1935 (Flight)

Brief Glory

ATAM

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):

M.9	First Officer	Ralph Douglas Cotton
	b. 15 Feb 1908, Hendon	11 Sep 1939 to Jun-41

A Bank Clerk in 1927; RAF Flying Officer 1928-30

m. Emily Mary Rawstron in May 1938: "The many Bedford sportsmen who remember R. D. Cotton, the Old Modernian, will wish him well in his married life. Last week Mr. Cotton married Miss E. M. Rawstron, of St. Anne’s, Lancashire, at the Parish Church, Lytham St. Anne’s.

Ralph Douglas Cotton, who is a flying and physical training instructor, played Rugby football and cricket for the Bedford Modern School about twelve years ago, and was also prominent as an athlete. In the Public Schools Championships in 1926 he won the pole-vault challenge cup at nine feet, and four years later he pole-vaulted for England.

On leaving school Cotton’s prowess as a centre-threequarter was soon recognised by the Town Club. He played many fine games for the Blues and also for the East Midlands. On moving north he won a place in the Lancashire fifteen. He has also played for the Royal Air Force, and is at present a member of the Fylde R.U.F.C. He is a member of the Blackpool and Fylde Aero Club.

Mr. Cotton is the only son of the late Mr. J. B. Cotton, and of Mrs Cotton, 16 St. Leonard’s Road, Marton. His wife comes of a well-known St. Anne’s family, being the third daughter of Mr. Arthur Rawstron. Alpha House, St. Andrew’s South. Mr. and Mrs. Cotton will live at Old Farm House, Little Poulton, Poulton-le-Fylde."

[Contract Terminated by ATA 7 Jun 1941 - Disciplinary Reasons]

Flying Instructor in Egypt post-WWII 

Landlord of the Golden Cross Hotel, Marlbrook, near Bromsgrove in 1956 and of the Old Cock Hotel, Halifax, in 1961.

d. Jan 1986, Bedford 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.5	Captain	Francis Joseph Bush
	b. 26 Apr 1904, Banbury Oxfordshire	11 Sep 1939 - Nov-41

1935

ATAM June 1940

 Ed. Uppingham

prev. a Manufacturer and Company Director

prev exp 507 hrs. Owned a 1928 DH Moth G-AAAA, then a 1931 DH Puss Moth G-ABLG (which he bought from Margaret Fairweather)

Address in 1939: 76 High St, Watford, Herts

By the 6 Dec 1939, when he still hadn't started flying, he wrote to the ATA, "I was wondering if my Puss Moth (which is in tip-top order) would eventually be of use in the ATA, or do you advise me to try and sell it to be shifted overseas?

I am still at the above address [Green Park Hotel, Bournemouth] waiting for your instructions when and where to report for duty."

[His Puss Moth was impressed 18 Feb 41, and struck off charge for spares 12 Apr 44]

Certificate of Commendation "After a satisfactory test flight at Kinloss, F/O Bush set off on the 19th December 1940, in a Boston for Prestwick. After about 25 miles the starboard engine failed and F/O Bush feathered the airscrew. He then returned to Lossiemouth and landed there. In spite of the fact that the brakes were out of action, the landing was made without damage to the aircraft. He had never flown the type before, and the ATA at that time could not provide handling notes."

"He has beeen outstanding in the way he has worked, and the example he has set."

"A competent pilot and a very good officer" 

 3 accidents, 1 of them his fault.

d. 23 Nov 41 (Died in ATA Service) - Liberator AL562 engine caught fire and crashed into the sea south of Burrow Head, Wigtownshire, en route Prestwick to Hawarden.

2nd pilot, F/O EE Uhlich (USA) (q.v.) also killed.

'Gen' Genovese (q.v.) wrote later that "the ship was one of the first Liberators in England, but... through some grim blunder on someone's part the anti-aircraft crew had not been advised of its being a new addition to the British Air Force. Elmer Ulich (sic) was shot down and killed by British anti-aircraft fire."

The official accident report says "Insufficient evidence to establish cause but thought to be through bad weather causing aircraft to catch fire in the air."

The ATA insurers paid his mother Edith and sister Violet £2,000.

buried Maidenhead Cemetery

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.10	Commodore	Sir Gerard John Regis Leo d'Erlanger CBE
	b. 1 Jun 1906, Bexley, Kent	11 Sep 1939 to 31 Dec 1945

1931

Brief Glory

Father: Emile Beaumont d'Erlanger (French, naturalised British in 1890)

Ed. Eton

m. 1928 American pianist Edythe A [Baker],

[divorced] ;

m. 1937 Gladys F [Sammut], 3 children

prev. a Banker, Director of British Overseas Airways

prev. exp. 670 hrs

Address in 1939: Lane Farm, Cherry Garden Lane, Nr Maidenhead.

6ft 2in tall, 'scar on left side of neck'

Postings: White Waltham

Although he was the Creator and Commanding Officer of the ATA, d'Erlanger insisted that he (and all his station commanders) flew as often as possible. In fact, he was deemed responsible for one accident:

- 31 Oct 1942: Typhoon Ib R7880 hit a ridge during take-off, he failed to control the resulting bounce and the propeller touched the ground.

He flew 54 different types of aircraft during his time with the ATA; everything from a Horsa glider up to Sunderlands and a Catalina. His instructors reported him a "safe good average pilot", but said his "aerobatics were poor". However, he showed a "real appreciation of the difficulties that can be encountered on flying boats."

 CBE in 1943

Chairman of BEA from 1947; Chairman of BOAC from 1956 - he said his aim was to make it the "most formidable and outstanding airline in the world."

d. 15 Dec 1962 - London

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.12	Commander	Frederick 'Joe' Ellam Jnr
	b. 15 Aug 1895, Bexley	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-41

1917

ATAM

RFC (17th London Regiment) and RAF Reserve 1914 to 1933

prev Director of Ellams Duplicator Co.

Transferred to MAP, November 1941

d. Sep 1973, Eastbourne 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.104	Flight Captain	Douglas Keith Fairweather
	b. 25 Oct 1890, Glasgow	11 Sep 1939 [* 11 Jun 1940 as pilot] to Apr-44

  (Mother Margaret, née Eureka)

Educated in Glasgow and Berlin; FCIPA, MIESS.

Chief Petty Officer in the RNVR, 1915-19

prev. Assistant Air Attache in the Hague

A Chartered Patent Agent - Cruikshank and Fairweather, 86, St Vincent St, Glasgow, with offices in London and Manchester.

prev exp. 1456 hrs. Owned Leopard Moth G-ACXH

* When Douglas took his test at CFS Upavon on 25 September 1939, he was graded 'D' [Douglas was rather overweight...] and therefore 'unsuitable for ferry work'. His contract with ATA was therefore cancelled on the 1st November, and it took them until the following June to set up their Air Movements Flight and re-start his ATA career as its first C.O..

Douglas wrote to the ATA on 3 Jun 1940: "I think I am due you a line to thank you for keeping the Chester job open until Thursday on my account. The job which you offered is not only tempting but would prove to be more pleasurable than any other now in sight, particularly in view of the possibility that I might not be grounded completely.

If the worst happens, I propose to train down to about 15 stone, so as to fit the RAF harness and go back to try my luck with Squadron Ldr. Cox at Upavaon. I have only to drop a pound a day to be ready for Cox in August, or for the Derby in 1945."

Early days at White Waltham, Anson taxi pilots - Ronny Malcolm (M140), Douglas Fairweather (M104), Jim Kempster and Harry Ellis (M139)  (Brief Glory)

He was off sick for 4 months in 1941 and had to have an orchidectomy; when he was recovering, Gerard d'Erlanger (Head of ATA) wrote to him: "It was nice to hear from you and I am glad that the surgeon is satisfied with your progress. Perhaps he has made a new man of you which will be cause for rejoicing all round".

Took command of 4b Ferry Pool, Prestwick, from November 1941 to August 1942.

"An excellent pilot and a most hard working officer who has never spared himself in the slightest. He has served me with absolute loyalty. He has a strong, somewhat excitable, character and a good heart. He has great influence, particularly with the American pilots whom he handles well. He is quite unorthodox and generally seems to get his results in a somewhat disorderly manner."

Not everyone appreciated Douglas' sense of humour; his C.O. MWS Boucher reported on 19 May 1942: "I have today reprimanded Capt Fairweather for 'conduct prejudicial to the interests of the ATA' despite his good qualities... I have been influenced by numerous instances of petty indiscipline which although small in themselves cannot be permitted to accumulate unchecked by official censure. I have handed to Capt Fairweather a list of his typical shortcomings and discussed the matter with him in detail."

d. 3 Apr 1944 (Died in ATA Service) - Anson N4895 lost in Irish Sea on ambulance flight White Waltham to Prestwick to pick up patient (with Nurse Kershaw). His body was washed up on the west coast of Scotland on the 22nd April.

"I was most distressed to learn that Douglas Fairweather was missing... He was such a great personality that his loss will seem a personal tragedy to many - as it does to me. I will of course write to his wife [Margie Fairweather q.v., who herself died a few weeks later]. How sad that he never saw the long awaited baby. My sincerest sympathy in the loss of such an old associate, such a fine pilot, and such a lovable character." Jack Keeling.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.---	First Officer	Herbert Roy Fields
	b. 26 Jul 1901, Hull	11 Sep 1939 to Aug-40

1929

1936

ATAM Jun 1940

a Garage Proprietor in Hull in 1929;

a Company Director in Dunswell E Yorks in 1936

d. 4 Aug 1940 (Died in ATA Service) - Miles Master flew into hill in fog and crashed at Burnhead Tweedsmuir Peebles

Buried Maidenhead Cemetery:

 "To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die"

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.16	Junior Captain	Walter Leslie 'Wal' Handley
	b. 5 Apr 1902, Birmingham	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-41

 Well-known motorcycle racer pre-WWII

d. 15 Nov 1941 (Died in ATA Service) - Airacobra AH598 caught fire in the air shortly after take-off from 12 M.U. and crashed nr Fingland, Cumbria.

"Major fire occurred in engine. A/C stalled and crashed. Cause of fire cannot be established but two possibilities:

1. Engine was over-boosted and over-revved on takeoff

2. A/C may have been run up with mixture control in full rich."

'Gen' Genovese was of the opinion that Wal's accident in the Airacobra was due to the fact that American aircraft would allow the pilot to over-rev and over-boost the engine, unlike British-built aircraft which restricted the power to what the engine could take. 

A memorial to Walter has recently been erected near where he crashed in his Airacobra after taking off from Kirkbride:

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.18	Flight Captain	Guy Wilfrid 'Bill' Harben MBE
	b. 17 Jul 1906, Richmond, Yorks	11 Sep 1939 to Oct-45

1931

ATAM

Ed. Charterhouse; FRGS

prev. Director of a greyhound track in Brighton; Director of Marlow aerodrome; Director of a tourist bureau.

A "most efficient and hard working pilot, with a keen sense of duty"

Far right, with Frankie Francis, Frank White, Doc Whitehurst, Klemens Dlugaszewski, Jim Mollison in Feb-42.

On sick leave for 5 weeks in Mar-Apr 1941 after crashing a Hurricane in bad weather.

d. Sep 1982, Wycombe Bucks

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.21	Captain	Anthony 'Graham' Head
	b. 14 Sep 1909, Hove Sussex	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-45

1930	with Susan Slade

prev pilot for Brooklands Aviation Ltd, and Flying Instructor in Civil Air Guard

In Jan-41 he was demoted to Second Officer for 6 months, for "Seriously unbecoming conduct at the Grosvenor Hotel, Chelsea, London", but by May they reported that "his discipline was poor but has improved greatly of late", and by 1944 he was "an excellent pilot with a most cheerful manner. His long term as a civilian instructor is of great value to Training Pool and he has proved himself fully capable of taking entire charge of the Pool."

Post-WWII, Marcus Hale's son tells me that "I knew him as a child, one of my father’s good flying mates. I often accompanied my father and Graham Head down to the local flying club at Sandown, Isle of Wight, and waited while they got plastered on G&T’s before going flying or flying through a fence, from laughing too much. The good old days.

d. Sep 1980, Hove 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.44*	Flight Captain	William Lovett 'Stewart' Keith-Jopp
	b. 29 Jul 1891, British India	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-45

Brief Glory

ATAM

WWI pilot; he lost an arm and an eye.

Commended for Valuable Service in the Air, 14 Jun 1945

d. Dec 1956, Cambridge 

M.24	Flight Captain	Donald Ian Menzies Kennard
	b. 3 Apr 1895, Prestwick	11 Sep 1939 to Sep-42

1931 (Flight)

ATAM 1939

prev. Scots Greys, Highland Light Infantry;

RFC then RAF 1914-1919, 1921-22 (retired due to ill health)

pre-WWII racing and professional pilot - about 7,000 hrs exp on light types

d. 15 Sep 1942 (Died in ATA Service) - Liberator III FK217 swung on take off at Boscombe Down, hit a hangar and caught fire. Flt-Eng FH Moseley also killed; 2 other aircraft damaged.

Tony Phelps (q.v.), who was due to fly in the Liberator, wrote about it later: "Not Ken. It just couldn't be Ken. One of the Grand Old Men of flying. A founder member of the ATA and one of the best pilots who ever lived."

His ashes were scattered off the coast of Scotland on 22 Sep 1942. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.26	Commander	Leonard Marshall Leaver OBE
	b. 5 Feb 1903, Weston-super-mare	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-45

1929

Manx Aviation & Military Museum

An 'Automobile Engineer' in 1929

"A very steady pilot and a great asset to any ferry pool"

Officer Commanding No 2FPP from November 1941, and ran it in "an extremely satisfactory manner".

d. Dec 1974, London 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.29	Flight Captain	Walter Mason
	b.18 May 1892, Bury St Edmunds	11 Sep 1939 to Nov-42

1918-25 Military Accounts Dept, Puna, India

Director of Mason & Co, Military Bootmakers, Catterick Army Camp Yorks

(click to enlarge)

A "careful and conscientious, but rather nervous pilot"

d. 21 Nov 1942 (Died in ATA Service) - Typhoon Ib DN251 crashed at Banbury Farm,  1.5 miles SW of Burwarton, Shropshire in bad visibility

This was his first accident, having safely delivered 482 aircraft. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.30	First Officer	Carill Stanley Napier
	b. 29 Apr 1907, London	11 Sep 1939 to Apr-41

6ft 1½in. Educated at Radley, 1921-29

Learnt to fly at Stag Lane, 1928

Apprenticed to Petters Ltd, Yeovil 1928-29, then Ricardo, Shoreham 1929-30

Son of the famous engine-maker Montague.

Competed in the King's Cup in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1937

"His one recreation apart from flying is the commendable indoor sport of darts. Believes that air-racing is good fun only when taken not too seriously.''

Technical Director and engine test pilot to Cirrus Hermes Engineering Co., and then from 1937 Chief Engineer (Engines) for Blackburn Aircraft Ltd.

prev exp 1600hrs. Owned 1931 Avro Avian G-ABIB

d. 29 Apr 1941 (Died in ATA Service) - on 3 Jan 1941, his Blenheim L1100 swung on takeoff from West Raynham and hit a hangar. Investigation showed that Carill had neglected to tighten the throttle friction nut, which was a contributory factor.

He was taken to Kings Lynn Hospital suffering from spinal, ankle and head injuries, then transferred to RAF Halton on the 8th February but died there from sepsis which led to heart failure.

Fellow pre-WWII air racer Peter Richards said "He was always cheery and a first class companion. If I had any technical troubles he would take endless trouble to help me out."

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.8	Captain	George Henry Lawrence Curtis
	b. 13 Apr 1903, London	11 Sep 1939 to Jan-42

1932

A 'Wiper Merchant' in 1932

prev exp 440 hrs

Ferry Records Officer from Feb-41

Resigned 7 Jan 1942

d. Sep 1982, Southend

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

ed. Aldenham then Cambridge

An antiquarian / art dealer in London

prev exp 501hrs. Owned 1930 DH Moth G-ABBO, and "a Fairchild".

ATA Contract terminated 1 Dec 1940; thereafter Leo continued as "Liaison Officer to ATA, without contract."

He ws later (1944) fined £75 plus 10 guineas costs, for "wilfully obstructing PC William Davey in the securing of public safety", after refusing to move back from an area being cleared of bombs. He said "My name is Partridge, and I will not move for you or anybody else"; he had, apparently, been drinking, but "was not drunk".

When told he would be arrested he said "I am a ferry pilot. I am not going for you trash". The judge was not impressed, telling him "You behaved extraordinarily badly. The difficulty is whether I am justified in keeping you out of prison. At times when there has been a raid, it is a very bad thing for a well-to-do man like yourself to behave in the outrageous way you did".

 The family firm founded by Leo's father still exists:

see http://www.frankpartridge.co.uk/about-frank-partridge/

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

A 'Garage Proprietor' in 1933

d. 17 Mar 1941 (Died in ATA Service) - Hurricane I Z7010 flew into high ground at Bledlow, Bucks in bad visibility. 

Educated at Malvern, and Chillon College Switzerland

A Stockbroker in 1937

m. 26 Apr 1940 in Chelsea, Angie [de Waltersdorff]

Address in 1940: 47 Rossmore Court, London NW

Left ATA in September 1942 and transferred to RAF Ferry Command.

d. 12 Nov 1942 in RAF Ferry Command, flying Catalina FP209 of 117 Sqn from Dorval which crashed in the Strait of Canso.

Commemorated at Runnymede.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1929

A journalist in Coventry in 1929

d. Feb 1985, London

1937

ATAM

A Ground Engineer in Brough in 1937

King's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air

d. Apr 1996, Hull

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1928

Address in 1939: 11 Boyne Hill Ave, Maidenhead

prev. Engineer, Straight Corporation

Lieutenant-Commander in the RNVR

Ferry Pool: Hucknall

[Contract Terminated by ATA 30 Jun 1940 - Disciplinary Reasons] but re-instated

[Resigned]

d. 2 Jan 1944, in Oxford MP299 from HMS Godwit (the naval air station at Hinstock, Shropshire) which spun into the ground at The Wrekin. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1933

ATAM

ATAM

 Father: Frank White, Mother: Elsie Mary [Geatches]

Ed. Mount Radford, Exeter

Airline pilot at Bristol Airport in 1933

m. 1936 Fanny Dieudonnee 'Donnee' [Vallance]

prev. exp. 350hrs

Address in 1939: 63 Coombe Lane, Westbury on Tryn, Bristol

One of the first 22 ATA pilots, who joined on the 11th September 1939.

Postings: 1FPP, 4FPP(as CO, later demoted), 4aFPP, 6FPP (as second-in-command), 14FPP

 He was relieved of his position as C.O. at Prestwick because (ATA Commanding Officer) Gerard d'Erlanger did not consider that Frank "exercised sufficient control over himself or his personnel".

Jan-43, from O.C. No 1 F.P.: "This pilot is a most valuable member of the Pool, who has performed all his duties - flying and administrative - with very great distinction. I have nothing but praise for him, and can recommend that he be considered for promotion if a suitable opening be forthcoming. I am at a loss to understand why he did not succeed when he was O.C. No 4 F.P. Such shortcomings as he exhibited at Prestwick seem to have been completely overcome."

 9 accidents, 1 his fault:

- 28 Mar 1940, his Spitfire P9422 nosed over during taxying, due to an unmarked soft patch in the runway

- 10 Feb 1941; forced landing in Hurricane I P3935 after an engine failure

- 1 Jun 1942, a forced landing in Spitfire EM590 after suffering excessive oil pressure

- 20 Jun 1942, the tail wheel of his Anson was damaged whilst taxying over rough ground

- 9 Dec 1942, part of the fabric of the starboard wing of his Whitley III detached in flight

- 11 May 1943, the tail wheel of his Wellington XH329 collapsed after a normal landing

- 13 Jul 1943, his Beaufort I struck a lorry and subsequently landed wheels up at the destination

- 1 Jul 1944, he could not lower the undercarriage of his Mustang I AG384 due to a stuck selector lever, and made a wheels-up landing

d. 7 Aug 1944 (Died in ATA Service) - Spitfire LFIX MJ413 stalled after take off and dived into ground at Ratcliffe.

"It is considered that the pilot took off in a hurried manner, started a steep climbing turn immediately after becoming airborne, and whilst in a vertical bank the aircraft stalled and crashed."

 Buried in Newton Abbott Cemetery:

 findagrave

His son tells me that "... the arrival of the telegram announcing his death is by far the clearest and most vivid memory of my childhood. My father had a few days leave, and so that he could see his parents as well as us, my mother had taken me to Newton Abbot. The telegram arrived when we we were at lunch. It was addressed to my mother, and she said “Oh, it’ll be from Ashton [as she called him] he said he’d let us know what train he’d be on”.... although I was only 6, I can remember that room in every detail, and where each of us was sitting, my grandparents, my mother and I."

[Frank's wife Dieudonnee had a son, Philip Frank Vallance White, on 2 Jan 1945. She married Bruce Anstey White, Frank's younger brother, in 1948]

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1935

ATA

Ed. "Secondary School"

m. 1927 Ethel Maud [Williams], 1 child

prev. a Beer Seller and Hotel Manager; he was the landlord of the 'Robin Hood' in Lichfield from 1937.

19 Nov 1939: "LICENCE TRANSFERRED The temporary transfer of the licence of the Robin Hood was granted from Samuel Bert Yardley to his wife, Ethel Maud Yardley."

Address in 1939: The Fox Hotel, Chaddesley, Corbett, nr Kidderminster

Postings: Filton, Woodley, 1FPP, 2FPP, 4FPP, 6FPP, 3FPP, 16FPP

Officer Commanding 16FPP from 27 Nov 1941, although to begin with Maitland Boucher thought that "The organisation of 16FPP has not stood the test of expansion. Commander Yardley tries to do too much himself."

To help him, the ATA "robbed other pools of highly efficient Adjutants", and the situation gradually improved "undoubtedly largely due to the efforts of Commander Yardley" - to the extent that d'Erlanger then criticized him for not doing enough ferry work himself.

