller. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. 1979