- Seconded from BOAC -
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Brown, George Stanley
M.--- * Captain
Seconded from BOAC
George Stanley Brown b. 14 Apr 1898, Lincoln ? 8 Oct 1940 to 1941
Possibly:
prev. RAF from 4 Mar 1918; Imperial Airways
Postings:
* ATA File not seen
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Buxton, Kenneth Alfred
M.---- Captain
[Seconded from BOAC]
Kenneth Alfred Buxton b. 19 Sep 1916, London 1 Sep 1940 to 15 Jan 1942
1935
Imperial Airways before WWII
Address in 1935: Welford House, Hampstead, London
The BOAC pilots seconded to the ATA were the mainstay of the Advanced Flying Training Unit from September 1940, but; they were all recalled to BOAC in January 1942.
Lettice Curtis says ""with the going of the BOAC pilots the school was never the same again, and certainly a lot of fun and gaiety went out of the instructors' room when it passed into the hands of the generally older professional instructors."
"With pilots like BOAC Captains Griffiths, Derrington Turner, Weston Taggart, Ken Buxton and last but no means least Jim Weir, there was never a dull minute."
"since the war he has been flying on the BOAC routes to North America. He is married and has two children"
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Horsey, Herbert John
M.49 * Captain
[Seconded from BOAC]
Herbert John 'Horse' Horsey b. 26 Nov 1899, Cheshunt, Herts 1 Jan 1940 to 6 Jan 1941
RNAS and RAF in WWI, then joined Supermarine, followed by British Marine Co. as a flying-boat captain on the route from Southampton to Guernsey. When BMC became part of the newly-formed Imperial Airways in 1924, he was one of their 16 founder-pilots.
In June 1927, he created a new record for big passenger aeroplanes, by flying from London to Cologne in one hundred and sixty minutes, at an average speed of 130 miles an hour.
Address in 1932: 138 King's Hall Rd, Beckenham, Kent
Postings: 2FPP
d. 6 Jan 1941 (Died in ATA Service) after he hit cables and crashed on 2 January, 2.5 miles NW of Wroughton ferrying Curtiss Mohawk IV AR658.
G.P. Olley wrote in his obituary: "An atmosphere of gloom settled over the war-time base of British Overseas Airways Corporation when the tragic news came through that Captain H. J. Horsey ('Horse' to his friends, and that meant every one) had died suddenly from the injuries he had received in an accident some days before."
Gordon reported that, a few days before, "poor old 'Horse' was concerned that he had broken his clean record - up to then, he had never had a major crash, or harmed a hair of the head of a single passenger."
Herbert is buried in Hatfield Heath, Essex.
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Houston, William Branston
M.--- Captain
[Seconded from BOAC]
William Branston Houston b. 28 Mar 1909, Galway 1 Sep 1940 to 15 Jan 1942
"Clearing the hurdles in fine style" in 1930
"nephew of the late Sir Thomas Houston, the noted bacteriologist"
Ed. St. Andrew's College, Dublin, and the Methodist College, Belfast.
"He studied medicine for two years at Queen's University, Belfast, but decided to fly and In 1937 he joined Imperial Airways as a second officer"
"He began flying on European routes with the Heracles class and the Scylla and Syrinx. He later flew in Frobishers and Ensigns."
m. 1937 in Flintshire, Claire E [Beatty]
The BOAC pilots seconded to the ATA were the mainstay of the Advanced Flying Training Unit from September 1940, but they were all recalled to BOAC in January 1942.
Lettice Curtis says "with the going of the BOAC pilots the school was never the same again, and certainly a lot of fun and gaiety went out of the instructors' room when it passed into the hands of the generally older professional instructors."
"With pilots like BOAC Captains Griffiths, Derrington Turner, Weston Taggart, Ken Buxton and last but no means least Jim Weir, there was never a dull minute."