 OBE in 1946

 d. 8 Nov 1949, Kidderminster

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1928

ATA

prev. an electrical engineer

ATA Pilot Contract terminated 21 May 1943 - after an accident in Feb 1942, ("a great loss to us") he became Officer in Charge, Squires Gate and finally Adjutant, No 1FPP

d. Sep 1972, Solihull 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1929

A descendant of Henry VII

prev. A Tea Planter

m. 1936 in Liverpool, Joan Staveley [Boumphrey], 2 children (Gail b. 1946 and Gordon b. 1949)

Joan also gained a pilot's certificate in Ceylon, in 1939:

Owned G-ADJN, a 1935 BA Swallow 2, which he wrote off in an accident at Lympne in September 1940.

His younger brother, George Evelyn Farquharson, married Joan Ursula Newnham 'Jill' Rees, who was later an MT Driver in the ATA, in 1940.

Postings:

Left the ATA to join the RAF - Pilot Officer from 6 May 1940, Flying Officer from 6 May 1941.

AFC in January 1944 (when he was a Flt-Lt with No 46 Maintenance Unit, RAFVR)

A Squadron Leader by 1946, when he and J.P. Obeysekara both flew Austers from the UK to Ceylon.

Emigrated to Rhodesia in 1958

d. 25 Oct 1984 - Hillcrest, Natal, South Africa

Chauffeur-Mechanic in Fulham in 1933

d. 1968?

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1928

1939

ATAM

A 'Warehouseman' in London in 1928

record-breaking glider pilot at Dunstable pre-WWII;

President of the British Gliding Association;

ATA Director of Operations Feb 1942 - Dec 45

d. 16 Jan 1978

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1938

ATA

prev. civil pilot -  'B' Licence holder

prev exp. 483 hrs on DH Moth, Puss Moth, Hornet, Leopard Moth, Tiger Moth, Tomtit, Avro 638, 640, 504N, Avian 

m. Oct 1934 in London, Norah [Penny or Ford] (one daughter b.1934)

Instructor's Report (Nov 1939) says "has no outstanding faults and has flown the Harvard, Battle and Blenheim very satisfactorily. He should be capable of flying all types."

Address in 1939: 'Crossways', Lower Babington, Wirral, Cheshire

Address in 1940: Meads, Pinkneys Green, Maidenhead, Berks (the home of his brother Paul')

Postings: Filton, 3FPP (White Waltham)

d. 25 May 1940 (the first pilot to die in ATA Service) - took off in Blackburn Botha L6160 from Yeadon but shortly after take-off, finding himself approaching two houses on high ground, banked steeply right and, in doing so, hit a stone boundary wall and crashed in Layton Rd, Horsforth, Yorks..

His next-of-kin (and Executor of hs will) was his brother, Lieut. Paul Clark, RN

buried Yeadon Cemetery, Leeds, Yorkshire

The £2,000 insurance money was paid to his widow Norah in October 1940, but on 15 August 1941 she wrote to the ATA:

"Dear Sirs,

I am wondering whether you could advise me or help me in the following manner:

I am left with a small daughter aged 7, and my living to earn, she will have to go to boarding school as I have no income coming in now.

[Is there] a possiblility of my getting a small pension, if not for myself, for my little girl to help towards her education, my husband's family are in Australia and I cannot get assistance from them, could you in any way possibly put me in touch with the right source of approach to anyone who could help me in this matter.

Thanking you in anticipation of a reply.

Yours Faithfully

Norah Clark (Mrs)"

 Nothing seems to have come of this, although an ATA Benevolent Fund file was opened for her (but not until July 1945).

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

A 'Director' in Birmingham in 1938

d. Mar 1973, Poole 

Address in 1939: 15 White Hall Parade, Cardiff

RAF 1919-28, Sgt Pilot

a Flying Instructor; Club Instructor at Newcastle, 1929

"An able and competent instructor but he should endeavour to use more tact and drive with the other instructors"

Grosvenor Trophy, 1929, 1949

d. Sep 1972, Cardiff 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

A garage proprietor in Newton, Porthcawl in 1935

d. Apr 1957, Blackpool

Owned 1936 Foster Wikner Wicko GM1 G-AENU

prev exp. 161 hr solo

prev. a construction engineer

d. 29 Aug 1940 (Died in ATA Service) - died from injuries received on 26th Aug; stalled when piloting Curtis Hawk AR666 which caught fire in the air. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAF 1928-32

A 'Conservative Agent' in Tavistock in 1939

later a Lt-Cmdr, RNR

d. Jun 1978, Exeter

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RFC, 1917

prev. London Scottish 1914, Border Regiment & R.E. 1915

RFC and RAF 1916-1919. RAF Overseas (Flt-Lt) 1924-37

One of the original 16 pilots of Imperial Airways; in fact, he was the pilot on its very first service on 26th April, 1924, flying D.H.34 G-EBCX from London (Croydon) to Paris (le Bourget).

Resigned 30 Jun 1941

 d. 12 Oct 1950, Manchester 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Flew with Major J.C. Savage's 'Sky Writers' at Hendon in the 1920s - borrowed an aeroplane to write a certain lady's name in the sky. She, of course, later became his wife.

And, would you believe it, he was in charge of the 'Scandinavian Sky-Writing Expedition' in 1923-24.

King's Cup in 1931

1933

ATA

The youngest of four brothers.

In 1933, a public schoolboy in Hythe, Kent; by 1936 a student at the de Havilland Technical School.

ATA Contract Terminated 4 Aug 1940; he then continued as a part-time pilot until 10 Nov 1941.

later, a test pilot for Fairey.

d. Aug 1987, Poole

Schlesinger Race in 1936 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RNAS, RAF 1916 to 1919 then Officer in Shropshire Yeomany to 1929.

Resident Ardoch, Braco, Perthshire in 1916

Owned a 1927 DH.60 Moth, G-EBQW, then a 1934 Stinson SR-5 Reliant, G-ACSV

Flight, June 23 1927: "Captain Eric Hayes has G-EBQW. He landed at Stag Lane one afternoon lately with his left arm in a sling, and he explained quite seriously that as he had dislocated his shoulder bone in a motorcycle accident, flying was now the only way he could get about the country."

 ATA Contract Terminated 25 Nov 1940

d. Mar 1959, Scilly Isles 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

W.25	Senior Commander	Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower MBE  Mrs Fahie
	b. 22 Jul 1910, Tunbridge Wells	1 Dec-39 to Oct-45

RAeC 1930

ATA

5 feet 5 in height, in case you wondered.

"In England you can count on one hand the women who are making a living directly from flying. Probably foremost among them are the two girl flyers, Pauline Gower and Dorothy Spicer, who work in partnership at joy-riding. Miss Gower is the pilot and Miss Spicer the mechanic."

Amy Mollison, writing in 1934

"Pauline Gower, one of the few women who has already achieved a successful commercial flying career, did joyriding last year in 185 different towns with a travelling air circus."

Mary Bertha de Bunsen

She was fined £222 in 1933, having taxied her Spartan into a stationary Moth at Cardiff while giving joy-rides in an air pageant (although she reckoned it had definitely moved since she checked where it was). Three years later, she was taken to hospital suffering from concussion and 'lacerations of the scalp' after she... collided with another aeroplane on the ground, this time at Coventry airport.

She owned:

a 1929 Simmonds Spartan, G-AAGO, (the one which she wrote off in the taxying accident in Cardiff in August 1933), and then

a 1931 Spartan Three Seater, G-ABKK, the one which she wrote off in the taxying accident at Coventry in May 1936.

During her air-taxi career, she was reckoned to have piloted more than 33,000 passengers.

In 1937 she, Amy Johnson and Dorothy Spicer invited "all women pilots interested in the idea of a central meeting-place for women aviators in London" to write to them, but I don't think it ever happened.

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

Founder and first Commandant of the Women's Section of the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1940; from 1943, a board member of BOAC. She had a narrow escape in August 1943 when 'Fortuna', an old Imperial Airways airliner, with her and 7 other BOAC officers aboard, made a forced landing near Shannon and was written off.

  HoM

Silver salver presented to Pauline on her wedding day on 2 June 1945, signed by over 90 of the women ATA pilots.  (Lois Butler signed twice, though)     Click to enlarge.

Married Wing Commander William Cusack Fahie in June 1945, but died of a heart attack in March 1947 giving birth to twin boys, one of whom, Michael, later published 'A Harvest of Memories' about her.

Pauline Gower and Dorothy Spicer - In Memory

by Claudia Parsons

 from "The Woman Engineer", Spring 1948

It is grimly ironical that Mrs Fahie, M.B.E., and Mrs Richard Pearse, better known as Pauline Gower and Dorothy Spicer, after the risks of their early youth and of the war, should meet death, the one through the age-old hazard of child-birth, the other as a passenger in an air liner flying to South America. It is also grimly tragic that these partners who risked, endured and enjoyed so much together should die within a year of each other. Though neither got further than the middle thirties they filled the brief interval between attaining majority and leaving life with a record of hard work, pioneering experience and fine achievement that was as gallant as it was short lived.

Yet in using that word 'gallant' one hesitates, not questioning its truth but out of consideration for the two who achieved this record, whose aim was never more than to pursue a private ambition and to do it well. The word 'gallant' would have been held by them in derision.

I feel honoured to write the appreciation of these two fellow members of The Women's Engineering Society, whose careers I always followed with particular interest since first meeting them on a tour of the Ford works at Dagenham, organised by the W.E.S. Mere babes they then seemed, the one very round of face the other with fairest hair, and it was only in the course of this visit that I learnt their names and remembered having read that Sir Robert Gower, M.P., had given his daughter an aeroplane as a twenty-first birthday present and that now, with Dorothy Spicer as her ground engineer, she was using the plane to give people joy-rides and for aerial taxi service.

In the following years as I watched these two soar ever higher, in the metaphorical rather than the literal sense, I used to ponder this parental gesture which, so early as 1931, might have seemed to many to be rash and courting trouble, and reflected how often really enterprising acts were well rewarded and that here was one that had laid the foundation stone of two successful careers. In this I was not altogether accurate; this was the coping rather than the foundation stone. The gesture was indeed the greatest assistance but in no means were Pauline or Dorothy ever financed or given much moral support in their early ambition, which at first was viewed as a joke by their contemporaries. Like Madame Curie, and others of set purpose, before embarking on their careers they had to find the money with which to train, and in this interest Dorothy spent a year in a London store and Pauline gave violin lessons and lectures at schools. This was while still in their teens and before joining forces, in their twenties, at Stag Lane aerodrome where they decided to go into partnership. Already therefore, in 1931, in spite of opposition and setback, Pauline had her A and B Flying Licences and Dorothy had an A Pilot's Licence and Engineer's Licence, and one rather gathers, reading the pages of Women with Wings - the book the two of them later published - that the hand of Sir Robert Gower was forced rather then held out eagerly with the gift of a two-seater Spartan plane. The gift was advanced only in the face of the inevitable, and as a safety measure, Pauline so often coming home late for meals with harrowing tales of forced landings with hired machines. (The forced landings were not always the fault of the machine.)

Indeed, in those early days of gaining experience, Pauline on a cross-country flight often came down to ask the way; there were narrow margins between forced landings and the petrol running dry; there was the occasion of flying the Channel at 250 feet and of making a forced landing at Brussels and finding it was Liege. Yes, there were many harrowing moments whose memory later made thri blood run cold, but there was also the exuberance and confidence of youth and a very decided will to conquer. It was perhaps typical that in her night flying test for the B Pilot's Licence, after two hours in the air, cut off from the earth by a ground fog that had formed, Pauline, determined not to become panic-stricken, suddenly remembered an old friend - her mouth organ - on which she played 'Show me the way to go home'. And she was shown.

If these two started with a light-hearted attitude towards flying, their subsequent experiences in joy-riding, in joining up with Air Pageants and Air Circuses and in working in all weathers and cvonditions, gave them a far higher sense of respinsibility. They formed themselves into a Limited Liability Company - Air Trips, Ltd. - and worked for two seasons from a field near Hunstanton where they themselves camped beside their plane in a caravan. B~y the time she had carried 3,000 passengers Pauline was foremost among women air pilots in skill and reliability and had added to her A and B Licences a Navigator's Licence and a G.P.O. Wireless Operator's Certificate. Meanwhile Dorothy had had wide experience of servicing machines and in the winter, during enforced flying activity, had studied for her Engineer's Licences, the first woman ever to attain the A, B, C and D Engineering Licences. Pauline often stressed how much the safety of herself and her passengers depended on Dorothy's efficient care of the machine; her praise was equally divided between Dorothy's engineering ability and, on those long periods of camping, her excellent cooking.

It is scarcely necessary to to remind fellow members of the later achievements of these two pioneers. With such experience behind them it is not surprising that they gave valuable service to their country both during the war and in the years preceeding it when they played a leading part in making the public air-minded. Members of the WES will remember papers read by each of them at the September Conference in 1937. In 1938 Dorothy joined the staff of the Air Registration Board and added to her qualifications a No 1 Glider's (Engineering) Licence. Later in this year, and with Pauline as her bridesmaid, she was married to Squadron Leader Richard Pearse who, when the war broke out, was in the RAF Coastal Command. Just before the war Patricia Mary was born and later Dorothy took up war work with the Ministry of Aircraft Production on research in connection with engines in flight. With her husband posted to her Flight, she had the unique opprtunity of working in war-time together with her husband. It was after the war, in December, 1946, and retired from their war activities, that Wing Commander and Mrs Pearse lost their lives in the air liner that crashed near Rio de Janeiro. Their daughter Patricia survives them.

In the meantime Pauline, who in 1938, had obtained an Air Ministry's Instructor's Licence, had been appointed to serve on the Committee investigating the position of civil aviation in this country, and later was made District Commissioner for the London area of the Civil Air Guard. Of her activities in building up the Women's branch of the A.T.A., members of the WES heard her oqn account when, in 1946, she gave us an interesting talk on this subject, accompanied now by her husband, Wing Commander Fahie, RAFVR, to whom she was married in 1945.

When invited to be Commandant of the women pilots in the A.T.A., Pauline stipulated that she must have a free hand in order to do this, a condition for which, interestingly, another great woman pioneer stipulated when asked to take over the hospital service in the Crimea. The fine achievement of the women serving in the A.T.A., their record, and the fact that some of them were finally ferrying heavy four-engined bombers, is a proof of how well Pauline used her powers. In 1943 she was appointed a member of the board of the British Overseas Airways Corporation. Pauline died on March 2nd, 1947, her twin sons surviving her.

That is the record of what they did; a bleak summary of achievements is unavailing, however, unless some mention is also made of what they were. Impressive as their qualifications, achievbements and later honours might be, it was the human side that interested most people, it was their pleasant unaffected charm that everyone noticed. One can pay no higher tribute to Dorothy than to recall Pauline's description of her, referring to their partnership, as one whose 'business' reliability proved always as unfailing as her friendship. There is also the tribute paid by Amy Johnson, who was their friend of long standing and who finally worked under Pauline for the A.T.A. In the foreword she wrote for Women with Wings she refers to staying at Pauline's home at Tunbridge Wells and listening to her and Dorothy singing to the banjulele, and winds up: "I played the part of spectator, admiring the utterly unspoiled character of two girls who have done more than their bit in making aviation history."

They owed their leading position in the field of aviation to hard work and often severe discomfort; they never set out on record-breaking or otherwise spectacular flights; they did what they did because they enjoyed it and it was the thing they had chosen and wanted to master. There was no intention of ending life swiftly and heroically; they had every hope of seeing this precarious century to its final chapter and Pauline in her book prophesied a time when she and Dorothy would be old ladies still flying an antiquated machine and the passengers in a rocket would lean out and say, "Look at those old girls in that pre-historic bus!" Alas, this is no longer a possibility but to what extent air transport has been influenced by the two who will never be old ladies, and whose memory will always be associated with youth, is impossible to measure.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Mary 'Henrietta' or 'Hetty' Stapleton-Bretherton

b. 12 Jul 1906

Dec-39 to Mar-1941

Mrs Archer-Shee from 1940 - 1953

d. 1995

nee Harrisson

Her father was a G.P. Dr. Ernest  Henry Harrisson and they lived at 'The Priory' and/or 'The Shrubbery', St Neots. He was famous for bringing the St Neots [Miles] quadruplets into the world in 1935.

She had an older brother [John Ernest McRae], a  twin sister [Daphne Louisa], a younger brother George Granville, and a younger sister Muriel (b. 1912).

Educated at Burchett House, Dorking

m. Sep 1926 James Francis 'Frank' Crossley. In 1930 they lived in Mallowry, Riseley, N. Beds.

They had 1 child, John James, b. 1929 (he apparently "often flew with her.") **

 The Tatler, 1935

prev. exp 1866 hrs on 'most single engine types; slight knowledge of twins'.

Owned a DH Gyspy Moth I in 1935. Learnt to fly at the Norfolk and Norwich Aero Club.

prev. performed aerobatics with CWA Scott's 'Flying for All' Aerial Circus:

Mrs. Crossley, the Display's lady aerobatic pilot, with Master Rice (whose father deals with the publicity) and the Hillson-Praga Baby monoplane.  [Flight, Apr 1936)

3 Sep 1936: (Flying for All) "Mrs. Winifred Crossley provides one of the most amazing features of the display. She is the first woman acrobatic pilot, and although she has only been flying for two years she has reached a surprisingly high standard."

... then the only woman pilot for Air Publicity Ltd, Heston from 1936, towing advertising banners; for example, in July 1937 she flew over Whitehall towing a banner reading "Give All Civil Servants Pensions".

Lived in Gamlingay, Beds from 1932-39. Represented Bedfordshire at lawn tennis.

Address in 1940: Newhaven Court Hotel, Cromer, Norfolk

4-engine (Class 5) pilot

Postings: Hatfield, 5FPP, 9FPP, 6FPP, 4FPP

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

"General Conduct: Average. Qualities of Leadership: Not markedly good. A pleasant and amiable person who is friendly and helpful to her less experienced colleagues."

"Has now cultivated a sense of responsibility. Very reliable pilot."

  with Joan Hughes in 1940

In 1944 Norman Whitehurst wrote: "A smooth and polished pilot. She is apprehensive of poor weather to an extraordinary degree for such an experienced and good pilot. Discipline is fair and her influence, which is considerable, is not perhaps always in the best interests of the unit. She has lately shown improvement in this respect. She is at all times an amiable person of great charm and is extremely kind-hearted."

 ELC

Separated from her first husband Frank; in 1943 she married Canadian airline captain Peter Cleugh Fair, later General Manager of BOAC-owned Bahamas Airways in Nassau.

Daily Record - Thursday 09 September 1943: "FLYING ROMANCE. Mrs. WINIFRED CROSSLEY, one of Britain’s finest women fliers, is spending a golfing holiday in Ayrshire with her fiance, Captain P. C. Fair, of British Airways. Slim, dark-haired, she is the daughter of the late Dr. E H Harrison, who brought the St. Neots quads into the world. She flew milk for the quads from London daily during the first weeks of their life. Captain Fair, who has been flying for 18 years, says that his bride-to-be is a better pilot than himself. She has done 4,000 flying hours, probably far more than any other woman in the world."

Peter Cleugh Fair (b. 18 May 1906 in Ontario) had travelled to England in 1927 and joined the RAF. He was promoted to Flying Officer in Dec 1928, was stationed at Uxbridge in 1934, and eventually was placed on the retired list at his own request in April 1937.

In  January 1955, when 'fun-loving royal' Princess Margaret flew from London to Trinidad for an official visit, she was piloted by "Captain Peter Cleugh Fair, 48-year old Canadian who has flown the Atlantic nearly 400 times.

Captain Fair is one of BOAC's senior commanders and has logged more than 13,000 flying hours."

** Sadly, her son died in 1950: "On November 18, 1950, at Bovey Tracey. John James Crossley, only son of Mr. Frank Crossley and Mrs. Winifred Fair" Western Morning News

Western Times - Friday 24 November 1950: "LOSS TO PARISH.—The death of Mr. John Crossley has cast a gloom over local cricketing circles. Deceased was only about 22, and had been a playing member of the Bovey Tracey Cricket Club for some years. He lived at Harbertonford. His death came with tragic suddenness. He was at Bovey Tracey on Thursday night last, and, not feeling very well, went to bed. Returning to his home, he became worse, and on Saturday was removed to Bovey hospital, where he died soon after admission. Only a fortnight ago he received the president's bat for being the best all-rounder for last season. Mr. Crossley was a nephew of Dr. John Harrison, the president of Bovey Tracey Cricket Club. There was a large attendance at the funeral service held in Bovey Tracey parish church. The Rev. G. O. C. Duxbury, M.A.. vicar, officiated. Members of the club acted as bearers."

l to r Ann Wood-Kelly, Lettice Curtis, Ruth Ballard and Winnie, Nassau 1957 (ELC)

They came back to the UK to visit Alan and Lois Butler in Studham in 1960.

Peter died in 1961, and was buried with his mother [Sophia Meiklejohn Cleugh Fair] and brother [Howard Cleugh Fair] in Pennsylvania. 

Winnie moved back to the UK and d. 1984 in Aylesbury, Bucks.

[Ultimate trivia fact: Winifred's younger sister Muriel married Peter Fair's brother Alfred!] 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1933

Dec 1939

 Ed. Laurel Bank School, Glasgow.

Father: Professor James Cunnison, of 19 Montrose Gardens, Milngavie, Dumbartonshire.

5 foot 2, eyes of, er, hazel. Veronica Inness described her as "a rather dour little Scotswoman"

From May 1937, Chief Flying Instructor with the Strathtay Aero Club, Perth (the one in Scotland). She was only the second woman in Scotland to gain a commercial pilot’s licence, and the first to become a flying instructor. 

 Jun 1937, with quite tall members of Strathtay Aero Club

"Miss Margaret Cunnison, flying instructress of Strathtay Aero Club, Perth, giving some wrinkles to a pupil"  - The Courier and Advertiser, 13 Jul 1937

She married Major Geoffrey Bruce Ebbage, an ophthalmic surgeon with the RAMC, in 1941.

She then became one of the 'First 8' women ATA pilots, joining on the 1st January 1940 as a Second Officer.

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

After couple of years at Hatfield, she was posted to Luton as an instructor; her report at the time said she "is a steady and reliable pilot. She works extremely hard and has proved invaluable as an instructor on light types".

