Ed: Bletchley Grammar School, then Manitoba University 1914-16 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles; 1916-1930 1st Lieut., Canadian Machine Gun Corps; prev. an aviation journalist, on the staff of 'The Aeroplane'; had flown about 110 types of aeroplane Seconded to AtFero 20 Mar 1941 d. 10 Aug 1941 (Died in ATA Service) - Liberator AM261 crashed into Goat Fell mountain on Isle of Arran after take off from Heathfield, Ayr (22 killed - 5 crew and 17 travelling as passengers) 9 of the victims were Canadian, 5 British, 7 American, and one was an Australian. 11 of the victims were pilots: Josiah James Anderson (Can), Daniel J Duggan (US), Watt Miller King (US), George Thomas Harris (US), Hoyt Ralph Judy (US), John James Roulstone (US), Harold Clifford Wesley Smith (Can), Jack Wixen (US), Capt. Ernest R. B. White (BOAC, ex-Imperial Airways), F. D. Bradbrooke, and John Evan Price (Aus). 10 radio operators, including Albert Alexander Oliver, George Herbert Powell and Herbert David Rees from BOAC, and one Flight Engineer, Ernest George Reeves (US), also lost their lives. Flight said: "Canada shares with Great Britain the loss of Capt. F. D. Bradbrooke, who, although born in Worcestershire, has spent many years in Canada, where he learned to fly in 1928. Several years ago he came to this country to join the staff of The Aeroplane, of which he became assistant editor. He left that post to become editor of a little journal called The Aero Pilot. On its formation he joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and ferried aircraft from factories to service units, and finally he joined Atfero. He was a very experienced pilot" "To say only that aeronautical journalism had lost one of its most important figures in the Atfero accident would be very much understating the case. Capt. F. D. Bradbrooke was much more than an aeronautical journalist. He was one of those amateur pilots who had helped to make private flying in this country, and was, at the same time, an "amateur technician " of no mean importance. He had a finger in every pie remotely connected with his primary interest and hobby, and was by way of being a humorist in his own inimitable way. "Brad" was one of the most enthusiastic persons anyone could possibly meet, and his enthusiasm was catching. As a member of the staff of The Aeroplane he was an unstinting supporter of everything which he felt to be a "good thing," and a somewhat vitriolic opponent of anything which he felt to be useless or silly. When, for instance, the tricycle undercarriage was considered merely as a peculiar kind of throwback, " Brad " was vigorous in his praise, and I was with him when he flew the first tricycle type to appear in this country. The machine in question was a " safety-first " type, and until "Brad" started to expatiate (with his usual lack of professional "tightness"), I had been interested only in the slots and things with which the machine was fitted. It was Bradbrooke, in fact, who helped to make this country "tricycle conscious." And that was only one of the many ideas which he had sponsored. What was more important is that he was prepared to put his enthusiasm into vigorous practice. In the course of his investigations he would fly almost anything anywhere. And I must say that in his search for truth (of the aeronautical kind) he risked his neck in one or two very queer contraptions so that he could at least give the designer an absolutely fair opinion—in print or otherwise. At the beginning of this war he was one of the founders of Air Transport Auxiliary, and here again his enthusiasm was terrific. Later, when the Atlantic ferrying business started, he was one of the first to volunteer for the work, and was thereafter - until he started on the work itself - to be seen, so to speak, with a sextant in one hand and a textbook on astronomical navigation in the other. At odd moments he would hoist the sextant to his eye and compute his position—though he knew perfectly well where he was. When there is peace and civil flying returns we shall miss "Brad", a very great deal. All this war-flying was only for him an interlude preparatory to returning to his greatest interest - civil flying. The only kind of flying which is really worth anything in the long run. Yes, we shall certainly miss him." A memorial service was held each year on the anniversary of the crash at Lamlash Cemetery, Island of Arran. ATA's insurance policy paid out £5,000 to his widow Joan, and £2,000 each to the families of the 3 radio operators. Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
1935 (Flight)
Brief Glory
ATAM