He returned to BOAC in 1941 and flew Liberators and Dakotas to North Africa. In 1944 he went to Cairo in charge of the Corporation's training unit there. After 1946 he occupied a number of operational posts and in 1951 he became manager of the Hermes and Yorks fleet.
Belfast Telegraph, 1953
He was nominated as manager of the Britannia fleet in 1953, then Training Manager from 1957.
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Jones, Oscar Philip
M.--- * Captain Oscar Philip Jones b. 15 Oct 1898, Beckenham, Kent c. Jan 1940 to c. Jan 1942
RFC in WWI; with Instone Air Line before 1924
One of the original 16 pilots of Imperial Airways in 1924
January 1935: "AIR LINER PILOT IN MOTOR SMASH. Captain O. P. Jones, the well-known Imperial Airways pilot, was yesterday involved in a motor smash at Coulsdon, Surrey. Ten minutes later he was circling low over the scene of the accident in a Paris-bound liner. It was in Burton Road, Coulsdon, that Captain Jones' car came into collision with another, both vehicles being wrecked. Apart from scratches no one was hurt."
Awarded Master Pilot's Certificate in 1935
17 May 1935: "PILOTS TRAGIC FLIGHT Knowing Widowed Mother Was Dead. With the knowledge that his widowed mother had met with a tragic death, Captain O. P. Jones, a well-known Imperial Airways pilot, had to complete a flight in the course of his duties before he could travel to Hove to identify her body.
His mother, Mrs. Florence Effle Jones (80), had been found dead in the sitting-room of her flat with the gas tap turned full on. The police, who at once telephoned to Imperial Airways, got into touch with Captain Jones, who learned the news just before he had to undertake the flight.
The police are stated to have found a note in which the dead woman said that loneliness and depression had been too much for her. Captain Jones was the first pilot in the world to cover 1,000.000 miles in the air. That means that he has spent about 10,000 hours in the air or more than a year's continuous flying. He has been apilot with imperial Airways for more than 11 years. He has often piloted royal passengers, including the Prince of Wales, and recently the Duke and Duchess of Kent."
May 1935: "FATAL DEPRESSION. MOTHER'S LAST LETTER TO CHILDREN Mrs. Florence Jones (60), mother of Captain O. P. Jones, an Imperial Airways pilot, was found dead in a gas-filled room at her home at Cambridge Road, Hove, yesterday, and at the inquest at Hove to-day a verdict of "Suicide while of Unsound Mind" was recorded.
In a letter to her son and daughter she wrote: "Loneliness and depression and money troubles have become too much for me. Love to all of you." Captain Jones said that his mother had had fits of depression since the death of his father in 1914. She had no need to worry over money, as she had a small income."
Postings: 2FPP (As CO)
* File not seen
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Scott, Stuart William Anthony
M.69 * Captain Stuart William Anthony Scott b. 19 Jan 1909 , Dunsford, Exeter 23 Jun 1940 to 7 Oct 1941
1932
Father: Arthur Matthew Cecil Scott, a farmer. Mother: Mabel Dorothy Mary [Hardy]
Ed. King Edward VI School, Stratford-on-Avon
RAeC Certificate 10357 dated 9 Mar 1932, at Liverpool Aero Club in an Avian.
He owned G-EBWU, a 1928 Avro 594 Avian III, which had competed in the King's Cup in 1930 and 1931.
Address in 1932: Moor House, Totnes, S. Devon
m. 3 Jul 1937 in Christ Church, Surrey, Sheila Eileen [Roberts] (2 children)
prev. Airline pilot (Gravesend Aviation, Provincial Airways and Air Despatch; Imperial Airways from 1937).
Postings:
Transferred to AtFero
"During the war he carried out operational flights over Scandinavia and with the North Atlantic Ferry Service. To-day he commands a 8.0.A.C. Stratocruiser airliner with which the Corporation operate their service across the North Atlantic to New York and Montreal."
In 1955, the first British pilot to have flown the Atlantic 500 times:
https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/59626/
d. 1984 - N. Dorset
* ATA Personnel File Missing