She was promoted to Flight Captain in Feb 1942, but suffered a bout of appendicitis from July to October, and then went off sick again on the 19th December 1942 and never returned to the ATA; her contract was terminated in March 1943.

She did, indeed, only work on 'light types'; her log book shows 'Moth, Magister, Courier, Master, Oxford, Hart, Proctor, Rapide, Anson and Piper Cub'.

d: 4 January, 2004, in Haddington, aged 89 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Cunnison

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1931

4-engine (Class 5) pilot

Mrs King-Farlow from 1925 to 1936;

Mrs Fairweather from 1938.

The eldest daughter of Lord Walter and Lady Hilda Runciman.

Her brother Walter (co-Director, with Connie Leathart (q.v.), of Cramlington Aircraft, First Director-General of BOAC, Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, OBE, etc, etc) became the 2nd Viscount Runciman of Doxford, and her sister Katherine ('Kitty') was adjutant for the Women's Section of the ATA from March 1941.

I sometimes feel that Margie gets a bad press; she was, apparently, quiet and rather withdrawn, (nicknamed 'Mrs Cold Front') and, in photos, always seems to have that far-away look in her (green, btw) eyes. But, her ability, and her devotion to duty and to her friends, were never in doubt.

She got her RAeC certificate in 1937. In fact, she acquired her first aeroplane from her brother Walter; a 1931-reg D.H. Puss Moth G-ABLG, which he had flown in two King's Cup races.

She had married Roderick Nettleton King-Farlow in July 1925. Their daughter Ann was born in 1931, but they divorced in 1936, and she then married Douglas Keith Fairweather in March 1938. He was a businessman from Glasgow, and her complete opposite - outgoing, irreverent, and very eccentric. 

Margie then sold her aeroplane, and she and Douglas re-registered his Puss Moth G-ABYP in their joint names. Later they also bought a Leopard Moth, G-ACXH.

She had a horrible experience in 1939 when her friend, Dr. Elizabeth Cook, was killed by walking into the propeller of the aeroplane Margaret was about to pilot; they were going to fly to Paris for a holiday, and the plane was standing with the engine ticking over.

 FAI 1939

So, prior to WWII she was one of the most experienced women pilots in the country, with 1,050 hours of civilian flying, and (from late 1937) was an instructor with the Scottish Flying Club. She had flown Miles Whitney Straights, D.H. Moths, Puss Moths, Tiger Moths, Fox Moths, Leopard Moths, Hornet Moths, Dart Kitten, Taylor Cub, Potez, and Percival Vega Gull, in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, France Switzerland and Austria.

Not surprisingly then, she was one of the 'First Eight' Women ATA pilots at Hatfield, starting in January 1940. Her training went well: "The handling characteristics of the Service trainer were entirely novel to Mrs. Fairweather, but having once mastered the take-off, she had no further difficulty, and is now able to fly both Master and Oxford satisfactorily. Her cockpit drill is excellent'"

Douglas also joined the ATA as a pilot. He was devoted to Margie; as Lettice Curtis says in Forgotten Pilots: he was once heard to say, "I love Margie, better than any dog I  ever had," and then more thoughtfully, "or even a pig or a cat."

 [For more about Douglas, I can recommend 'Brief Glory - the Story of the ATA']

On the 3rd March 1941 she was one of the four women especially praised by Pauline Gower: "The following pilots during the past year have been outstanding from the point of view of hard work and have set an example to others:- Mrs M Wilberforce [exceptional devotion to duty], Miss M Cunnison [great devotion to duty], Hon Mrs M Fairweather [has shown great devotion to duty, and worked hard and conscientiously as a taxi pilot], and Miss J Hughes [has shown devotion to duty]."

[Mona Friedlander, Rosemary Rees, Lois Butler, Gabrielle Patterson and Winifred Crossley also get a mention [they have 'worked hard and conscientiously'], and Pauline added that "had Miss Amy Johnson still been with us [she had died on the 5th January], her name would have been particularly mentioned".]

 In May 1941 Margie requested extra leave:

"Dear Commander Whitehurst,

As you know I have a daughter of twelve years of age. She is at boarding school during the term time, but for half of the period of each holidays I am responsible for her care. With the assistance of my family I have managed up to now fairly well without interfering with my work, but I now, owing to reasons of health and occupation I can no longer count on this help and paid help is almost impossible to come by.

In these circumstances I am writing to enquire whether ATA would consider granting me an extra week's leave in the summer, and a fortnight's extra leave at both Xmas and Easter, it being understood that any leave so granted would be without pay."

The request was granted, and Margie and Douglas took Ann for a holiday in a small farmhouse in Western Scotland [where they acquired a baby goat, which Douglas later took with him on at least one ferry flight.]

She and Douglas were both posted to Prestwick (4b Ferry Pool, Northern Area) in November 1941.

On the 14th December, she wrote to Pauline Gower:

"Sunday,

Dear Pauline,

I was hampered in talking to you the other day by the crowd around the telephone, amongst which were persons about whom I wanted to speak.

I am not sure we can make good use of the lady in question at this moment. We need a second ground person in this office but he or she must, as well as doing adjutant duties, be a good shorthand typist. Unless we combine the jobs there isn't sufficient to do. The lady's counterpart is doing 'ops' just now with only moderate success. It would be a pity to get her up here if that falls through. She is too 'choosy' for our mixed bag of aeroplanes to come only as a pilot. I am sorry we raised her hopes so high. Perhaps in a week or two the matter might be reconsidered if you have no other plans in view for her.

I have at last caught a Wellington for myself. I flew it with great pleasure from Prestwick to Sherburne today and am now here on my way back with a Hurricane. I found it very like a big Anson, & I can see no reason why any of the normally hefty of us should find them too heavy. It was tough today & at slow speeds as when coming in to land you have to heave and push but forewarned there is no difficulty. I wonder who of the others have had one and what they think.

We have had a tragedy already in no. 4b FPP. A charming American called Wiley who was posted to us left Speke on Wednesday afternoon & has not been heard of since. It is strange (or perhaps just a matter of psychology) how it always seems to be the nice ones that go and the toughs who remain.

Living in the … hotel as we are doing amongst all the over-night ATA one gets a bit of a … about humanity. I was almost pleased to see Mary H[unter], & Veronica [Volkersz] yesterday by contrast! Douglas is in his element entertaining his visiting pilots; clearly our post war job must be public house proprietors with Douglas as 'mine host'.

Please make Kitty write to me again soon. I loved getting your letters. When are you coming to inspect me? I wish you would.

I would love to have a talk. Are you likely to be at W[hite] W[altham] without warning if I cadge an aeroplane to that point?

with love, Margie."

She was promoted to Flight Captain in February 1942, in charge of the Women's Flight at Prestwick. Her Commanding Officer said that she was a "very reliable and steady ferry pilot... she has been a very real help to me." Shortly after that, she had her spat with Irene Arckless (q.v.)

 She also had an 'incident' on the 24th March 1943 - flying a Halifax (she was one of only 11 women cleared for 4-engine aircraft), the bolts securing an engine cowling broke away and fouled a propeller. Luckily, she was uninjured.

However, she was in big trouble in May 1943 - some Flight Captain or other (I can't make out the signature) wrote to Pauline:

"It is observed that F/Capt Mrs Fairweather is not complying with Standing Orders re. her hair. Also, this pilot still persists in wearing grey coloured stockings, whereas black is the order. Will you please be good enough to point out to this pilot that the Commanding Officer's Instructions in regard to 'Dress Regulations' must be complied with."

There is a scribbled note "Is anything ever done?", but, indeed, no sign of anything else happening...

 And then, on the 14th September 1943, (so, when Margie was nearly 42), and rather out of the blue , came this:

"Flight Captain Mrs Fairweather is pregnant and I recommend that her contract is terminated with three months' pay in lieu of notice."

[The ATA policy was that women who became pregnant would have their contracts terminated, to give them 3 months salary. However, Pauline soon discovered that Margie was "not interested in the financial aspect, but would rather have her contract suspended" and added,"I think we might well meet her wishes in this case."]

So, her contract was suspended, and she duly returned back to work on the 15th June 1944. By then, sadly, Douglas was dead; he and ATA Nurse Kathleen Kershaw had crashed in the Irish Sea, on a mercy flight to Prestwick. Douglas and Margie's daughter Elizabeth was born a few days after his death.

And then Margie herself died in another crash soon after, on the 4th August 1944. It happened on a communications flight in Percival Proctor III LZ801; the engine 'faded out', she force-landed in a field near Wrexham, but hadn't seen a ditch at the end of it. The aircraft went nose first into the ditch.

She, and her sister Kitty suffering from severe fractures to her right leg, were taken to Chester Royal Infirmary. Margie had serious head injuries; the third person on board, Lewis Kendrick, had minor abrasions. Margie died at 11 p.m., without regaining consciousness.

The technical investigation showed that the vent pipe of the port fuel tank was completely blocked by a film of dope, causing the tank to collapse. "In these circumstances the petrol gauge is likely to have indicated that the tank still contained fuel, when in fact it was dry."

Blame was heaped on everyone involved in ensuring the aircraft had been fit to fly: The Chief Engineer, and the Engineers in Charge at White Waltham, for failing to ensure that it had been serviced properly;  the Officer-in-Charge Air Movements Bay; the Engineering Inspector, for failing to ensure that the fitters were competent, and the two fitters who failed to notice the blocked vent.

The report recommended that procedures were changed, and Proctors modified, to prevent it happening again.

The cause of death was 'extensive skull fracture'; I've not come across any reference to Margie's spectacles shattering and contributing to her death, although this has been suggested recently.

She is buried, together with Douglas, in Dunure Cemetery, South Ayrshire. Near Prestwick.

 http://scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/

28th August 1944

Dear Mr d'Erlanger,

You will I hope forgive me for being slow to thank you for your kind letter & for what you say of Margaret's work, and I would like especially to thank you for all the kindness and consideration shown to my daughter Ruth & for all the arrangements made for the funeral which we could not have wished otherwise. I would be grateful if you could also pass on our thanks to whoever in the RAF was responsible for allowing her to lie in that little war cemetery beside Douglas. We very greatly valued the kindness that prompted that decision.

I am afraid it will be a long time before Kitty is up & about, but we are glad to have no real anxiety about her.

Hilda Runciman

Margie's loss was "a great blow to ATA, for she was not only one of our best women pilots, but in her modest and enthusiastic manner set an almost unequalled example of unselfish devotion to duty."

Oxford DNB : "Fairweather [née Runciman], Margaret (1901–1944), airwoman, was born at West Denton Hall, near Newcastle upon Tyne, on 23 September 1901, the second in a family of two sons and three daughters of Walter Runciman, first Viscount Runciman (1870–1949), and his wife, Hilda Stevenson (1869–1956) [see Runciman, Hilda]. Margie, as she was always known, was educated initially at home together with her younger brother Steven (later Sir Steven Runciman) by a governess who taught them Greek and Latin at an early age. She then attended a number of educational institutions including The Mount, a Quaker school in York, and Notting Hill high school, from where she went to Girton College, Cambridge. After a year she dropped out of Girton to study singing in Paris, though she never performed professionally. She married Roderick Sydney Nettleton King-Farlow (1900–1988), the son of Sir Sydney Charles Nettleton King-Farlow, at St Margaret's, Westminster, on 15 July 1925. A daughter was born in 1931. The marriage ended in divorce in 1936.

In the autumn of 1936 Margie learned to fly at Newcastle Aero Club and was issued with her aviator's certificate (licence no. 14687) by the Royal Aero Club on 13 January 1937. She was planning to fly solo to Australia but changed her mind when she met a fellow pilot, Douglas Keith Fairweather (1891–1944), son of Sir Walter Fairweather. They were married on 28 March 1938. In that year Lord Runciman was sent on the ill-fated mission to Prague to mediate between the German and Czech governments. Fairweather flew out herself to visit him. During a European tour that same year she and Douglas, under the guise of tourists, photographed unrecorded German airfields. She also sent back letters to her brother Steven which seemingly contained only trivial domestic details. On her return, however, she decoded these to recover intelligence data.

With the threat of war looming, in October 1938 the Civil Air Guard scheme was inaugurated to provide subsidized training of pilots through the civil flying clubs. As experienced pilots, Margie and her husband became instructors at Renfrew. Douglas Fairweather was one of the first to sign contracts with the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) for service with the AirTransportAuxiliary (ATA) in September 1939.

Many women, qualified flying instructors with considerable flying experience, volunteered to serve with the ATA. However, the pilots enrolled by BOAC under the ATA scheme were employed in RAF ferry pilots' pools and the RAF would not agree to the employment of women in their ferry pools. This problem was solved in December 1939 when Pauline Gower (who became commandant of the women's ATA) was informed that a small pool of eight women based at Hatfield could be formed to ferry Tiger Moths to stored reserves.

With over 1000 flying hours, Margaret Fairweather was one of that select band who signed contracts with the ATA on 1 January 1940. This departure from tradition caused a furore in a world in which professional women were still a novelty. Press and newsreel gave full publicity to the event and the so-called ‘ATA girls’ were under constant scrutiny. However, ferrying Tiger Moths from Hatfield to storage reserves, some as far away as Kinloss, Perth, and Lossiemouth, and returning by overnight train, often with no sleeper in midwinter, was not the glamorous occupation some imagined. In July 1941 ATA women pilots were cleared to fly operational aircraft and Margaret Fairweather was one of the first four chosen to do practice landings in a Hurricane. These four carried a burden of responsibility as the future of all women pilots in the ATA depended on them.

Meanwhile Douglas Fairweather was joint commanding officer at Prestwick. In 1942 he was posted to no. 1 ferry pool, White Waltham, to take charge of the air movements flight. Margie was then posted to join him. For the rest of her time there she was engaged in communication duties and it was on one such assignment that she met her death—the only one not to survive among the original eight who served from the very beginning.

Gradually more operational types of plane were being flown by women and the progression was made from single engine to twin aircraft to advanced twin, and eventually eleven women pilots were qualified to fly four-engined aircraft. Fairweather was one of the eleven. She was considered by her fellow pilots to be one of the most intelligent and able, though rather quiet and self-effacing. In fact, according to her daughter, her nickname was Mrs Cold Front.

On 3 April 1944 Douglas Fairweather volunteered to go to Prestwick to collect an ambulance case requiring special treatment. In appalling weather, somewhere over the Irish Sea, the Anson came down and both he and the nurse travelling with him were lost. Margie gave birth to their daughter Elizabeth a few days later. Margie returned to flying only to be killed herself four months later. She was piloting a Proctor to Scotland on 4 August 1944 with two passengers on board when the engine failed near Malpas, Cheshire. All three were taken to Chester Royal Infirmary where Fairweather died soon afterwards. Her passengers were her sister, the Hon. Kitty Farrer, adjutant of the ATA, and Louis Kendrick of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. They recovered, escaping with injuries. Douglas Fairweather's body was washed up on the Ayrshire coast. Margaret Fairweather and he were both buried in the small churchyard of Dunure, Ayrshire." 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1936 - Brooklands

ATA

1939 Bassano

Father: Ernest Friedlander (German, naturalised 1909 - "founder and chairman of the well-known banking firm of Singer and Friedlander"). Mother: Vera(na)

Educated 'abroad', (Vienna, Switzerland, Germany) and at the Royal School of Arts and the LSE in London (Commerce Examinations).

5 foot 5 inches tall; hair and eyes: dark brown. Religion: Hebrew (sic). 

Ken Waller taught her to fly

Her uncle, V. Mansfield, was a Colonel in the British Army in WWI.

 prev. pilot for Air Taxis, Croydon, giving "5 bob joy rides"

Mona was in the squad for the British Women's Ice Hockey teams who faced France in 1934 and 1935, but Britain lost the first and only drew the second. She was a defender, playing for her club the London Lambs; against France "probably the fastest skater on either side, and certainly the strongest".

  Playing for the 'Wembley Lionesses' in 1937 - Daily Mirror

In 1938, "Airwoman Mona Friedlander, who played left-back for England. was the most dashing player on the ice. Dressed in a short black split skirt and a blue and white jersey —the England uniform—she was all over the ice, leaving a trail of devastation in her wake. Her enthusiasm led her into trouble. She was sent off twice, but made up for it by scoring two of England's goals."

From 1st March 1939 to the end of November, she worked as an Army Cooperation pilot, flying in front of anti-aircraft batteries to help them with the aiming and ranging of guns and searchlights. The Sketch said "We take our hat off to Miss Mona Friedlander - for being an attractive night-flying target that no-one should miss"

  1940

She was then one of the 'First 8' women pilots of the ATA, joining on 1st January 1940 as a Second Officer. At the time, she had 600 hours experience, on 'most light types'.

Postings: Hatfield, 5FPP

She married Major Alan Forward, M.C. in June 1941; by then, she had had 3 accidents:

- 4 Oct 1940, she failed to get the undercarriage of Oxford V3325 down and locked before landing;

- 25 Mar 1941, she had a forced landing in Lysander P1727 when the engine failed, and

- 29 Apr 1941, another forced landing Hawker Hind 4643, during which she collided with a cow in the field, which ended up costing the ATA £150.

She was exonerated in all 3 accidents.

Her report says "First Officer Forward is a good pilot and a hard worker. She has been unfortunate in the matter of accidents but cannot be held responsible for those she has had. On one isolated occasion she showed bad airmanship - this has not been repeated" but added (rather strangely in view of her ice hockey-playing career before the war), "Physical endurance rather below average."

She was promoted to First Officer in May 1942, but in September hit a parked Anson when taxying a Hudson, then in October suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Typhoon, remained off sick until February 1943 and then resigned.

During her ATA career, Mona flew 32 types of aircraft up to 'Class 4' (Advanced Twin Engined), including 20hrs on Wellingtons and 10 hrs on Mosquitos. 

post-ATA, Censor for the Ministry of Information

Moved to Egypt. Flew one of a flight of 8 Fairchilds down to Johannesberg for £50.

d. 24 Dec 1993 - Yeovil

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Friedlander

IWM interview here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009073

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1935 - London Aeroplane Club

ATA

Father: Arthur Edward Hughes, a braid manufacturer,, mother: Lily Amelia [Lekeup] of Acreage, Harlow Common, Harlow, Essex

Educated 'privately'. 5 foot 2, build: slight, eyes: hazel.

"Miss Joan Hughes, who will be sixteen in April, is working hard to become an efficient aviator" - The Sketch, Mar 1934

"Miss Joan Hughes, a schoolgirl, says her ambition is to run an air-taxi service in partnership with her brother" - Leeds Mercury, 4 Apr 1934

She celebrated her 17th birthday by qualifying for her RAeC Certificate, making her, at the time, the youngest flyer in Great Britain.

She became an instructor with Chigwell Flying Club, then joined the Civil Air Guard at Romford in 1938.

prev. exp. 620 hrs (at the time, the women needed 600 hrs to join ATA)

Postings: 5FPP, AFTS, EFTS, 1FPP, 6FPP, 15FPP

4-engine (Class 5) pilot

Margaret, Mona and Joan in January 1940

The youngest of the 'First Eight' women ATA members who joined on the 1st January 1940, she mostly continued as an instructor, eventually at the Advanced Flying Training School at White Waltham. She did, however, ferry many types of aircraft, including Hurricane, Spitfire, Lysander, Typhoon, Mosquito, York, Fortress, Lancaster, Halifax, Liberator and Stirling.

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

She had 4 mishaps (one deemed to be her fault); 

- 12 Dec 1940, her Oxford skidded on loose ice on the runway

- 22 Aug 1941, a forced landing in Hurricane N2588 when the undercarriage jammed

- 4 Jun 1942, a landing accident when she was instructing Jocelyne Hotham in Hart K6486, which swung and tipped onto a wing,

- 22 Dec 1944, another forced landing in a Stirling III, LJ506. This was due to "[Port Outer] No 12 cylinder induction elbow blowing off")

One of the iconic images of the ATA - Joan, dwarfed by a Stirling (Brief Glory)

Her flying was always highly praised: "First Officer Hughes is an exceptionally good and level-headed pilot. She has worked extremely hard and conscientiously... a capable pilot on the Stirling; of above average ability, who, in spite of her small stature, handled the aircraft in a most satisfactory manner. She is to be complimented on such an excellent performance."

One small criticism, however: "her technical knowledge is a long way behind her flying ability & she should spend more time in study of this branch."

After WWII Joan moved to the West London Aero Club in White Waltham, then the British Airways Flying Club at Booker.

She coached Kenneth More for his role as Douglas Bader in the film 'Reach for the Sky' (1956).

She was awarded her RAF 'Wings' in June 1954, the last of 5 women (all ex-ATA pilots) to do so when serving with the short-lived (1 Feb 1949 - 1954) Women's Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (WRAFVR). The others were Jean Bird, Jackie Moggridge, Freydis Leaf and Benedetta Willis. 

 In 1956, Veronica Volkersz wrote that Joan was one of ".. only seven [women ATA pilots] are now flying commercially... Five-foot-nothing Joan Hughes, one of the few ATA girls who did the Class 5 conversion, subsequently ferrying four-engine bombers and instructing on Harvards and Hudsons, is chief flying instructor of the West London Aero Club at White Waltham"

She concluded that "The tragedy is that for women, commercial aviation is now - except, possibly, in Russia - a closed field."

n 1961 she was awarded the Jean Lennox Bird Trophy; she had trained more than 50 pilots during the year.

 MUWW

In 1965 she flew a replica of a 1909 Santos-Dumont Demoiselle in the film "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines", and then a replica in simulated dog-fights for the film "The Blue Max". She later visited the US where she appeared on a television quiz show as a mystery guest.

Miss Hughes was one of the display pilots at the Shuttleworth Trust during the 1960s: "These aircraft are wonderfully removed from scientific aircraft. Everything depends on the pilot's skill, so you feel more personally involved. Apart from that you are open to the weather".

Bob Brion tells me that "Joan was my instructor at White Waltham in 1955 flying Tiger Moths... [She] treated me as an equal in what was a different world in the 50s. I have always had the greatest respect for her and her accomplishments.

A great lady."

She retired in 1985 with 11,800 hours in her logbook, 10,000 of which were as instructor, and "devoted herself to tennis, music and country walks".

She died age 74, on the 16 August 1993 in Taunton, Somerset.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

IWM interview here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80008455

1934	1938	1939
RAeC Cert 1931

Father: Malcolm Burr, a mining engineer, Mother: Clara Millicent [Goode]

A lady with her own opinions, particularly about race handicapping, which you can read here.

b. 6th July 1905 in Paddington, London, the eldest of four daughters; grew up in Dover, Kent, but her father was a rather peripatetic amateur entomologist and she was educated all over Europe, including Paris, Berlin, Budapest, and Vienna.

Was very busy in 1931; described as a 'secretary' [actually, she was the Company Secretary of her mother's family firm of upmarket china and glassware merchants, Thos Goode & Sons], and living in Maida Vale, London, acquired both her aviator's 'A' Certificate (No 9752), and her husband, Mr Arthur L 'Pat' Patterson.

"Arthur Patterson, "Mrs Pat's " husband, and himself a distinguished aeronautical engineer, takes some of the weekly classes at Romford. Here he is giving instruction on rigging." The Bystander, 1939

[The 1932 Spartan 3-seater G-AWBO belonging to Romford Flying Club was damaged by fire in Feb 1940]

At the same time (May 1931), she also competed in the Ladies event at Reading - the other competitors were Amy Johnson, Grace Aitken, Pauline Gower, Dorothy Spicer, Susan Slade, Winifred Spooner, Christina Young, and Fidelia Crossley - a historic gathering indeed.

Her son, Ian, was born in 1932 in Eton, Oxfordshire, but Gabrielle and Pat divorced in 1939.

By 1933, she was the first woman (in Britain, at least) to hold an instructor's certificate.

She entered the King's Cup Air Race in 1934, flying a Miles Hawk G-ACTZ designed by ‘Blossom’ Miles, wife of Fred Miles:

In 1938, she wrote an article on the subject 'Would women make good instructors in the event of war'. She, of course, was already a successful instructor, although admittedly her experience was limited, because "a man who is paying for his flying, and whose average age is probably a little greater on that account, is more amenable to reason than the youngster of eighteen to twenty, with his wild oats still unsown."

She thought that women instructors would probably cope, though; "The instructor always starts with the advantage of his pupil's spontaneous respect for a (relative) master of his subject, coupled with a very natural wish to shine. The woman instructor has the added advantage that this respect is enhanced by her supposed greater difficulties in acquiring that (relative) mastery and with the instinctive desire of the male to impress the female. By tactfully and subtly indicating the conduct in the air and on the ground which does win her confidence and does impress her, she can obtain it in nine cases out of ten, and in the face of such a proportion she could certainly count on disciplinary measures for the tenth."

But she worried whether there would actually be enough women to become instructors; her experience was that women didn't make such good puplis as men. "It is arguable that since of good men pilots only a few make good instructors, amongst women (where the number of good pilots is a lower percentage of pupils) the quantity of good instructors would be so small that there could be no justification for spending public funds in discovering them."

The reason for this, she thought, was that "women pilots hitherto have consisted only of those with large enough bank balances".

Flight reported her activities at the time: "19 May 1938: "ROMFORD. Miss Amy Johnson visited the Romford Flying Club last Sunday to present a flag and charter to the National Women's Air Reserve which operates there. There are 125 members of the Reserve, taking flying instruction with Mrs. G. M. Patterson."

15 June, 1939: "Mrs. G. Patterson's G.A.P.A.N. Appointment. All who have come into contact with her will wish to congratulate Mrs. Gabrielle Patterson on her appointment to the Panel of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators. This is the first time that a woman has received the appointment.

Mrs. Patterson has been a flying instructor for some years and is now leader of the National Women's Air Reserve, the organisation which has been putting in a good deal of flying —and securing no little amount of newspaper publicity—at Maylands Aerodrome, Romford. Mrs. Patterson herself, it may be added, has always shunned any sort of personal publicity.

She is, we believe, a first-rate pilot and an extremely capable instructor."

She was living in Bristol, aged 34, with about 1,530 hours experience when WWII broke out in September 1939; her son was at Prep. School.

She filled in the application form for the ATA that December; her 'types flown' at the time consisted of "Moth Major, Tigers, Avro Cadet, Avian, Cygnet, Hornet Moths, Cirrus I, II and III Moths, Gypsy Moths, Spartans, Puss and Leopard Moths, Klemm, Swallow, Civilian Coupe, Miles Hawk and Hawk Major, and Miles Whitney Straight" and she had owned "a Miles Whitney Straight, a Puss Moth, 2 Gypsy Moths, and 2 Swallows (Only 1 any good)". As well as in the UK, she had flown in Germany, Belgium, Holland and France.

She gave her next of kin as Arthur Patterson RNVR.

She started as one of the 'First Eight' highly-experienced women pilots at Hatfield the following month. After a while ferrying trainers at No 5 Ferry Pool, she had to learn to fly new types. Her instructors duly reported that she was "a good and very experienced pilot", and she was "keenly aware of her own limits , which I feel is an excellent feature of her character. Has the makings of a first-class ferry pilot."... "A polished pilot whose capabilities are limited by her physique. In view of her undoubted ability and experience I regard her as somewhat under-confident."

She had 2 accidents; in December 1940, flying a Rapide X7322, (she was deemed to be 'at fault') and in May 1942, when the undercarriage of Spitfre Vc BP863 jammed in the 'up' position (she was 'not to blame').

During her time with the ATA, she flew these types:

Moth (155 hrs); Miles Master (35 hrs); Oxford (105 hrs); Proctor (8 hrs); Hart (1 hr); Dominie (25 hrs); Magister (6 hrs); Harvard (8 hrs); Q.6 (1 hr); Lysander (6 hrs); DH86 (1 hr); Anson (42 hrs); Hurricane (26 hrs); Rapide (2 hrs); Spitfire (33 hrs); Blenheim (21 hrs); Douglas variants (1 hr); Defiant (1 hr); Fairchild (26 hrs); Hampden (3 hrs); Wellington (26 hrs); Hudson (6 hrs); Tutor (1 hr); Botha (3 hrs); Stinson (2 hrs); Whitley (1 hr); Beaufighter (2 hrs); Mosquito (2 hrs); Swordfish (4 hrs) and Typhoon (1 hr).

However, her slight physique also let her down in other ways; she was off sick with measles for a month in Apr-May 1941, then 2 weeks in March 1942 with an infected elbow, then a month (Oct-Nov 1942), and finally (in Feb-Mar 1943) another month with 'bronchial cattarh'. Her contract was terminated in June and she left the ATA as a First Officer [which I always find surprising; she was never promoted to 'Flight Captain'].

She died relatively young, sadly; having completed a degree at Manchester University in the 50s, she moved to France but fell ill with cancer, moved back to Little Missenden, Bucks, to live with her sister, but died there on 31st October 1968, aged 63.

Her ashes were scattered from the air over White Waltham airfield in March 1969.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1934

GW

Father: Sir John David Rees Bt, KCIE, SCVO, MP for East Nottingham d. 1922; Mother Mary Catherine [Dormer]

  with her mother, the Hon. Lady Rees, in 1935 - Bystander

One brother, Richard (Ed. Eton and Cambridge, Lieut (SP) RNVR in WWII, author and artist)

[Both her Royal Aero Club Certificate, and her ATA record, have her date of birth as 23 Sep 1906, knocking five years off her age]

Ed. 'private' - she said "I had no proper schooling, except what I read in books and by listening to my parents" - followed by ballet school in Chelsea

prev. a dancer (member of a dancing troupe which toured Ceylon, China and America - she later said "they were all very vulgar"); then decided to learn to fly, persuaded by Gordon Selfridge and instructed by Valentine Baker, and toured all round Europe:

  with Delia Crossley (r) in 1935 - Bystander

  1936 - "Miss Rosemary Rees lands at Salzburg" - The Tatler

During 1939, she worked for Army Co-operation, target towing

prev. exp. 630 hrs, in 'most light types', throughout Europe; she owned G-ADBT, a 1935 Miles M.2H Hawk Major, which she sold to SJ Hawley and replaced it with a Miles Whitney Straight.

She volunteered to fly Christmas presents to Prague in December 1938, for Czech refugees.

Address in 1940: Hillside Cottage, Witheridge Hill, Henley-on-Thames

Postings: 15FPP (as second-in-command), 1FPP

4-engine (Class 5) pilot 

She hated Tiger Moths ("beastly little trainers"), after her experience in pre-war monoplanes, but loved the 'darling' Anson

Flew 91 types of aircraft with ATA

 One accident, her fault:

- 20 Apr 1941, she 'employed the wrong landing technique' in a Lysander and damaged an undercarriage leg

"[operational ability] Excellent. A capable pilot who carries out her flying duties well". "an extremely intelligent and able officer", however:

"... possesses all the potential qualities of leadership - courage, direct thinking and intelligence, but does not command the respect those qualities entitle her to... she allows her personal wishes to play too large a part in the affairs of the Pool."

Post-war, joined RAFVR

m. 3 Nov 1950 in Westminster, Sir Philip Harvey Du Cros, (second baronet, Cavalry Officer in WWI, d. 1975)

She continued flying; buying a war-surplus Percival Proctor, she gained her commercial licence and operated an air-taxi charter firm, Sky Taxi, for five years.

Wrote her memoir 'ATA Girls' in 1983

d. 8 Mar 1994 - Little Bocombe, Parkham, N Devon

1986 IWM interview here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009148

Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1930

1940

 née Ogilvie-Forbes

Father: John Charles M Ogilvie-Forbes, the 9th Laird of Boyndlie, Aberdeenshire, "a dour character who studied for the Anglican priesthood but was converted to Rome by Cardinal Newman and devoted most of his time after that to serving the Vatican as a Papal Chamberlain." - Dublin Evening Herald

Mother: Anne Marguerite

One of 7 children

Ed. Convent of Jesus and Mary, Stony Stratford; Somerville College, Oxford (Agriculture)

"At Oxford she took a keen interest in sports: she was an accomplished exponent of ju-jitsu and was a member of the women's mountaineering team. She also acted in the productions of the university's French Club."

She owned G-EBQV, a 1927 DH.60 Moth, (withdrawn from use in 1936), and then G-ADMP, a 1936 DH.87b Hornet Moth which was impressed as BK837 on the 5 Sep 1940, and written off in 1941: "She used them to ferry livestock to and from her Essex farm, Nevendon Manor, sometimes from as far afield as Hungary."

  Nevendon Manor, Wickford, Essex

She entered the Hornet Moth for the 1936 Cotswold Handicap Air Race, held to celebrate the opening of the Gloucester and Cheltenham Airport. 

"From 1929 she had also taken a keen interest in the work of the Fairbridge charity whose aim was to take orphaned children from overcrowded British cities and find them homes in agricultural communities in the Dominions. In the late 1920s and early 1930s she visited Canada and Australia to look over farm schools there. She continued her involvement in the Fairbridge Farm Schools until late in her life. Having no children herself, she often had Fairbridge children to stay with her for extended periods."

m. 1932 in Ventnor, IoW Robert William Francis Wilberforce, a solicitor

["Her husband-to-be was for some time undecided between the state of matrimony and a vocation to the priesthood, eventually deciding to test the strength of the latter by spending six months in a monastery. When this period was over Marion was at the monastery gates to collect him"

 prev. Flying Instructor and Charter work for Southend Flying Club

prev. exp 900 hrs

One of the 'First Eight' women pilots in January 1940:

 Marion far right

 Postings: 5FPP (as CO)

 4-engine (Class 5) pilot

   1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

Off sick from 31 May to 10 Aug 1943 after a thyroidectomy

 3 accidents, one her fault:

- 8 Apr 1942, the hood of her Battle V1234 came loose and blew away

- 25 Sep 1942, landing at Little Rissington in Tomahawk AH901, she swung off the runway to clear a vehicle and the aircraft tipped over

- 23 Jan 1944, she collided with a Jeep in her Spitfire. She was not held to blame as "the jeep stopped within a few feet of her; she could not reasonably have seen it in these conditions."

She declined an MBE.

"Marion Wilberforce was the quintessential 'Atagirl': resourceful, daring and skilled, with more than a touch of eccentricity in her make-up."

 She carried on flying until she was 80, in the second of her Hornet Moths which she called the "Old Lady's Bath Chair":

  Aberdeen Evening Express, 1970

 She was also Master of the Essex Union Hunt in 1970, and had to apologise to a local family after their little girl's tabby cat was found dead near the route the Hunt had followed. She visited the family's caravan, apologised, offered sympathy and "offered to replace the cat."

d. 17 Dec 1995, aged 93 - Stroud, Glos.

Buried St Joseph Roman Catholic Churchyard, Bishop Thornton, Harrogate Borough, North Yorkshire, England

[Unacknowledged quotes are from her obituary in The Times] 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1945

prev. LAC in RAF 1923 - 1929, including 2 years in Iraq

m. 1933 Cecilia Edith Mary [Gyatt]

In 1936, an aero engineer for Lockheed

Mary du Bunsen refers to him in Mount up with Wings: "Our instructor, a man called Gribble, was great fun and taught well but he had a sharp tongue. Luckily it was a man he picked on as a target for his witticisms, a little man with an enormous handlebar moustache, [presumably Victor Baxter-Jones, who joined two weeks before Mary] who apologised to the class, quite unnecessarily, for having let Gribble get him in such a lather that he didn't know what ten per cent of a hundred was."...

"But the women did not escape unscathed, though we had our little triumphs. one day he handed the class an awkward calculation about fuel consumption, saying 'This is where the women usually break down', and I produced a slide-rule, which I had been storing up for some such moment, and got it right first go."

Address in 1945: 24 Boyn Hill, Maidenhead

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.

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

Learnt to fly in 1936 at the Witney and Oxford Aero Club

On the 8 Mar 1941, his C.O. wrote that he was amongst those pilots who "have been outstanding in the way they have worked, and the example they have set".

d. 1999, New Forest, Hants 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1917

1937

ATAM

Learnt to fly in 1917 at Bournemouth Aviation School (on a Caudron) while a Lieutenant in the RFC, then renewed his RAeC Licence in 1937 in Belfast

RAF post-WWI

MBE in 1943

His father (also Asa) was head of Lingard's Drapers in Bradford

d. 1 Jan 1971, New Forest, Hants 

Ed. St Andrews College, then Madras College

prev. Flt-Lieut in RAF 1932-38, then Lieut in RN 1938-39

Postings: 4FPP, 4aFPP, 8FPP, 14FPP

Suspended for 2 days without pay in May-41 for 'continued unpunctuality'

"Very good pilot, inclined to be careless with money... he reported to No 8 F.P. with his uniform in a disgraceful condition."

[Resigned]

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Read engineering at Jesus College, Cambridge, but left when his father died, and formed Air Log Ltd in May 1932, making instruments for aircraft and ships. Commissioned into the RAF in WWII, initially as a test pilot and then with 601 (County of London) Squadron AAF at Tangmere during the Battle of Britain. Later posted to Egypt. At least 10 victories.

His 1942 DSO citation reads "Wing Cdr Mayers is an expert on bombing and machine-gun attacks and his tactical knowledge has contributed much to the success of long-range fighter operations. On two occasions in May this officer led a formation in attacks on aircraft bringing supplies to the enemy and destroyed many of them."

Killed in WWII: 20th July, 1942 when a Wing Commander 250 Sqn RAFVR; commemorated on the Alamein Memorial.

Mayers radioed that he was having engine trouble and was making a forced landing in the Qattara Depression. His aircraft was found and, there being no trace of him, it was presumed that he had been captured. Mayers was not heard of again and may have been lost in a Ju52, which was shot down whilst ferrying PoW’s to Germany.

King's Cup in 1932, London-Newcastle race in 1932

see http://www.bbm.org.uk/Mayers.htm

His family had made their fortune in the mustard trade.

Ed. Eton (left in 1921)

Height: 6ft 4½ in. Fair hair, blue eyes.

In 1931, he was Venetia Montagu's personal pilot when they decided to tour Persia and Russia in her DH.60G Gipsy Moth G-ABFW. They left Heston on March 27th, reached Budapest on April 1, made a forced landing at Nisch, Jugoslavia, but were able to fly to Constantinople on the 13th April. 20 days later on May 2nd, "when flying from Teheran to Moscow, their machine crashed near Sabzawar, Persia, and, although the machine was burnt, they were both unhurt.”

It only took her a couple of weeks to find another aeroplane, however; she purchased a ‘Moth‘ in Iraq, and left for Astrabad, on the Russian frontier, on May 16. They arrived in Moscow from Tashkent on June 1st, and left for Berlin on June 3rd.

In 1934, he was described as "a very well-known air pilot, of Papillon Hall, Market Harborough, Leicestershire".

He was fined £10, plus 3 guineas costs, in 1936 for persistently smoking on board the Imperial Airways airliner 'Heracles'. He said at the time "I shall smoke if I like, I have always done so". The Times reported that Mr Bellville had joined the Auxiliary Air Force in 1926 and had flown "all over the Continent and all over Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Persia, India, Siam and China". The court was thinking about letting him off with a warning, but were put off by what they described as his "defiant attitude".

In late August 1937, he got himself into the Spanish Civil War (on General Franco's side) and was briefly taken prisoner by the republicans. Apparently, he had (wrongly) heard that Santander had fallen to the nationalists, so he flew himself and the head of the Gonzales Byass sherry firm there, with "a few cases of sherry for the officers of the victorious troops". When they landed at the airport, he discovered his mistake and was taken prisoner and forced to fly to Gijon, while his passenger was held as a hostage. I don't know what happened to the aeroplane... or the sherry!

Rupert was released 10 Sep, 1937, prompting a question in the House of Commons as to "in what circumstances, on whose authority, and at what cost a British destroyer was dispatched" to rescue him.

He sold Papillon Court the following year and thereafter gave his address as "White's Club, London."

His son Hercules ** was born in San Diego in 1939 (Rupert's then-wife was American).

 He resigned from the ATA on 19 Nov 1940.

He gave his profession in 1946 as (trust me) "a bullfighter".

He was declared bankrupt in 1955.

d. 23 Jul 1962, London

His obituary said "Rupert's death will leave a gap in many places. He had a host of friends in London, Paris, New York, Spain, and wherever else his wanderings took him and these friends were of all sections of the community.

Rupert's tragedy was that he was born in the wrong age. He would have been an ideal companion for d'Artagnan or would have been in his element helping Francis Drake to singe the King of Spain's beard. These things being denied to him in this material age, he nevertheless contrived to find adventure in every walk of life. He fought bulls in Spain and became a brilliant air pilot in the years before the war. He also took part in the Spanish Civil War. He loved to gamble and some of his happiest hours must have been spent at backgammon tables all over the world and at the bridge table.

There were times, perhaps, when the world became too much for him but his many friends will remember him for his cavalier qualities and his companionship. To paraphrase the words from which his great friend Ernest Hemingway took the title of a book, "... never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee".

** His son Hercules, who became a famous film director and producer, died of lung cancer on 12 Feb 2009. 

 photo: 1927, aged 37

Born in London but brought up mainly in County Monaghan, Ireland.

Her family's home was Rossmore Castle, which was a grand affair built in the 1820s, with turrets, a vast drawing room and servants' quarters, not to mention about 20 cottages on the estate:

 www.monaghan.ie/museum

Here she is, with her brother Willie, and parents (Mittie and Derry) on a set of steps by the house, in 1913:

 Throttle Full Open

I visited County Monaghan in 2014 and asked in the local museum if they knew where the house was. 'Oh yes' they said, 'but it was demolished forty years ago'. It seems that it became severely infested with dry rot in the 1940s, was abandoned and, indeed, demolished in 1975.

Anyway, here's all that's left of it now:

Mary married South African mining magnate and white suprematist politician Sir Abe Bailey in September 1911 (so, she was 21, he was nearly 47; his first wife had died in 1902 and he already had two children). They then had five more children - 2 boys and 3 girls.

She learnt to fly at the London Aeroplane Club in 1926. She was the first woman to fly across the Irish Sea 'by the long route' from Chester to Dublin, the following August.

The following March (1928) she began a solo tour to Cape Town, via Malta and then Cairo. Here, her plane was locked away by order of the Governor-General of the Sudan to prevent her from continuing alone, so she contacted Dick Bentley (who had flown to the Cape a few weeks before) to escort her in his own aeroplane over the "dangerous area of the southern Sudan". She then crashed in Tanganyika, writing off her aeroplane (she said it was her fault), but Abe made arrangements for a replacement Moth to be delivered from Pretoria and she continued, despite having 'flu. Abe was there to meet her when she arrived at the end of April. 

The return journey was made via the western 'French' route - the Belgian Congo, Angola and the French Congo. She finally arrived back at Croydon on 16 January, 1929, 10 months after she left. It was "undoubtedly one of the finest performances ever put up by a woman pilot." 

Lady Bailey was "so modest, so vague and so charming", and was "surprised that anyone should make a fuss about her journey". 

A Director of National Flying Services in 1929, (with Frederick Guest, Colonel the Master of Sempill, Alan Cobham, etc); she was also awarded the Brittania Trophy by the Royal Aero Club, and then made a Dame of the British Empire in 1930 for "services to aviation".

 At the Chateau d'Ardennes in 1930

She was a guest at Amelia Earhart's reception at the RAeC in May 1932 - photo here.

In early 1933 she gave everyone a scare by disappearing for several days on another solo flight to Cape Town; thankfully, she had only got lost, run low on fuel and landed safely in the Sahara. [Bert Hinkler, who disappeared at about the same time, was killed in the Alps]. She then flew back to England and almost immediately went down with a bout of typhoid, but recovered in time to compete in the King's Cup later in the year.

After that, she concentrated on looking after their horses, giving and attending loads more balls and receptions, and marrying off their many children.

When Abe died in 1940, she settled near Cape Town (still keeping a house in Rutland) and died there 29th August 1960 aged 69.

King's Cup in 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933

Lady Mary's aeroplanes were:

a 1926 DH.60 Moth (G-EBPU),

a 1927 DH.60X Moth (G-EBSF, the one she crashed in Tanganyika),

the replacement DH.60X Moth (G-EBTG, which Abe bought in Nairobi);

a 1928 DH.60G Gipsy Moth (G-AABN);

a 1929 DH.60G Gipsy Moth (G-AAEE) and

a 1930 DH.80A Puss Moth, G-AAYA. 

RAeC 1929

King's Cup 1933

Lois and Winnie at Hatfield

née Reed

the "beautiful" [so said Harald Penrose] wife of Alan Butler. (Later, the 'Flying Grandmother')

Her first husband (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh William Knox-Niven) having died in 1923, she married Alan Butler in 1925; together they had a daughter and a son.

15th in the Women’s Combined Alpine Skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympics, skating for her native Canada (although she was a member of the British Team before that).

Postings: 5FPP

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

Completed more than 1,000 hours, in 36 types of aircraft.

2 accidents, neither her fault:

- 24 Jan 1942, the wing flaps of Hurricane AG202 were damaged by water from melting snow, during a precautionary landing at Abingdon

- 6 Aug 1942, a forced landing at Cranwell in Anson DG761, after starboard engine failure

Post-WWII, the Butlers moved to Rhodesia and bought a tobacco farm, but eventually moved back to Studham Hall, Bedfordshire.

She owned a 1930 DH.80A Puss Moth G-ABGX, which was sold in France in December 1934, re-registered as F-AMRX and whose registration was finally cancelled in 1936.

d. 17 Aug 1970 in Piraeus, Attiki, Greece from a heart attack while on holiday, and is buried in Studham.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Butler

1935

Father: Alfred Stephen Reed (d. 8 Oct 1939); Mother: Madeline Cecil [Murphy-Grimshaw]

prev. Lieut. in Royal Artillery; BOAC Pilot

Summoned in 1933 for "causing unnecessary noise with his car."

He said to PC Durrant, who arrested him, "I don't as a rule try to square you people, but if you can see your way clear to overlook this I will have the car altered". However, the Chairman of the Bench was determined to stop "this nonsense of these horrible contraptions called sports cars" and fined him £1.

Address in 1935: RA Mess, Fort Brockhurst, Gosport, Kent

Address in 1940: Westover, Croyde Bay, Devon

 d. 23 Sep 1940 (age 28) (Died in ATA) Beaufort swung on approach and wing hit ground at Dumfries 

* Personnel file missing

c. 1938

ATAM

Ed. N. Sydney C of E Grammar School

Prev. Technical Director, Wicko and Foster Wikner Aircraft Companies:

[e.g. here is his Wicko 'Wizard' from 1934:

 'Flight' ,

and

'The Wicko over the River Trent' by fellow ATA pilot Stanley Orton Bradshaw (q.v.) ]

 m. Gertrude Violet (b, 27 Aug 1914, d. 21 Apr 1952 after an operation - Newcastle, NSW, Australia)

Address in 1940: The Round House, Danes Rd,  Romsey, Hants

prev. exp. 500 hrs

 --------------

Postings: 2FPP, 1FPP, 5FPP, 6FPP, 15FPP (as Commanding Officer, from 10 Feb to 5 Dec 1941)

"A keen, hard-working officer of considerable flying ability who has now delivered over 1,000 aircraft (61 types), as well as flying 524 hrs as a taxi pilot"

Off sick from 10 Mar to 13 Jul 1943 after a flying accident, when his Typhoon suffered a complete engine failure during approach.

Demoted from Flight Captain to First Officer for a month in Oct 1943 for "wilful disobedience of Standing Orders C.2 and D.21"

Certificate of Commendation, 29 Aug 1944: he was "ferrying a Lancaster when a technical problem caused all four propellers to randomly feather and unfeather. He managed to recover the use of the port engines and make a safe forced landing."

Feb-45: "This officer has the experience and ability necessary for leadership but he now has little ambition to hold any responsibility in ATA and is well content to only undertake such responsibilities as may be assigned to him from time to time. These he carries out in a capable manner"

 -----------

The Flight of "Waltzing Matilda"

 BG

Unable to get a passage back to Australia, Geoffrey bought a war-surplus Halifax to fly him, his wife and two children 13,000 miles "to see his mother and other relatives in Australia".

He advertised for passengers willing to share the cost, and got about 500 replies, along with thousands of telephone calls. They decided to give priority to girls who wanted to be married in Australia, as they were "not allowed priority, like girls who are already married to Australians."

The Halifax B.III was taken to Radlett and fitted out with canvas seats for 15 people, "and other modifications" (which, let's hope, included a toilet... or two...?) 

"Plotting their course: Captain and Trudy Wikner with their children Kynaston Val and Isabel Christina" - The Sketch, 23 Jan 1946

----

 Famous pre-war pilot Neville Stack was due to be the co-pilot, but two weeks before departure he declined.

Dr. C. B. Heald, who was intending to be the on-board medical officer, also pulled out in late March.

June Newton, a secretary from Cheltenham who was originally 'thrilled' to be offfered a place, also dropped out in March; she changed her mind and decided to go by sea instead.

Eventually, he took these 19 people with him,

- wife Trudy, children [Kynaston] Val and [Isabel] Christina; 

- Audrey Joan Morgan (co-pilot). Audrey (q.v.) was also an ex-ATA ferry pilot, and said she wanted to go because she was "fed up with England";

- Charles B. 'Scotty' Scott, DFC, DFM (ex-RAF, Navigator), from Fife, and his 30-month old daughter Anne. His Australian wife had planned to go too, but died three weeks before take-off;

- Horace Charles 'Bonny' Seccombe, (Flight Engineer) also ex-ATA, who Geoffrey said was "really the only crew member I could not have done without";

- Capt. Thomas 'Tom' Sulman (Flight Engineer), a well-known racing motorist, originally from Sydney, ex-British Army, who also helped with the conversion of the aeroplane. A widower, he went to see his 18 year old daughter and 80 year old mother;

- Gordon Toye (Radio Operator), because he "held a PMG licence, although he had only worked in air sea rescue boats".;

- Capt. A B Carter;

- Mr E C Webb;

- Inman Hunter, a British-born film editor who "hoped to make films in Australia";

- Mrs Ruby Colleano, an 'acrobatic dancer' from Melbourne, who was visiting Australia again after 20 years;

- Mrs Eileen Rust, from Katinning, Western Australia, a 39-year old former WAAF corporal who had married in England. She wanted to visit her 76-year old mother, who was ill;

- Mrs Winifred E Montgomery, who had married an Australian ship's engineer;

- Mrs Morough Bernard, wife of a serving member of the RAAF; he saw her off at Hurn;

- Lady Farwell; an Australian, b. Euphemia Leslie Russell Hope, the oldest passenger (aged 60), widow of Sir Christopher Farwell (a former English Chancery Judge, who died in 1943), returning to Australia after 30 years away;

- Miss Noreen Brown, who acted as secretary for the flight;

- Miss Freda Surridge, from Surrey, who went to meet her fiance, RAN Surgeon Lt. MacAlpine Mackay, in Sydney, and

- Miss Mary 'Mollie' Bremner, who made the trip "for fun", and "because she wanted to see Australia".

They took food, a tent in case of emergencies, and toys and games "to amuse the excited children". All luggage (each passenger was allowed 100lb) was stowed in the bomb bay and the passengers either sat in the canvas seats or were dispersed around the aircraft in the various crew positions.

     RAeC

(l) Charles Scott (Dundee Courier);

(r) Val and Christina Wikner have their Mae Wests fitted by E C Webb, one of the passengers

    RAeC

(l) Mrs Morrough Bernard and Freda Surridge fitting on their lifebelts before the departure;

(r) Ruby Colleano and Audrey Morgan walking to the plane for the take-off.

They took off from Hurn airport at 10 a.m. on the 24 May 1946, and arrived, 73 flying hours spread over 22 days later, on the 11 Jun 1946. Lady Farwell was not on board by then; she flew from Brisbane to Melbourne by private aircraft.

 Geoffrey's parents (Major Wikner and Mrs M I Wikner) were the first to greet them on their arrival.

L to R: Val Wikner (9), Audrey Morgan, Capt. Wikner, Chrisabel Wikner (5 1/2) and Mrs Wikner.

d. 27 Jun 1990, NSW Australia 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1932

ATAM

prev. with Mac Fisheries Ltd

 "5ft 10ins, build: medium, eyes: hazel".

Father: William Thomas Lowe. Educated at Seaford College, Sussex.

A salesman in 1932, when 'Flight' said he was 'in the wholesale fish business' (in fact, he worked for Mac Fisheries Ltd).

For the 1938 King's Cup Race, (in which he came 9th out of 19), 'Flight' described him thus: "He has been a consistent competitor in air races, though last year - when he had the bad luck to retire at Glasgow in the eliminating contest - was his first King's Cup race. He won the 1937 Manx Air Derby. He lives at Twickenham, Middlesex, and plays golf and Rugby football."

   Flight

He also won the 1936 Portsmouth - Shoreham - Portsmouth race, averaging 126mph, in his Comper Swift (presumably the very lovely G-ABWE, although he later owned the Gipsy-engined [and therefore plug-ugly, imho] 'WW'):

    AJJ

He modified 'WW in 1938 to have a hinged racing windscreen and a fairing between the wing bracing struts, which are visible here. Them fairings must have made the visibility even worse...

He married Enid Eileen Thirlwell in 1939, and they had a daughter in 1943.

Stanley was very successful in the ATA, rising through the ranks to become a Commander by March 1945 and only leaving in November 1945, when the ATA ws disbanded. His recommendation for promotion in February 1945 reads like the appraisal I never got, praising his "excellent quality of leadership, occupational ability, punctuality, attendance, general conduct and discipline".

In over 5 years he flew 41 types of aeroplane, up to and including all 4-engine types, without any serious incident. His instructors reported him to be 'a competent pilot, obliging, efficient, considerate of his brother officers, and attentive of his duties'... 'recent operations to the Continent indicate his ability to command, organise and improvise. As a pilot he sets an excellent example"... (I could go on, but I think we can agree that he deserved his O.B.E., awarded in the New Years Honours List of 1946).

 d. 1993; wife Enid d. 2002. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Father: Major Arthur Gundry Coombs MC [d. 1937]

prev. Pilot Officer, RAFVR & Civil Service. DPO Ministry of Mines, Reading 1937-40

4 May 1939, The Cornishman:

"FALSE PRETENCES AT MARAZION

Licensees duped by specious story.

How the licensees of the Coach and Horses Inn, Breage. and the Godolphin Hotel. Marazion, were duped by a specious story was revealed at Helston, on Thursday, when Arthur Wesley Coombs, a young man. of Limetree House, Castle Crescent, Reading, was charged with obtaining £5 and £6 by false pretences from Mr. Wilfred Hope, licensee of the Coach and Horses Inn. Breage.

There was a further charge against the accused of obtaining from Stanley Linscott Turner, of the Godolphin Hotel, Marazion, on January 27, £5 by means of a worthless cheque, with intent to defraud.

Mr. Eric Thomas, who prosecuted, stated that on January 18 the accused called the inn and told Mr. and Mrs. Hope he was the owner of an air circus of six 'planes flying between Reading and Edinburgh, and made other statements which led Mr. and Mrs. Hope to believe he was a person of a certain amount of substance. He stayed at the inn as a boarder from January 28 to February 2. January 23 he borrowed £5 from Mr. Hope, giving a cheque obtained from a customer, changing the name of the bank to that of Bank of Scotland. The following day Mr. Hope lent him £6, and the same procedure was followed. On January 31 the cheques were returned marked "No funds."

Accused pleaded "Guilty," and said he expected to have sufficient money to meet the cheques. As soon as he realised he was unable to clear them he sent Mr. Hope a payment on account. Mr. Thomas confirmed that Mr. Hope had received £4 from the accused. Accused asked the Bench to take the second charge into consideration when passing sentence. Accused pleaded ''Not guilty" to having obtained food and lodgings to the value of 19s. from Mrs. Hilda Hope, wife of the licensee, and the Bench dismissed the case. The Bench fined the accused a total of £12 including costs. The Chairman (Mr. 0. Rows), said the Bench had been influenced in their decision by the fact that accused was on the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and that he would be reporting for duty on May 1. They had strained a point in not depriving him of his liberty."

Address in 1940: 14, Castle Crescent, Reading (Mother, Ellie Maud [Wesley] Coombs)

Postings: 3FPP

Contract Terminated (Disciplinary Reasons)

Post-ATA, Arthur said he "worked for the Ministry of Aircraft Production, as a test pilot then as Chief Technical Officer, from 1939 until 1946". He then claimed to have been "General Manager of an aircraft company", and to have operated his own aircraft company from Croydon and Eastleigh.

From 1954 he was employed first as a wine salesman and then as a driving instructor.

In 1954, he was convicted of stealing a typewriter.

In 1955, he was sent to jail for 18 months for fraud and theft, again involving dishonoured cheques.

During his trial, "Mr Guy Willett submitted that the accused was a man who, having been extremely successful, could not believe his luck had changed."

d. 1979 - Portsmouth 

BG

Father: Arthur Leopold Bambridge (d. 1923), Mother: Anna Charlotte Caroline [Siebert]

Ed. Marlborough

Royal Field Artillery (6th [Duke of Edinburgh's] Wilts Regiment, Commissioned 12 Apr 1915, in France from 28 Oct 1915), RNAS (Flight Sub-Lieut from 17 Sep 1917, 2nd Lieut), RAF from 1 Apr 1918 (Lieut)

As a Flight Sub-Lieut. in the RNAS, he was seriously wounded in March 1918. This accident, according to research done by his grand-daughter, was "whilst serving as reconnaissance scout in RNAS 2nd Squadron based at Bergues. On 22 March 1918 he and his gunner were hit by anti aircraft fire over Ostende. Bam and gunner Harry Lovelock managed to crawl out onto the wings of the DH4 biplane and witnesses described seeing plane initially diving then fluttering down like a leaf then diving again. Tragically Harry lost his grip and fell at about 1,000 feet from the ground. Bam hung on the tail until a few feet above the ground when he threw himself clear. The plane on crashing rolled over on top of him breaking his legs in several places. The true account was hushed up for the sake of gunner Harry's parents feelings."

In March 1919 he relinquished his commission on account of "ill-health (caused by wounds)" but was permitted to retain his rank. 

In July 1919, Flight said (presumably referring to an earlier accident): "Lieut. Bambridge, who had the distinction of losing the tail of his machine at 15,000 ft. in France, and descending on the top plane more or less successfully, was in charge of the ground operations" for an air display in Liverpool.

m. Jul 1926 in Steyning, Sussex Vera Maud [Fullick]

 Vera

His patent No 338,495 for 'Improvements in or connected with Braking Means for Aeroplanes and the like purposes" was published in December 1930:

"The braking force is applied directly to the landing wheels and undercariage.... My invention admits of several modes of application and according to one embodiment a bracket or like device having slots in angular or other suitable relation is employed in co-operative relation with and at each end of the axle of the landing wheels."

Address in 1940: Waimate, Gordon Rd, Whitstable

Postings: 6FPP, 1FPP, 4bFPP

Suspended in Jan 1941 for nine days for 'Accumulative Misdemeanours'

Suspended for 7 days in May 1941 for 'disregard of flying regulations at 33 MU Lyneham'

1 accident, not his fault:

- 18 Jun 1941, the wheels of his Anson got clogged in long grass, 'which prevented the pilot obtaining sufficient height to clear an obstruction'.

"This officer though limited in his flying activities for medical reasons has more than made up for it by his energy and organising ability in the Operations Room where he has proved himself a very great asset."

Transferred to ground duties 31 Mar 1943.

"Is a very conscientious officer. Unfortunately he is not good at handling his staff, and does not achieve a good team spirit."

Or, "A first class organizer and highly efficient Chief Flying Control Officer."

In September 1945 as the ATA was being disbanded, the Air Movements Flight held a 'Farewell Dinner'. The menu, and a 'poem' in the form of an ABC, have survived:

People mentioned: 

Aubrey Bower [M.758]

Bill [Guy] Harben [M.18]

Bragg

Bam

Toni Combi [M.588]

Diana Hutchinson [W.107]

Delia

Fordie

Ian Forbes

Fitzy

Ireen Garge

Groupie Hill

Georgei Hayman

Harry Hamilton

Jack Hollande

Harry Harrison

Johnny Jordan

Joesph Smallbone

Johnny Scarborough

Joan

Les Kemp

H. C. Mason

Mary

Mac

Peter

Stan Pigott

Tom Preston

Paddy

Eulalia Rodd

Seaward

Spratt

Becky Sharp

Len Thornhill

Wendy

Stan

 ---

d. Dec 1966 - Elstree, Herts

His grand-daughter Fiona kindly tells me that "Bam's mother, Caroline Charlotte Anna Siebert-Charters, was a German aristocrat. His father, Arthur Leopold Bambridge, was an artist who exhibited several times at the Royal Academy and was a Member.

Bam's parents divorced when he and his elder sister Emily were small, in 1904. It was his mother who filed for divorce; she took Emily to Germany with her, leaving Bam with his father in England, apparently so that he did not get naturalised to being German.

Bam went to primary school locally in Wiltshire, then later went to stay with his uncle William, who was a Professor of Music and organist for Marlborough College. Bam spent 2 years at Marlborough, although not very successful academically I was informed by their archivist.

He joined the RFA in 1915, then RNAS. He was shot down twice in France, once whilst his passenger took aerial photos; the passenger was sadly killed, Bam was injured and thereafter always walked with a limp.

Bam met Vera when he retrieved her Alsatian dog after it had run off in fields near Shoreham airport. When he inherited his mother's money, he and Vera lived the high life - skiing in Switzerland, Cannes for the casinos (Bam loved gambling), and were friends with the Benetti brothers (racing cars). 'Bam' worked as a stunt pilot, carpenter, admin for BOAC in a London office, and also sold sun lamps. 

Bam and Vera had four children, Angela, Anthony, Brian and John. John became a pilot in the RAF and also flew privately. My aunt, Angela, is the last one still with us

The ATA ladies, Joy Lofthouse and Mary Ellis both told me in 2011 that Bam was a gentleman. He was often to be seen standing at the end of the runway at White Waltham, looking up into the sky." 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1940

Father: Frank Shults

Ed. Secondary School

RAF from 1937-38 (F/O), then FAA to Jul 1939 Sub-Lt, RN.

m. Sep 1939 Joan Beatrice [Morris]; "Mr Shults is a keen rugby player, and both he and his new wife are talented pianists."

Served on the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous, but was invalided out of the Fleet Air Arm 'due to a nervous breakdown'. [Just in time, too - Courageous was torpedoed and sunk in September 1939.]

prev. exp. 400 hrs

Address in 1940: Little Mancot, Hawarden, Flints

Postings: 1FPP, 3FPP

One 'pilot at fault' accident on 26 Dec 1940, in Anson N9933; he took off after sunset, ran into heavy mist and had to force land in a field.

Off sick from 14 Jan to 28 Apr 1941 with Fibrositis

 "A good 'fair-weather' pilot", said his C.O. Walter Handley

 Contract Terminated 20 Sep 1941

Later the Headmaster of Apley Park Boarding School, Bridgnorth, Shropshire

 d. 10 Nov 1984 - Suffolk  

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1935

ATA

ed. at 'Public School'

m. 1934 Ellen Marjorie 'Madge' [Watson, LRAM], the daughter of the bloke that designed the Royal Yacht 'Brittania'. Children: George b. 1934 d. 2002, Hazel b. 1937, Lois and Tulip b. 1940

prev. a Flying Instructor

Address in 1940: 'Vril', Ramsden Rd, Godalming, Surrey (Madge's house)

Postings: White Waltham, 6FPP, 1FPP, 2FPP, 1FPP

Off sick from 2 Feb to 1 Jul 1943 with a fractured ankle

After a slow start ("Not very confident in bad weather conditions. Not one of my hardest workers, suggest you keep an eye on him in this respect"), he made steady improvement and became "a sound and hardworking ferry pilot. He flies well and is unduly modest about his ability which is greater than he thinks."

He did confess he "hated the sight of aeroplanes" for a while, after an accident in June 1940.

d. 8 Jul 1961 - Godalming, Surrey 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1936

ATAM

prev. a motor mechanic (Science Dept.)

Address in 1936: 16 Ellys Rd, Coventry

Postings include 8FPP

d. Jul 1993 - Waveney, Suffolk

1934

BG

prev. a motor and marine engineer

Address in 1934: 22 Clifford Ave, London SW14

Certificate of Commendation, 1940: "On the 7th October, 1940, FLt-Capt Henderson made a successful landing without damage in a Wellington aircraft in spite of the fact that the elevator control had broken off causing him partially to lose control, and that at the time the wind was strong and gusty"

From 1941 until Dec-42, Chief Test Pilot in ATA's Technical Department, responsible for producing many of the early 'Pilots Handling Notes'.

Certificate of Commendation, 1943: "On the 10th April, 1943, Flt-Capt Henderson was instructing on a Halifax aircraft. During the course of approach the up lock control handle of the undercarriage port leg broke off leaving the leg locked up. Flt-Capt Henderson thereafter displayed great initiative and ingenuity. With the only tool available - a crash axe - he chopped away the back of the rest bunk and made a hole through the fuselage wall, thereby laying bare the broken pull rod. The broken piece of the rod was then unscrewed from the tee handle by nipping it in the hinge of the armour-plate door. He then screwed the handle back on to the remaining threads of the pull rod and was enabled thereby to lower the undercarrige by the normal manually operated emergency system. The aircraft was then landed without damage, thereby saving a valuable aircraft and preventing possible injury to his crew."

He celebrated his fifty-first birthday (15 Jan 1945) by beginning the task of delivering a Spitfire from Hawkinge in Kent to the French Air Force Wing at Luxeil. "When the pilots arrived to collect them [12 Spitfires] the landscape was covered in snow, the temperature was well below zero and a biting east wind blew in heavy gusts." BG

 d. 15 Jul 1947 - Logrono, nr Bilbao, Spain, in an air crash.

"Hull Businessman die in Plane Crash

Mr Meyndert S. Kamphuys, managing director of British Cocoa Mills, Ltd, Hull, and his brother, Mr Henry S Kamphuys, were both killed when a plane in which they were flying to Africa on business crashed in the Lumbreras Mountains in Northern Spain. Also killed was the pilot, Ralph Harold Henderson, well known in London flying circles. The plane had been privately chartered." - Hull Daily Mail

ATA

Ed. Senior College of Preceptors

m. Ivy Ellen

RAF 1932-37 (Flt-Lt)

Address in 1940: Cedarcroft, Sticklepath, Okehampton, Devon

Postings: 2FPP, 1FPP, AFTS as Instructor, 16FPP

"Good multi-engine pilot, though inclined to be nervous, particularly in bad weather."

"Not over stable financially."

Reprimanded for disobedience of Standing Orders on 3 Apr 1942

[Contract Terminated by ATA 11 May 1942 - Disciplinary Reasons]

Died in a flying accident, 23 July 1942 when a Test Pilot for MAP. His Spitfire V W3958 of 1 CRU (Civilian Repair Unit) at Cowley crashed at Cumnor Hill, 3.5 miles West South West of Oxford.

Buried Epsom Cemetery. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.52	First Officer	Arthur George Nevill Wynne-Eyton
	b. 23 May 1909, Downrew, Bishop's Tawton	22 Apr 1940 to 17 May 1941

Ed. Wellington College, Berks

m. Gabrielle

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

prev. Farming, Engineering and Aircraft Operator

prev exp. 700hrs

He owned:

G-AAHE, a 1929 Avro 594 Avian IV (which competed in the King's Cup, 1931);

G-ACFH, a 1933 Avro 640 Cadet, and G-ACPB, a 1934 Avro Cadet, which he offered to the ATA.

Commended by his C.O. in June 1941 - "outstanding... always willing to start at any time of the day for any destination.  One of our best."

d. 30 Jan 1942 (Died in ATA Service) - Curtiss Mohawk AR671 stalled attempting forced landing at Pershore Aerodrome following engine failure.

buried Capel Madog. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1935

ATAM

Ed. Winchester, then BA from New College Oxford

prev. Coldstream Guards 2nd Lieut. 1929-31

a Timber Merchant

Address in 1940: Amberde House, Taunton

prev. exp. 540 hrs. Owned 2 aircraft:

- G-ACRD, a 1934 BA Swallow 2, and

- G-AEUX, a 1937 Miles Whitney Straight.

Postings: 1FPP, 2FPP, 6FPP, 7FPP, 9FPP (also seconded to AFTS, Air Ministry and RAE Farnborough)

"An excellent ferry pilot, an admirable officer and a charming person. If his reactions to a situation are not always conventional, they are always sound and sensible."

Feb-45: "His qualities are such that he has been appointed acting second-in-command of No. 9 Ferry Pool". 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1939

ATAM

Ed. 'HMS Conway'

m. 1928 Elizabeth Murral [Doyle]

prev. F/O RAF, 1925-32; a Seaman

Address in 1939: 24a Denzil Ave, Southampton

 Postings: 1FPP, 2FPP, 3FPP

 Reprimanded twice:

- 12 Oct 1940, suspended without pay for 7 days after landing at base without instructions;

- 24 Mar 1941, again suspended for 7 days, this time for a "financial misdemeanour"

10 accidents, 6 of them his fault.

Initial assessment was "a rough pilot, works hard, but has had careless accidents; discipline not very good" but by 1941 he was "becoming a useful pilot", and in 1943 was assessed as "a sound pilot of average ability".

Off sick from 28 Mar to 25 Apr 1944 with "fatigue and hypertension", and then on 21 June he landed a Beaufort with its undercarriage retracted; when they examined the aircraft they found that he had mistakenly fired the fire extinguishers instead of the undercarriage emergency cartridges.

On 2 Sep 1944 his C.O. wrote that "F/O Wilson has been with ATA for a very long time and has moved a very great number of aircraft. It is my opinion that he is losing faith in himself as a pilot and is troubled with nerves. He has been off sick a lot recently and should be given a very careful check before he resumes flying."

 Contract Terminated 24 Sep 1944

d. Apr 1978 - London 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1929

RAF Jan 1919 to Jan 1927

prev. Ground Engineer and Instructor at Norwich Aero Club, Chief Flying Instructor, Sports Association Flying Club.

In 1933, he and Miss Winifred Florence Hudd (Norwich Aero Club's first lady pilot) spent part of their holidays on a flight abroad in one of the Club's machines, DH60 Gipsy Moth G-ABAE.

 Winifred in 1935

"They intend to visit Berlin."

m. 1934 Frances Anne Stewart [Henfry, d. 1981], one son Robert b. 1935

He advertised in 'Flight' in 1938 as follows: "Situation Wanted. EX-NORFOLK and Norwich Aero Club Instructor (Mr. A. Kirkby) seeks a position where his 19 1/2 years' experience of aviation can be made full use of; chief ground engineer to Norwich Club for 10 years, also 1,510 hours as pilot in charge of aircraft, including 910 hours instructional flying, accidents nil, experienced air photographer, with own equipment; age 35, married.— Address, Airport, Norwich."

prev. exp. 1,933 hrs on "DH60, DH87, Puss, Leopard, Avians, Comper Swift, Miles Hawk, BA Swallow, Klemms, BA Drone, Dart Kitten, gliders various" in UK, Belgium, Germany and Iraq.

Address in 1940: Leigh Vicarage, Sherborne, Dorset (Telephone: "Yetminster 85")

 Postings: 6FPP, 7FPP

"A thoroughly sound and reliable pilot" who was recommended for the Class 3&4 conversion course but "expressed reluctance to undergo this training. At his own request, he was allowed to return to duty in Classes 1 & 2."

Off sick from 4 May 41 to 2 Aug with pleurisy, from 17 Dec 1941 to 13 Mar 1942 with a dislocated clavicle, and from 30 Dec 1942 to 8 Nov 1943 with 'bronchial catarrh'.

"His health is his greatest handicap."

[Contract Terminated 17 Nov 1943]

d. 1950, Ware, Herts 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Address in 1940: 3 Ashburn Gardens, Gloucester Rd, London SW7.

Wife: Anne Hester Mary Layborne (nee Popham, m. 1939) lived at Carr House, Broxford, Hants, then later 22 Sefton Rd, Hook

prev. 2nd Lieut. RNVR Sep-39 to May-40

Postings: 3FPP 

 [Contract Terminated by ATA - Disciplinary Reasons]

later m. 1954 Jean L Jorgensen, in Falmouth

Mysterious. It looks like this Michael Porter, born in Bombay in 1912 or 1914, changed his name to Bruce-Porter between 1938 and 1939. Anne Hester Bruce-Porter is listed as next of kin on his ATA form; her marriage in June 1939 was certainly to a Michael F L Bruce-Porter.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1938

ATAM

Father Brazilian, mother English

Racing driver [1935 Le Mans winner] and sometime jailbird [spent 3 years in jail - convicted of manslaughter having killed a motorcyclist in a car accident whilst drunk]. Operated a speedboat firm in Torquay.

Owned:

1935 Miles Hawk Speed Six G-ADGP 

and

1938 B A Eagle 2 G-AFKH 

with his sister Ruth, King's Cup 1935

d. 12 Oct 1940 (Died in ATA Service) - while circling to land at Llandow, his Wellington R1156 struck a telegraph pole in Llysworney during a second circuit and crashed into a bank.

Buried Mapledurham, Oxfordshire

King's Cup in 1935, 1938 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

ATAM

m. 1934 in London, Ida F [Sharman]

m. 1942 in Eton, Bucks, Imogen D [Duncan]

prev. Pilot Officer in RAF Reserve Mar-34 to Apr-35;

RAF Apr-35 to Jul-38.

Accident Report: 

On 10 Feb 1938 the pilot of Hector K9723 was on a night flying exercise when he became lost in bad weather whilst flying over the East Coast, he force-landed the aircraft in a ploughed field near Filey whereupon the aircraft overturned. It is not known whether there were any injuries sustained. The investigation reported: "The pilot...found difficulty in stowing the Verey pistol and as a result lost direction".

Pilot - P/O Gerald Wilfred Pearson Derbyshire RAF. Probably uninjured.

d. Jan 1970 - Devon

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1938

prev. Commercial Pilot

prev. exp. 625 hrs

Postings: 6FPP, 16FPP

"Has worked well, but entirely lacks any discipline."

d. Feb 1985 - Eastbourne, Sussex 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1936

Father: Maj. David Kinloch Michie DSO, OBE, DL, JP, Provost of Renfrew [d. 1949], Mother Jane Lumsden [Walker]

[His ancestor, also Donald Kinloch Michie, was indicted in 1845 for 'wickedly and feloniously, and willfully, maliciously, and unlawfully" shooting at 4 people, "whereby they were wounded severely in the face, side, arms, and various parts of their bodies." He ran away, was caught, convicted and sent to be 'transported beyond seas for seven years." Not strictly relevant, I know...]

Ed. High School, Glasgow and then M.A. Course, majoring in geography and meteorology (see later)

m. 

prev. A Civil and Mechanical Engineer

Lieutenant, Highland Light Infantry from May 1935 to Aug 1939

Address in 1940: Deanside House, Renfrew

Postings: 4FPP, 14FPP, 16FPP, 4aFPP

He was demoted from First Officer to Second Officer for 4 months from 20 May 1941, "to be re-instated subject to a favourable report from his C.O."

I'm not sure entirely what happened; the record says "Allegations concerning weather met. reports not proved by Court of Enquiry." It sounds like he made some critical comments, (based on his prior knowledge, presumably), which were not found to be correct.

In any case, his C.O. at 4 FPP (Frank Ashton White) reported in October 1941 that "After demotion to 2nd Officer, he has shown the right spirit and is an excellent pilot. Reinstated to 1st Officer after 4 months."

Off sick from 14 Sep to 29 Oct 1942 with bronchial pneumonia, but 'made a good recovery'

Class V ( Halifax, Liberator, Stirling and Fortress) pilot.

Contract Terminated 11 Aug 1943

Post-WWII, Projects Manager for British Eagle International Airways until its demise in 1968.

d. 14 Apr 1988  - Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire

 "Captain John Michie had a long and distinguished career in civil aviation during which his skill, knowledge and unfailing courtesy and humour have enriched the lives and experience of all he came in contact with. His many friends in aviation will long remember him." Flight 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

ATAM

m. 1933 Eloise [Edwards, divorced], 1939 Constance [Nye, 1 daughter b. 1940], 1965 Barboro [Norgaard or Lind]

prev. RAF 1929-32, [dismissed after a court martial], then a pilot for Birkett Air Services

prev exp. 3900 hrs

Postings: 1FPP

At first, "an excellent pilot, but not one to put himself to excessive discomfort in the execution of his duties.", but eventually "he performed the duties of Flight Captain with distinction and has show exemplary aptitude for the organisational side of the organisation. An influential and respected member of the pool."

Post-WWII, a pilot for Scandinavian Airlines; in 1948, in New York, he refused to take a load of (dead) deer; "No soap", he (allegedly) said, "They smell too bad. It would keep the passengers awake. Take them off."

OK, this is the only other photo I could find of him. That's him on the left, explaining the controls to Governer Youngdahl of Minnesota before flying them from New York to Copenhagen in 1948.

d. 21 Dec 1983 - Hurley, Maidenhead

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

ATAM

Special Characteristics: 'blue scar on bridge of nose'

Ed. Sherborne College

m. 1930 Doreen Isabel [Nicholls], 1 child; 1940 Gladys M [Wilson]

[RAeC 1931, 1935 - photos missing]

prev. of 'Independent means'.

He did have a rather chequered past, particularly when it came to driving, or flying, dangerously:

- in 1924, he was fined 40/-, 50/- and 10/- for 3 separate motorcycling offences, then

- in 1925 he was fined £4 5/-, 1/-, £1 (for having no light), £5 , 10/- and then £20, with £3 3s. costs and disqualified for riding for two years, when he "travelled on a motor cycle at 70 miles an hour in a manner dangerous to the public, an allegation which he did not deny". In the last case, "Defendant, who did not seem much perturbed by the decision, was granted time in which to pay the fine."

- In 1930, he was fined £20 or two month's imprisonment for flying an aeroplane dangerously at Parson's Hill Field, near Downe golf course, and fined £20 for flying an aeroplane without a pilot's certificate. A Mr Lane stated: "It came straight for me, so I threw myself to the ground. It went on and turned and came back, swooping down again only four feet above my head." ;

- In 1931, he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment "in the first division, for driving a motor car in a manner dangerous to the public";

 - In 1938, he was sentenced to four months imprisonment for driving dangerously at Bray, Berks. His licence was suspended for three years. This accident led to the death of a Mr Bernard Sprackling, an insurance clerk; his widow sued Gerald and another driver and they ended up paying £3,750 to the widow and her son, born posthumously. "Mrs. Sprackling's jaw was broken and she lost three teeth, and two more teeth had still to come out. Although she had made a splendid recovery, she underwent considerable pain and suffering. Mr. Justice Hawke said: 'She has suffered, poor creature, in a way for which she cannot get any damages.'" 

He served this sentence in Oxford Prison.

 Address in 1940: The Studio, Shiplake, nr Henley

Postings: 1FPP, 6FPP, 4FPP, 3FPP, 9FPP, 12FPP (as C.O. then later as 2nd in Command), 5FPP (as C.O.), 16FPP, Air Movements Flight

Class 5 (4-engine) qualified pilot

"A keen and very capable ferry pilot and a loyal and efficient deputy" (Thomas Gale, OC 1FPP, 1944)

"He is a competent and hard-working pilot. His administrative ability is not of the highest order, and I do not consider that at the present time he would be capable of handling a larger unit"

One 'pilot to blame' accident amongst his 4 incidents; in Feb 1942 his Hurricane II "collided with a hangar support cable whilst manoeuvring in a confined space with a defective tail castor." 

 "All the Ferry Pools began as small informal communities, but none more so than No 12 at Cosford, for Jerry Stedall - the first C.O. - was soon joined by his wife in the ostensible role as caterer." Brief Glory

MBE, 1946

He married once more, in 1965, to Jennifer K [Young].

d. Jun 1972 - Surrey  

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.76	2nd Officer	Norman Edmund Robinson Wilkes
	b. 29 Jul 1916, London	15 May 1940 to 31 Oct 941

ATAM

Father: Charles Robinson Wilkes (d. 1933), Mother: Sarah Ann [Middleton]

Ed. Beaufoy Technical College

prev. Stock Exchange; RAF F/O Sep 1936 - 31 Jul 1939

One thing he might not have mentioned in the interview; he was dismissed from the RAF "by sentence of General Court Martial" on 31 July 1939

prev. exp. 383 hrs

Address in 1940: Thicket Meadows, Maidenhead

"Little finger of left hand permanently bent"

Postings: 1FPP, 3FPP, 6FPP

2 accidents, 1 his fault:

- 2 Oct 1940, an incident in a Spitfire

- 28 Oct 1940, his Spitfire hit a Tiger Moth whilst taxying

Off sick from 4 Jan to 19 Jan 1941 with influenza, and from 1 Mar to 6 Apr 1941 with 'Catarrhal Jaundice'

Demoted to 2nd Officer 17 Oct 1941

Resigned 31 Oct 1941

"Keen pilot, loud voice"

 m. Janet Bruce [Bowden] (b. 1914 in Quebec, Canada)

  1976

"Guest Speaker for the Wednesday dinner meeting of the Cincinnati Branch of the English-Speaking Union will be Mr. Norman Wilkes.

Mr Wilkes' talk on "The British Tail Still Wags" will follow cocktails at 6:30 and dinner at 7:30 in the Queen City Club.

English-born, Canadian-by-adoptation, Mr Wilkes is a travel consultant and pioneer aviator.

An officer in the Royal Air Force before World War II, the speaker became a test pilot for Lockheed Aircraft. He was one of the first pilots to fly the Atlantic regularly starting as a Command pilot in 1941 and continuing into 1946.

A new career began in Barbados when he purchased a travel agency. He sold this when the island became an independent state. He returned to England and became an expert consultant in travel and in freight movements. Subsequently this became the Norman Wilkes Tours." - The Cincinnati Enquirer, 6 Feb 1976

At one stage he teamed up with (ex-ATA Flight Engineer) Freddie Laker in a venture called "Britain with a Flair", which aimed to fly thousands of disabled Americans to Britain (according to the Daily Mirror in 1981).

d. 10 Jan 1985, one of eight casualties of a gas explosion at Newnham House, Manor Fields, Putney, London SW15

His wife Janet also died in the explosion.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.65 *	First Officer	Ernest Arthur David 'Jim' Kempster
	b. 9 Oct 1900, Leighton Buzzard	c. 15 May 1940 to 29 Jun 1945

prev. a motorcycle speedway rider 

Early days at White Waltham, Anson taxi pilots - Ronny Malcolm, Douglas Fairweather (M104), Jim Kempster and Harry Ellis (M139)

Brief Glory

d. 29 Jun 1945 (Died in ATA Service) Anson I DG916 crashed into River Rhine en route Le Bourget to Pilsen due to bad weather.

Flt-Engineer Harry Race was also killed, and he is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Jim Kempster's body was never found.

Commended for "valuable service in the air", 14 Jun 1945

 Download Harry Race's Personal Record (.zip file):

M.---	2nd Officer	Francis Cyril Delacour De Labilliere
	b. 8 Mar 1900, Perth, Scotland	15 May to 7 Nov 1940

1938

1947

Father: Rev. Charles Edgar Delacour de Labilliere, Mother: Evelyn Georgina [Harington] of Langatoch Vicarage, Monmouth (later moved to Heatherlands, Bingham Ave, Lilliput, Dorset)

 RAeC Certicate 16356, 20 Sep 1938 at Portsmouth Aero Club

prev. a book-keeper; Assistant Flying Instructor to the Barnstaple and N Devon Flying Club; RAF Link Trainer Instructor

prev. exp. 363 hrs

 Postings: ---

2 accidents, both his fault:

- 29 Jun 1940, he persisted too far in bad weather and got lost in a Tiger Moth

- 3 Nov 1940, damaged his Puss Moth after landing in a field

 Contract Terminated - "Disciplinary reasons, in respect of both his flying competence and also his conduct both on and off duty"

"We cannot possibly recommend you to consider his application [to BOAC]"

Temporary Sub-Lieut then Lieut, RNVR from 28 Feb 1941 - 1945

Address in 1947: The Mount, Studland, Dorset

Royal Aero Club Certificate 22595, 14 Apr 1947

 d. 29 Aug 1952 - Southern Rhodesia

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.72	Commander	Paul Gabriel 'Bobby' Gueret-Wardle OBE
	b. 10 Apr 1906, Surbiton, Surrey	15 May 1940 to 30 Nov 1945

1937

ATAM

Father: Thomas Wardle (d. 1925), Mother Gabrielle Marie [Gueret]

Ed. Bedford School; BSc(Eng) from Imperial College, 1929

m. 1930 in Kingston, Surrey, Doreen Patricia [Hemsley]

 Address in 1937: Kings Court Road House, Chandler's Ford, Hants

 RAeC Certificate 14803, 6 Apr 1937 at Hampshire Flying Club

 prev. Electrical Engineer; Airline Pilot (?); RAF 1939-40

prev. exp. 1400 hrs

Address in 1940: (Mother); Windycote, Creddleton, nr. Leek, Staffs [Later, moved to 15a Berkesy Place, Wimbledon, London SW19]

Next of kin (brother) Thomas Ivor Wardle

 Postings: 14FPP (as CO), 2FPP, 1FPP

Class V (4-engine) pilot

 1 accident, not his fault:

- 4 Jan 1942, the landing gear of his Anson N9917 failed to lock and collapsed on landing

"His personnel are contented and he continues to justify every confidence placed in him. As a pilot he is excellent and flies sufficiently to set the example expected of a Pool C.O." Gerard d'Erlanger

 Address in 1982: Calle Palemere 24, Los Gigantes, Puerto Santiago, Tenerife

 d. 29 Mar 1982 - Tenerife, Spain

Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.66 *	First Officer	Henry John Norman Rowe
	b. 31 Oct 1896, Lewisham, London	?16 May 1940 to 15 Jun 1944

 Father: Thomas Holman Rowe; mother, Susan Kate [Rice]

RFC in WWI; 2nd Lieut. in 1917 (RAeC Cert 5375, photo missing)

Address in 1917: 28 Courtenay St, Newton Abbott, Devon

m. 1925 in Gt Yarmouth, Rosalie Beatrice [Moore]; 2 children (incl. Pamela b. 1928)

In 1939, he lived at 162 The Greenway, Harrow, with his younger brother Leslie, and was a "Counting House Manager - Textiles" and RAFVR

Address in 1944: 15 Nithsdale Rd, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

 Postings: 9FPP

 d. 15 Jun 1944 at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, from injuries received in Albermarle I P1563, which crashed Into a barn during an attempted overshoot after landing at Ashbourne Airfield, Derbyshire.

The co-pilot survived.

Buried Weston-super-Mare Cemetery

1936

ATAM

prev. pilot with Birkett Air Services

prev. exp. 1053 hrs

Address in 1940: 9 Heather Bank, Higher Bebington, Wirral, Cheshire with wife Flora [later changed next-of-kin to his mother E.H. Greenhalgh]

Postings: 3FPP

General Conduct "Good, with occasional minor lapses which are probably due to domestic difficulties." Leadership qualities: "Could do better if he tried harder."

"a good Flight Leader and his discipline has been excellent."

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

ATAM

RAF Flying Officer 1927-32

"An efficient pilot and excellent officer"

[Resigned 15 Apr 1943, after sixth 'at fault' accident]

d. Jun 1994,  South Glamorgan

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1931

ATAM

Ed. at Stowe, and Cambridge

Next of Kin: (father) William Alfred Silcock

Distinguishing marks: Phalange of third finger of right hand missing.

prev. 'Catering' - his father was Managing Director of the Clarendon Hotel and Restaurant, Hammersmith Broadway.

Owned

- G-ABCT, a 1930 DH.60G Gipsy Moth;

- G-ACLW, a 1933 DH.85 Leopard Moth (which, re-registered AX862, was taken over by the ATA and was written off (damaged beyond repair) on 18 Mar 1945 when the undercarriage collapsed on landing at RAF Carnaby), and

- G-ADMX, a 1935 BA Swallow L25C Mk.2

Address in 1940: 5, Broadway, Hammersmith, London W6

 m.1942 Margery P [Sansom]

Postings: 1FPP

Off sick from 17 Dec 1941 to 3 Jan 1942 with acute tonsillitis, then 15 Oct to 19 Nov with hemorrhoids, then 17 May to 1 Jun 1944 after a flying accident.

"A sound and likable pilot, with an excellent record... a splendid officer and one of the mainstays of the pool."

He was reprimanded in March 1944 for 'taxying without due care' (his Anson's port wing hit a stationary lorry).

His other 'at fault' accident happened in May 1944, when he and his Flight Engineer were taking off in a Lancaster. The Flight Engineer thought William told him to retract the undercarriage; unfortunately he was a bit premature, the aircraft sank towards the runway and William had to belly-land the aeroplane. They were both held equally to blame.

 Wikipedia

When his father died in 1953, William took over as Managing Director of the Clarendon Hotel. It became a famous music venue, but closed in 1989 and was demolished.

 d. Feb 1989 - Surrey 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1931

A Pilot; owned 1932 Avro 504K G-ABVC (ex F8834), known affectionately as "Screaming Annie".

"Mr. Chater, who has become well known locally for the amount of spare time he has put in at the [Cinque Ports Flying] Club building up an Avro 504 from spare parts. He has fitted an equally aged Bristol 'Lucifer' engine." (Flight, 1933)

He advertised it for £225 in 1936, but it appears not to have found a buyer, and its registration was finally cancelled in 1945.

Chief Instructor at the Kent Flying Club in 1939.

Postings: 1FPP, 6FPP, 9FPP, 14FPP

"A pilot of above average ability and a capable instructor. He does, however, easily lose interest and he would do well to show greater keenness and enthusiasm." (T A Gale, Chief Flying Instructor, Jan-43)

May-43: "This pilot, although posted here with a somewhat moderate report has not shown any of the bad qualities he was reported to possess... I find him a likeable individual."

Address in 1944: 1 Glynde Ave, Hampden Pk, Eastbourne

m. 1944 Susan Kathleen Speak Or Eastwood (an ATA driver at 6FPP)

He was still interested enough in aviation in 1965 to write to 'Flight': "My wartime ferry pilot [colleague] Tom Brooke-Smith said that flying a VTOL aircraft was like coming down a ladder for the first time. I saw the Hawker Siddeley P. 1127 at Farnborough last summer and decided that this sort of aviation was here to stay.

Having been a commercial pilot for 30 years I know that nothing annoys a customer more than unpunctuality at either end of the line. Whether you do 200 or 2,000 m.p.h. doesn't matter if he can't keep his appointment." 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Address in 1940: Thirlmere, 12 Greenway, Anlaby Pk, Hull

Postings: 1FPP, Prestwick

Suspended from all duties for two days in early May 1941 for "continued unpunctuality".

[Contract Terminated 25 May 1941 by ATA - Disciplinary Reasons]

d. 25 Sep 1942 when a Sub-Lieut., RNVR, in Fairey Fulmar II DR636, 795A Squadron Tanga, which force-landed on hilltop in darkness 45 miles south of Tannarive, Madagascar.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1942

RAeC 1945

Ed. Bedales School (Head Boy) and Downing College Cambridge (1st in Agriculture)

"Peter started flying in 1933.  In 1936 he flew a Short Scion to India where he tried to interest the Maharaja's in the plane.  He also took part in an air race from Madras to Delhi and flew over the Himalayas saying they would try to see how high they could fly before passing out!  His first date with Cicely involved flying upside down in a small private plane - but she got her own back in her beloved Herbert - an Austin 7 which is still in working order!" nickimason

m. 1938 Cecily 'Dil' [North],  2 daughters

prev. a Fruit Grower

Address in 1940: 'Farthings', Kirdford, Sussex

Postings: 1FPP, 2FPP, 3FPP, 6FPP, AFTS

Within a few weeks of joining the ATA, he was told to deliver a Fairey Batle to the BEF in France; "I was still in civilian clothes, but someone produced a uniform three sizes too small for me which was better than nothing, as even in those days it was considered a bit risky to go to France looking like a farmer... Early on 13th June three of us went to Andover to collect our aircraft. We were told we could get maps from there, but when we arrived we found that they could only produce one set between us. Belville got the map, and Robin Hood and I followed on behind." Brief Glory

Having got there, they were stuck until the RAF offered them three unserviceable Hurricanes; "Belville and Hood had flown Hurricanes before, but I had not even seen the cockpit of one."

They later heard that the Germans had occupied the airfield less than 12 hours after they left.

"As second-in-command of 1FPP and later as O.C. of 6FPP, Cmdr Mursell proved outstanding as a pilot and officer & as a leader. This officer is first-class in every respect; both as subordinate and executive, he has proved himself entirely reliable and efficient. " G d'Erlanger

Member of the Royal Commission on Local Government in England, 1966

"After the war, his passion became boats and he and his wife had a 50 foot narrow boat named after his mother Fanny Grace, which they kept for 23 years."

"Kirdford Cricket Club originated in 1889 playing at the present football ground.  After the War cricket was played on the Recreation Ground (which was donated to the village by Sir Peter Mursell)."

29th October 1974 "The Queen has been pleased to approve the appointment of Sir Peter Mursell, M.B.E., to be Vice Lord-Lieutenant for the County of West Sussex to act for Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant during his absence from the county, sickness or other inability to act."

d. 23 Aug 2008, Sussex

Lots more photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/phoebebright/sets/72157607166972073/

and stories at http://petermursell.blogspot.com/

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

IWM interview here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009781

1934

1929

Mrs Mollison from 1932 to 1938

Amy was 'a slight young woman with heavily lidded eyes, dentured teeth, a shy smile and a soft Yorkshire accent' [she later developed a rather fake upper-class BBC one, possibly under her husband Jim's influence].

By 1929, a secretary (albeit one with an economics degree, and an engineer's licence to go with her aviator's certificate) turned solo record-breaking pilot and all-round nation's sweetheart. Married for six years to Jim Mollison (which was a Big Mistake).

On May 26th, 1932, after her solo flight from America, Amelia Earhart was the guest of the Royal Aero Club in London, and amongst the ladies in attendance were Lady Bailey, Amy, and Winifred Spooner (less than a year before her untimely death).  

"First combined aviation with work in a law office, but specialized on the former and in 1930 made a solo flight to Australia by way of learning her job. Has established a high reputation as a long-distance navigator-pilot in flights, many of which were records, to various parts of the world. Has not done much racing yet" [1936]

Amy originally applied to join the Air Transport Auxiliary on 29 February 1940. At the time she gave her address as the 'St George and Dragon Hotel, Wargrave', and quoted her previous experience as 'approx 2,000 hrs day, 500 night'. 'Types flown' were 'Most light types, several twins, Ford Tri-motor - about 50 in all'.

The form also had a space for "have you any foreign experience?", in which she wrote 'Nearly all except S. America.' She was, shall we say, not your typical ATA applicant.

After being made redundant, like Joy Davison (q.v.), when National Air Communications closed down, she spent the next few months trying to find something better, but to no avail. On the 20th April, ATA Womens Commandant Pauline Gower wrote to her to ask if she was still interested in joining, and, if so, "I shall be glad if you will forward us by return your log book and licence for inspection". Two days later Amy sent the documents, but asked if they could be returned as soon as possible, as she needed them for her medical examination on the 7th May.

A week later, Amy received a circular letter: "Dear Madam, We are holding interviews and flight tests here on Monday next, the 6th May, at 11a.m. Kindly let us know if you intend to be present". She wrote a short note back on the 2nd May:"I note the arrangements for Monday at 11a.m. & will be there".

This was the famous occasion when Amy turned up and saw another applicant "all dolled up in full Sidcot suit, fur-lined helmet and goggles, fluffing up her hair etc - the typical CAG Lyons-waitress type."... "I suddenly realised I could not go in and sit in line with these girls (who all more or less looked up to me as God!), so I turned tail and ran."

Luckily for her, when she telephoned ATA to make some excuse about having the 'flu, they said the job was being kept open for her anyway, the test was just a formality, and she could start when she liked. Which she duly did, on the 25th May, as a 2nd Officer.

Her initial instructor's report was OK: "A good average pilot who had no difficulty in converting to both Master and Oxford aircraft. Should be suitable for modern single engine service types and multi-engine trainer types. With a further period of dual should be quite suitable for Blenheim type."

Despite her extreme reluctance to join the ATA in the first place, clearly thinking it was beneath someone with her great experience (she thought she could have had Pauline Gower's job, "if I had played my cards right and cultivated the right people"), Amy settled well into the job and "worked hard and conscientiously". She was promoted to First Officer on July 1st 1940.

She was killed 5th January 1941, aged 37, after baling out into the Thames Estuary from Airspeed Oxford V3540. It seems likely that she was run over by the boat trying to rescue her.

A flurry of urgent telegrams and letters hurtled around on the 5th and 6th January, as everyone tried to find out what had happened to her:

ADDRESSED TO ALL RAF FLYING UNITS AND WESTON SUPER MARE FROM AIR MINISTRY: OXFORD V3540 MISS AMY JOHNSON LEFT SQUIRES GATE 1045 HOURS 5/1. REQUEST NEWS OF ANY SUBSEQUENT LANDING IMMEDIATELY. ALL UNITS TO ACKNOWLEDGE.

They all replied, along the lines of this one from No 3 Ferry Pool, Hawarden: REGRET HAVE NO INFORMATION REGARDING F/O AMY MOLLISON OXFORD V3540   (They obviously forgot she was divorced).

By the evening of the 6th, the concern was for the second of the two people thought to have been on board: IDENTITY OF PASSENGER OF OXFORD V3540 PILOTED BY MISS A JOHNSON WHICH LEFT SQUIRES GATE 1045 5/1. TWO PEOPLE BALED OUT IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL IDENTITY OF SECOND UNKNOWN

It was headline news in all the papers, of course:

Gloucester Citizen, 7 Jan 1941: "AMY JOHNSON DROWNED. BALED OUT OVER THAMES ESTUARY. Amy Johnson, the airwoman, is feared to have drowned after baling out of her plane over the Thames Estuary on Sunday. A woman passenger with her in the plane also baled out, and they came down some distance from a boat. An Officer who jumped into the sea in an effort to save them is also believed to have drowned. Just before Miss Johnson baled out her plane was seen to dive towards the sea. A speedboat put out immediately, but the men aboard failed to find her or her passenger. The flight authorisation papers from her machine were, however, picked up from the sea.

A Good Swimmer. Her father. Mr. W. Johnson, a Bridlington fish merchant, was telephoned by Miss Pauline Gower, head of the Air Transport Auxiliary, saying that the wreckage of his daughter's aeroplane had been found in the sea. Mr. Johnson told our reporter:— " Everyone knows Amy's skill as a pilot. If there had been any chance of getting the machine down safely she would have done it. She must have been injured, too, before she landed in the water, for she was a good swimmer. 'We were looking forward to having her home at Christmas, but she had to cancel her visit because of flying duties.  I spoke to her last Saturday night. She was very cheerful. She joined the Air Transport Auxiliary six months ago. She knew it was a risky job, but she felt she had do something for Britain, and flying was the job she knew best. Our one comfort is that she gave her life for her country.'"

The mystery of the 'passenger' was addressed by Pauline a few months later:

Hull Daily Mail, 27 Aug 1941: "AMY'S LAST FLIGHT Miss Pauline Gower, Commanding the Women's Section Air Transport Auxiliary, stated yesterday at a London luncheon that she had checked Johnson's last flight and had "absolutely no doubt how she died" in the Thames Estuary last January. The famous airwoman, Miss Gower said, ran short of petrol in bad weather, and when she baled out "it was just bad luck that she happened to be over water. In baling out the type of 'plane she was flying it is often necessary to jettison a door, and this door coming down may have given rise to the rumour that there was another passenger aboard."

Pauline wrote to Amy's parents on the 10th January: "Apart from the loss to the Nation of one who, by her achievements, had endeared herself to all, we are suffering our own particular loss. Since she had been with me, she not only proved herself to be a pilot of the calibre one might expect, but we had come to rely on her and she had made friends with all and sundry."

Amy's aircraft included:

a 1928 DH.60G Gipsy Moth (G-AAAH) which she named 'Jason', and is now in the Science Museum;

a 1930 DH.80A Puss Moth, G-AAZV, 'Jason II';

a 1930 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-ABDV, er, 'Jason III'.

After 1930 she owned:

a 1932 DH.60G III Moth Major, G-ABVW,... ummm, let me guess... yes... 'Jason 4', and

a 1932 DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ACAB, 'The Desert Cloud'

Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial:

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1935

Father: Thomas Edward Smith

Ed. Bedford School; Chelsea College of Aeronautical Engineering

prev. aircraft engineer - British & Continental Airways, Croydon from 1934; pilot for Air Despatch Ltd

Address in 1940: 31 Liverpool Rd, Chester

 Postings: 8FPP

Suspended for two days with loss of pay in Apr 1942, for "flying in bad weather against orders"

 2 accidents, one his fault:

- 1 Mar 1942, he stalled his Beaufighter during a crosswind landing and damaged the port wing

- 30 Apr 1942, after landing in a Boston, a tyre burst.

"above average. A very capable and experienced pilot"

later Chief test pilot for Short Bros. and Harland

"Mr Brooke-Smith is married and has two children, Simon and Selina. His principal hobby is shooting, and he also plays golf" 1951

d. 1991, Poole

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

nee Holmes

Address in 1940: Woodland Rise, Seal, Sevenoaks, Kent

Next of kin: husband, Anthony Brown MC. [d. Dec 1954. He was English, 16 years older than her, described as a 'Managing Director of a Printing Company' [Brown, Knight and Truscott], and they met in South Africa in the 1920s. He was there on business, she ran a driving school, they married and travelled together from South Africa to England in March 1926.

They lived at 'Broomhill', Southend Rd, Beckenham, Kent, and had one son, Philip, b. 1930; he later became a commercial pilot, encouraged by Grace.]

 "Mrs. Grace Brown flew for Air Dispatch (Mrs Victor Bruce's airline)".

"Air Dispatch Ltd was founded on 9 July 1934, and in 1935 started operating weekend freight (later also passenger) services from its base at Croydon Airport to Le Touquet and Le Bourget, Paris. In April 1935, Commercial Air Hire started passenger shuttle services between Croydon and Heston airports, under the name Inner Circle Air Lines, using GAL Monospar ST-4s. In 1935, Commercial Air Hire purchased an Avro 642 Eighteen16-seat airliner (G-ACFV) for newspaper delivery contracts, and Air Dispatch shared its use for bullion-carrying, excursions, joy-riding flights and scheduled passenger services, until mid-1936. [Mildred] Bruce was co-managing director, with Eric E. Noddings, of both closely linked companies, that were merged in 1936 as Air Dispatch Ltd.  Wikipedia

 In 1935, she flew Redhill Aero Club's Puss Moth to Brussels.

 r, with Gabrielle Patterson, in 1940  (Forgotten Pilots)

She was an early recruit for the ATA in May 1940 (actually, she joined just as the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk was taking place) but soon had to discontinue ferrying due to "getting into a poor state of health and being unfit for flying duties" - a confidential note some two years later says that "between ourselves, a little elbow-lifting was attached to it"

She asked for 3 months unpaid leave, on the understanding that ATA could offer to continue with her services at the end of it.

In the event, when she started back in December, she wrecked the port undercarriage leg of an Airspeed Oxford by selecting 'Undercarriage Up' instead of 'Flaps Up' after landing, and was dismissed shortly afterwards.

[Contract Terminated by ATA 28 Dec 1940]

During WWII, "Mrs (Grace) Brown astonished RAF pilots when she landed at an advanced airfield in France during the German attack, carrying consignments of blood for the wounded." An Illustrated History of the RAF (BoB 50th anniversary edition) by Roy Conyers Nesbit.

Her grand-daughter kindly tells me that "She was actually the first woman to fly to the Front, flying blood to the British Expeditionary Force as it retreated to Dunkirk.  She was one of the first six female pilots to hold the 'B' Licence (Commercial) in the U.K.  She was also a huge character:-) 

After the war, I don't think she flew again.  She seemed to enjoy buzzing around the country lanes in the sidecar of  a motor bike, driven my by father.  When Anthony died they had huge death duties to pay so had to sell up and move to a small house, still in Sevenoaks. She died in 1956, I believe. "

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

Irish Free Press

ATAM

Father: Samuel Reid Armstrong (d. 1936), Mother: Charlotte Matilda [Sheircliffe]

Ed. Diocesan School, Dublin

prev. RAF Sgt Pilot 1919-31, but "it was not until the last four years of his service that he became a pilot."

"Isle of Man Airways pilot before the war and later Officer Commanding the Belfast Ferry Pool; one of the best-known characters in the ATA - and in many a corner of his native Ireland." - BG

"It was the glamour of the first Atlantic flight by Alcock and Brown in 1919 which overcome his father's objections to Paddy joining the Royal Air Force as a pilot. This portion of his career lasted to 1931, taking him to Egypt, Iraq, India, 6:lrmo and South Africa. In 1931 he obtained his commercial flying licence arid joined lona National Airways in his native Ireland.

Captain Armstrong's next venture was on air service of his own which performed the essential function for the Irish —of flying evening newspapers with the racing results from Dublin to Then came a spell with West Coast Air Services until he joined Aer Lingus in 1936, piloting that company's very first flight, five passengers from Dublin to Bristol in a de Havilland Dragon." - Birmingham Weekly Post

m. 1938 in Kensington, London, Vera Alice [Long]

Address in 1940: 31 Upper Bagot St., Dublin

 Postings: 3FPP, 1FPP, 6FPP, 8FPP (As CO), 4FPP, 3FPP

Suspended without pay for a month on 3 Aug 1941, for 'neglect of flying duty"

4 accidents, 2 his fault:

31 Jan 1940, an incident involving Hempden AD746

-  1 Jan 1941, Commended for incident involving Manchester L7292

- 21 Mar 1941, an incident in Wellington W2749 caused by the the aerodrome being in an unserviceable state

- 8 Mar 1941, the emergency parachute exit of his Stirling N6011 was accidentally opened by the Air Gunner after landing

- 19 Aug 1941, forced landing near Jurby, IoM, after the starboard engine failed in his Blenheim V5374. See the account by James O'Halloran (who, along with John Milne Greaves and Peter Twiss, was injured)

- 22 Jan 1944, whilst taxying 'without due care', the starboard propeller of his Wellington X HE755 struck a petrol bowser.

 "I am very pleased with the way in which Cmdr Armstrong has always run this remote and difficult Pool (8FPP, Belfast).  - MWS Boucher

   1957

" When he cut the cake at the Aer Lingus 21st birthday party at Elmdon last week it was said of Captain Oliver Eric Armstrong that few men have done more for aviation in Britain. He hos done it quietly and unostentatiously, but the facts prove the contention - 15,000 hours, or nearly two years of his life, spent in the air piloting more than 100 different types of aircraft, while his log book during and following the Second World War shows daily flights to destinaions all over Europe, with a journey to South Africa by way of variety.

"Paddy" Armstrong is now mainly chairborne, as commercial manager of Don Everall (Aviation) Ltd., but as the hum of aircraft penetrates his office at Elmdon Airport what memories it wings of life in the clouds.

After the war he was with various air services at Bristol before corning to Don Everall (Aviation) Ltd. in Birmingham for whom together with charter flights and services to the Isle of Wight, Jersey, Palma and Perpignan, Captain Armstrong has done as many as 40 short pleasure flips in a day. Now, from his desk, he remains in touch with the flights he once piloted and with such unexpected cargoes as pigs from Glasgow to Paris, and corpses from Birmingham to Ireland. Still aviation is Captain Armstrong's life for, asked about his other interests, he will reply, " If you fly, all your time is involved." " -  Birmingham Weekly Post

d. 26 Dec 1959 - Birmingham

"OBITUARY Capt. Oliver Eric Armstrong

Capt. Oliver Eric ("Paddy") Armstrong, one of the best-known aviators in the Midlands, died on Boxing Day in a Birmingham hospital. He was 58. 

As soon as he was out of uniform he joined lona National Airways in Ireland as a pilot, and then started an airline of his own. BAN: newspapers from Dublin to Galway. After a period with West Coast Air Services he joined Aer Lingua in 1939.

When the Second World War broke out, Captain Armstrong, being too old for the RA.F.. joined the Air Transport Auxiliary. " Paddy* and his men at Belfast ferried aircraft in all kinds of weather. He flew nearly 100 different types.

After the war he returned to civil aviation, flying for Morton Air Services and Cambrian Airways. He came to Birmingham to fly for Don Everall (Aviation), Ltd., and piloted charter flights and scheduled services to such places as the Isle of Wight, Jersey, Palma and Perpignan. He also took many Midlanders for "joy flights" round Elmdon Airport. Later he was appointed commercial manager of Don Everall at Elmdon, and left the airline early in 1968.

He leaves a daughter. Patricia. aged 11. The funeral will be at Yardley Cemetery on Thursday." - Birmingham Daily Post, 28 Dec 1959

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.--- *	First Officer	Francis Stanislaus 'Tad' Gonsalves DSO, DFC
	b. 7 May 1915, Georgetown, British Guiana	27 May to 18 Jun 1940

Father: Manoel Gonsalves da Silva, Mother: Helena [Ferreira]

3 sisters, 3 brothers; the family sailed to the UK in July 1919, when Francis was 4.

RAeC Certificate,12403, dated 16 Oct 1934, at London Aeroplane Club

Address in 1934: 25 Holmstall Ave, Burnt Oak, London

prev. Ground Engineer

 Postings: ---

Pilot Officer, RAF, from 25 Sep 1940; F/O from 25 Sep 1942; Sqn Ldr from 6 Jan 1945

DFC

DSO in 1945:

"This officer has operated with considerable success with bomber and fighter aircraft. On one occasion, while patrolling an enemy airfield, he attacked two Messerschmitt no's, destroyed one and damaged the other. In September, 1944, he was detailed to attack a certain objective. On reaching the target the port engine failed Height was rapidly lost but Squadron Leader Gonsalves refused to abandon his aircraft. When his height was only 1,000 feet he restarted the port engine and found that it was working sufficiently well to allow him to maintain height. In this condition he crossed the North Sea and executed a successful landing with only sufficient oil remaining for a few minutes flying. Squadron Leader Gonsalves displayed great skill and devotion to duty. " - London Gazette No. 36799, Dated 1944-11-17"

 Wing Cmdr, 1946

m. 9 Oct 1948 in Seaford, East Sussex, Elizabeth [Simpson] (d. 1954)

"Plane skims children's playground

WHILE two airmen struggled to avoid crashing in Dukes' Meadows Chiswick W.. last night, children below swarmed on slides and swings and four men played bowls.

The plane, a two-engined [Airspeed] Consul, returning to Croydon from Southport. Lancs, had run out petrol. The radio-operator, Eric Astle of Shirley, Southampton, said afterwards: 'The pilot. Francis Gonsalves, had get down quick. He looked for a piece of open ground. We skimmed across allotments and crashed through railings. He did magnificent job to save lives'. The airmen were not seriously injured" - Daily Herald - 16 July 1949

Following this incident, he was prosecuted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for failing to ensure the plane had sufficient fuel. He pleaded guilty, and was fined £30 plus 5 guineas costs.

m. Jul 1954 in Chelsea, London, Jean M [Love]

Emigrated to Canada in 1957

Address in 1972: Cranmore Rd, Victoria BC. He is listed as a "Manager, Car Rental" and Jean as a Teacher

 d. 18 Jan 1954 - Victoria, BC, Canada

Buried Royal Oak Burial Park Cemetery, Victoria, BC, Canada

* Personnel File Missing

1930

Ed. Laneshew Council School

Father: Samuel Shoesmith

Next of kin: A Dyson (uncle), 28 Blenheim St. Colne, Lancs

prev. a motor mechanic and bus driver; he was fined £2 in 1928 for "having exceeded twelve miles an hour with a heavy motor bus".

 He did better than that 2 years later:

Lancashire Evening News, 1930: "SPEED OF MOTOR COACH.

PRESTON CONSTABLE'S ESTIMATE OF 52 MILES AN HOUR.

COLNE MAN FINED FOR DANGEROUS DRIVING.

'That speed may be all right in the wilds of Cumberland or Wales, but in Preston it is dangerous, and particularly so where there are schools and entrances to parks’ said Mr. A. L. Ashton, Preston Borough Police Court, to-day, when prosecuting Joseph Shoesmith, motor driver, of 38, Brown-street, Colne, who was summoned for driving a motor coach with 30 passengers on board at a speed dangerous to the public along the Moor Park length of the Blackpool road."

This time, he was fined £2 plus 2 guineas costs.

In 1936, he demonstrated a Hillson Praga at the Midland Flying Club's 'at-home', and at the Bristol and Wessex Aero Club's Garden Party.

According to Flight: "There were demonstrations, and most enlightening they were. First Mr. Shoesmith in the Hillson Praga, with its unimpeachable flying qualities at both limits of the speed range."

He entered a Praga (on behalf of the owners, F. Hills & Son) for the Cairo meeting in February 1937, and also [not the same aircraft, as its registration was given as G-AEUN, which was only registered in March 1937] for the Tynwald Air Race at the Manx Air Derby in May 1937, in which he came second.

Postings: 14FPP, 4aFPP, 4FPP, 6FPP, 1FPP

Second-in-Command of 14FPP from 1942, and 6FPP from 1944

Qualified on Aircraft Classes 1-6 (i.e. all types, including seaplanes)

"He always sets an excellent example. He is a loyal and trustworthy officer. He is intolerant of second-class material and therefore fails sometimes to make the best use of this."

Commended for "valuable service in the air", 14 Jun 1945

Naturalized in the US in 1955 and d. 1981 in Los Angeles. 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1933

ATA

A Publicity Manager for Wakefield Oil (Castrol) in 1933

ATA Chief Test Pilot in 1945: "Captain Watson's work as Flying Technical Officer and subsequently Chief Test Pilot has been of the highest order. His enthusiasm for the job and continued cheerfulness have been an inspiration to all concerned."

d. 1994, Norwich 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.--- *	2nd Officer	Vincent Neville Dickinson
	b. 15 Apr 1899,  Wolverhampton, Staffs	5 Jun to 5 Jul 1940

 Father: Frank Dickinson, a Merchant, Mother: Sarah Jane [Bayley]

2nd-Lieut, RFC, RAF in WW1; Pilot Officer, RAF from 20 Nov 1923

He was one of two pilots who inaugurated the Belfast to Liverpool Daily Air Service in April 1924 (the other was Alan Cobham), He started out at 05:30am in his D.H. 50, but the weather was so bad he could get no further than Southport Sands.

m. 18 Nov 1923 in Richmond-upon-Thames, Marjorie Winifred [Lloyd-Still] (1 daughter, Katheen b. 1926)

Elected a Member of the Royal Aero Club in June 1925

Formed Aero Hire Ltd in 1927, based in Birmingham, to "establish, maintain and work lines of aeroplanes, seaplanes and taxi-planes and aerial conveyances, etc." (later co-owned, with L W van Oppen,)

Competed in the King's Cup in 1929, flying G-EBTH, a DH.60X Moth. He was forced to retire at Blackpool.

prev. Hon. Secretary and Chief Instructor, Hertfordshire Flying Club, St Albans in 1932

He owned G-EBZZ, a 1928 DH60 X Moth, which crashed at Stansted Abbots 23 Jun 1934

 One reported accident:

- 14 Mar 1939, flying G-AEDD, a 1936 Avro 504N belonging to Publicity Planes Ltd; he hit a fence and crashed at Calderfields Farm, Walsall, after engine failure.

Address in 1939: 'Muree', Queen's Rd, Sandown, Isle of Wight

 Postings: ---

 Post-ATA, a Sub-Lieut in the Royal Navy from 15 Jul 1940

Address in 1962: 10 Oakwood Rd, Rayleigh, Essex

d. 3 Sep 192 - London

* ATA Personnel file missing

1931

A Secretary in 1931

In October 1933, he and his wife, and Mr. Gifford Hallam, made "a successful journey to Paris and return", and in 1934 he was a close runner-up to Alan Goodfellow in the Senior Landing Competition at Woodford.

Address in 1940: Flat 39, Parrawood Court, Didsbury, Manchester

Postings: 1FPP

[Resigned]

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1926

m. 1934 Dorothy M [Deller], 1 child

prev. an Artist; Flt-Lt, AAF Aug-26 to Aug-31, Flt-Lt in RAFO from Aug-31 to Aug-36;

Aircraft press advertising; air traffic control officer; assistant test pilot

Address in 1940: Seafield Drive, Ayr, Scotland

Address in 1942: c/o Mrs Deller, 5 The Maples, Upper Teddington Rd, Hampton Wick, Middx

Postings: 4FPP, 4aFPP, 16FPP, Marston Moor

12 Dec 1941 - Suspended for 1 day after going AWOL

"Carries out his duties as a Flight Leader in an efficient manner and is a very good all round officer."

He was involved in two recorded accidents:

- 7 October 1942, when he landed a Spitfire Vb wheels-up on the runway; he had forgotten to lower the undercarriage;

- 9 Feb 1943, when the engine of his Typhoon caught fire when starting, and a member of the ground crew was injured. 

He apparently had at least one other unreported accident and suffered concussion, and then, on the 22 Apr 1944, he had what was described as a 'fit' which later proved to be 'epileptiform in nature'.

On the 25 May 1944, ATA's Chief Medical Officer (Commander A Buchanan Balfour), recommended it was essential that Gareth permanently give up his flying duties. ATA considered offering him a non-flying job, but "in view of the difficulty which he seems to have found in making both ends meet on pilot's pay, it seems doubtful whether he wold accept a lower rate of pay for an administrative post."

They decided that, in view of the fact that Wallcousins was "an old ATA employee who has done us very well", they would offer him the option of resigning, working for BOAC, or undertaking training as an Operations Officer-cum-Adjutant. However, eventually his contract was terminated with 3 months' notice.

In 1949 Gareth became seriously ill with a brain tumour and died on the 10 Dec in Henley Hospital. His widow Dorothy, (having been left with two daughters), claimed compensation from the Ministry of Pensions, feeling that his death was due to the after-effects of his ATA service.

Commander Balfour agreed with her, but the claim was initially turned down. She carried on applying, but it took another 6 years for the Ministry to agree to give her a pension..

Afterwards Dorothy said "Perhaps I shall not get much - £2 or £2 10s a week." 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

c. 1930

Pre-WWII, pilot for LOT - he is mentioned as being a 'half-million-kilometer pilot' in 1934:

"With our brave pilots the second "millioner" will be Mr. Długaszewski, who will complete his million probably this summer, and then pilots Mitz, Płonczyński, Karpiński and Witkowski, who are missing more or less 100,000 km. In [order] then go pilots Dmoszyński, Barciszewski and Tokarczyk, who completed half-million in 1932, pilots Klisz, Jakubowski, Pecho - half-million in  1933, pilots Bocheński, Satel from 1934, pilots Świtalski, Sławiec, Lewicki, Kotarba, Nartowski and Bargiel from 1935."

Quite possibly he is in this photo, showing "P. Kazimierz Burzyński (with flowers) surrounded by fellow pilots and the managers and officers of the P. L. L. "Lot" airline" in 1936.

 https://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/publication/350955/edition/335170

The majority of PLL LOT staff were evacuated in September 1939. Leonard flew Lockheed Electra SP-LMK with 10 passengers to Perth, Scotland, arriving 21 Sep 1939.

Lockheed L-14H Super Electra SP-LMK - one of 10 aircraft of this type purchased by LOT Polish Airlines and then operated in the years 1938–1939

Address in 1939: Flat 4, 29 Nottingham Place, Marylebone, London

Postings: 3FPP

d. 28 Oct 1940 (Died in ATA) 

"On October 28, 1940, I was a five-year-old pupil at Castle Road School, now Lightwoods School, Warley, on the Wolverhampton Road near to the old Warley Odeon. As we were leaving school that afternoon there was an explosion, and a column of smoke could be seen down the hill beyond the Odeon.

I saw a body lying at the side of the road covered with some kind of blanket. I picked up a couple of pieces of metal, which I still have, from the wrecked aircraft.

One of the men shouted at me, and I ran off to my home at 284 Hagley Road West, about 200 yards away.

The aircraft was a Blenheim Mark IV bomber. One of its wings had been severed when it struck the cable of the barrage balloon located in Ridgeacre Road, Quinton, causing the aircraft to crash.

First Officer Satel will never enjoy the publicity attached to the spitfire women of the Second World War. He will never receive the recently-announced award acknowledging his service with the Air Transport Auxiliary.

The fact that he was Polish speaks for itself. He was fighting his war against Nazi Germany, the aggressor who had torn his own country apart, and against whom England had declared war. It was ironic and a tragedy that in the year following the invasion of his homeland First Officer Satel, all the way from Poland, should lose his life by misad-venture in Quinton." JOHN SANDERS, Stourbridge

Buried Brandwood End Cemetery, Birmingham

"NOTE: The name of L. Satel did not find its rightful place on the Monument to the Honor of Polish Aviators who died in 1939–1945, located in Pole Mokotowskie in Warsaw. It is also permanently omitted in the vast majority of statements of airmen who paid tribute to their lives during aviation activities during World War II. That is why the figure of Leonard Satel (1901–1940) and the memory of his aviation achievements deserve special attention and respect."

http://zszachownica.blogspot.com/2018/07/piloci-komunikacyjni-na-niebie.html

Probate (for his effects, £110 13s 2d in England) was finally granted on 16 Feb 1954 to "Stanislaw Zebrowski, Head of the Legal Department of the Polish Consulate General in London, and Franciscek Morenc, Consular Attache, attorneys of Tadeusz Leonard Tabenski."

Tadeusz Tabenski was also a pre-war LOT pilot. 

BG

ELC

ATAM

prev. Polish Army and Air Force; from 1925, one of the first five pilots of LOT.

In September 1939, he flew LOT's Lockheed Electra SP-BNF from Finland, bringing Alexandra, the wife of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, and their daughters Wanda and Jadwiga.

Klemens and Jadwiga both joined the ATA.

Post-WWII, rejoined LOT. 

d 3 July 1985 and is buried at the Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw.

M.68 *	First Officer	Sir Anthony Henry Lindsay-Hogg
	b. 1 May 1908, Hyde Park, London	22 Jun 1940 to 13 Mar 1941

1930

1949

Father: William Lindsay Lindsay-Hogg, 1st Baronet, Mother: Nora Cicely [Barrow], of Hayward's Grange, Jarvis Brook, Sussex

His father was made a Baronet in recognition of his work in small horse breeding.

Anthony became Second Baronet in 1923 when his father died.

He appeared in the movie "Dark Red Roses" (which is presumably where he met Frances Doble, who also appeared in the movie).

  Frances in The Tatler, 1924

 m. 16 Dec 1929 in St Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, Frances Mary Hyde [Doble] , "The young Canadian actress"

  The Sketch

"Since the groom, who is 21, is in mourning for his mother, Mrs Nora Lindsay-Hogg, who was killed recently on the hunting field [she was found drowned in a swollen stream after her return from a meeting of the Eridge Hunt], no reception was held after the ceremony" - Edmonton Journal

They were divorced in 1934 on the grounds of adultery by Sir Anthony "with a woman whose name was not mentioned." They had separated in 1932, and in 1933 she received a letter from him, in which a hotel bill was enclosed.

She was granted custody of their son William, who later became the 3rd Baronet.

In 1937, she was reported to have joined General Franco's army organisation in Spain, serving in an ambulance unit in Salamanca. "Apart from the humanitarian instinct which no doubt prompted Miss Doble, she is an ardent supporter of General Franco's cause".

Frances, Lady Lindsay-Hogg, died 12 Dec 1969 in Spain. "She was by no means a great actress, and her range was certainly limited. But what she acted, she acted perfectly" - The Stage

 Postings:

 Address in 1949: 1, Hanover Sq, London

  Visa for Brazil, 1949

d. 31 Oct 1968

  findagrave

 Buried St. Denys Churchyard, Rotherfield, Wealden District, East Sussex

* ATA Personnel file not yet available

RAeC 10 May 1939

Father: James Rudge Preston ("a Surgeon Dentist, of Harley Street"), mother Elizabeth Mary [Munn]

One younger brother, Michael Rudge

Ed. Malvern College 

prev exp: 168 hrs on Tiger Moth, Hornet, Klemm, Swallow, Piper Cub

Address in 1939: 111 Queen's Court, Queensway, London W2

Postings: 15FPP, 6FPP, 7FPP

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

6 Accidents, 2 her fault:

- 18 Mar 1941, landed downwind in Master N7954, due to a signal error

- 25 Jan 1942, the tail of her Hampden AT175 was damaged when the tarmac collapsed under the port wheel while taxying

- 11 Apr 1942, forced landing following engine failure in Botha W5134; she crashed into trees and was seriously injured

- 30 Dec 1942, she failed to control the landing swing in Spitfire Vc EE740 and the undercarriage collapsed

- 1 Jun 1943, forced landing in Argus FK340 after engine failure

- 22 Jul 1943, she overshot the landing in Mosquito III HJ863

"A keen and steady pilot. Her cheeriness is a great asset and she is coping with Wellington and larger aircraft excellently"

m. 2 Jun 1943 in London, Captain William Graham 'Willie' Metcalfe, also of the ATA:

  Contract terminated by ATA the following October (her son, Graham, was b. Apr 1944)

 Ursula and Willie in 1954, with thanks to Chris Sturgess

d. 6 Feb 1975 - North Cotswold, Glos.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

M.69 *	Captain	Stuart William Anthony Scott
	b. 19 Jan 1909 , Dunsford, Exeter	23 Jun 1940 to 7 Oct 1941

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

M.--- *	2nd Officer	Vyvyan John Somerset Thomas
	b. 29 May 1899, Bournemouth	24 Jun to 12 Jul 1940

 prev. Lt-Cmdr, RN from 1917; Flt-Lt, RAF from 1923

m. 1922 in Portsmouth, Gladys Irene Rochford [Shaw-Yates] (d. 1941)

A member of the 'Caterpillar Club', having made use of his parachute in 1930 in Egypt.

RAeC Certificate 17034 dated 9 Feb 1939 on a DH 60 Moth at Wiltshire Flying Club

Address in 1939: High Post Aerodrome, Middle Woodford, Salisbury, Wilts

 Postings: ---

 Rejoined the RAF as Pilot Officer, 5 Aug 1940

m. 1949 in Hammersmith, London, Mary V [Gilder]

 d. Jul 1964 - Chelsea

* Personnel File Missing

RAeC 1938

BG

Father: William Wyndham Gore, a mining engineer; mother: Martha [Lord]

Ed. Bedford High School (but mainly grew up in Ireland, until 1929).

Having made her first solo flight in Nov 1938 at Romford Flying Club, she was one of the Assistant Instructors there by the following September, along with Gabrielle Patterson (whose husband Pat also covered the 'theory' side of things) and Joan Hughes

prev. Secretary, British Reinforced Concrete, then at Smithfield Market

Postings: Hatfield, 15FPP, 1FPP

On the outbreak of WWII, she was one of the second batch of women pilots for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), starting on the 25 June 1940 as 'W.10' - the 10th woman pilot. She was consistently praised, both for her flying and her organisational ability: "First Officer Gore is a very steady and reliable pilot and has undertaken responsibilities in the office which she has carried out well."

Eventually, she was promoted to be Officer Commanding, No 15 Ferry Pool of women pilots at Hamble - one of only two women to achieve the rank of 'Commander', the other being Marion Wilberforce.

15 FPP pilots, between flights.

She was also one of the 11 women cleared to fly 4-engined aircraft, which she did so from May 1943 - "A keen and confident pilot of above average ability", but once she took over as OC Hamble, she cut down her flying hours considerably, prompting the Head of the ATA (Gerard d'Erlanger) to write "In her capacity of Commanding Officer, No 15 Ferry Pool, Commander Gore runs her Pool in an eminently satisfactory manner. However, I am very surprised that she has only done some 5 hours flying in seven months on ferry types. There may be some reason for this of which I am unaware, but if not she must make every effort to put in time."

And finally, she was one of only 6 women to get a medal for her service in the ATA - an MBE in 1946.

[The other MBEs were Felicity Bragg, Pauline Gower, Joan Hughes, Roy (Mary) Sharpe and Rosemary Rees, although Phillippa Bennett, Victoria Cholmondley and Elisabeth May got 'Commendations'.]

 Margot and Joan in 1947 (The Times)

In 1947, she signed on as 'Recruit No. 1' for the Women's Auxiliary Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Flying) List, designed to train pilots for non-operational duties in emergencies. Joan Nayler, another ATA Woman pilot, was No. 2.

She then became Managing Director of the West London Aero Club.

In 1948, she was called by the prosecution at the court martial of her elder brother, Colonel Thomas Gerard Gore DSO, OBE, on charges which alleged that he had received money from a Mr Newman, knowing it came from the sale of stolen arms.

Margot testified that "her brother had never been very good at business affairs or, anything that demanded a high degree of intellectual effort." [Ouch]

 Colonel Gore was sentenced to be cashiered and serve two years imprisonment. Major-General James D Dennlson, Director of Ordnance Services at the time of the Invasion of Normandy, told the Court that he had referred him as "a problem child," but said that Colonel Gore was a first-class leader in war-time."

In 1952, aged 39, she passed out as Gold Medallist (of course) at the British School of Osteopathy and later practised as an osteopath, eventually becoming (of course) its Chairman.

In retirement Margot was "an enthusiastic golfer".

I bet she was good at that, too...

d. 28 Aug 1993 - Sue Ryder Home, Nettlebed, Oxfordshire.

This is her memorial in Maidenhead Cemetery:

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

IWM interview here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009075

RAeC 1930

ATA (with thanks to Dana MacDuff)

Her parents were Capt William Henry Nicholson and Sybil Wigham.

Educated at Roedean, got her 'matric', and went into welding research as an engineer, working for Arc Manufacturing Co. in Shepherd's Bush.

She married John Lambton in March 1934, and they had one son, Peter. **

In 1937, she and the Hon. Ruth Cokayne took a 'light-hearted summer tour' to Budapest (via Brussels, Cologne, Munich, and Salzburg) in a Gipsy Moth; a trip which they reckoned cost them about £55 each in total.

 Ruth C (l) and Ruth L (r) ('Flight')

They muddled along in a breathless, schoolgirlish sort of way. In Frankfurt, all their possessions were confiscated but then 'we found ourselves in the officers' mess, where the entire squadron shook our hands with the utmost solemnity, clicked heels, Heiled Hitler and gave us lunch! Another round of handshakes, our belongings were duly returned to us, and we Heiled Hitler gratefully ourselves as we took off'.

She was an early recruit to the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in 1940, starting on the 25th June as W.20 - the 20th woman employed by the ATA. (Ruth Cokayne also joined the ATA, as W.40, in April 1941).

They admitted that she 'flew very well indeed and was exceedingly keen', but pretty soon, she had her first accident. In November 1940, she landed a Fairey Battle and ran into an unmarked drainage ditch. The problem was, she wasn't cleared to fly the Battle at all, it being 'out of her class', and she was suspended for 5 days with loss of flying pay.

Her husband John was killed on active service in Gibraltar in 1941, and she then met and married an American, First Officer Edwin Dana Ballard, also of the ATA, in 1942.

Things were going better (for a while); in June 1942 she was considered a 'good steady pilot, handling the larger types of aircraft excellently'. However, she was actually demoted to Second Officer (for three months) in August 1942, for landing a Mustang in dangerously bad weather conditions.

She was suspended (again) for a week in February 1943, for taking off in a Spitfire with the hood open. Her instructor said she was 'a very high spirited officer who finds discipline somewhat irksome, and as a result is subject to occasional outbreaks. However, if handled with a little extra understanding & consideration these outbreaks are at no time serious or to the detriment of her work. As a pilot her keenness and desire to get work done are exceptional'.

The following month, March 1943, she taxied a Tiger Moth into an oil bowser, and was held responsible: 'taxying without due care'.

Nevertheless, in mid-1943 she was put on the conversion course to fly 4-engine (Class 5) aircraft; unfortunately, her training ws suspended after 3 days as 'it was considered that the Stirling was proving too much for her to tackle under emergency or adverse conditions.'

In 1944, another instructor (presumably less understanding & considerate than the previous one) agreed that she was 'an excellent pilot who works hard and efficiently' but 'her sense of discipline is poor and she is uncooperative and frequently obstructive'.

She tried again in May 1944 for Class 5 and this time was successful, eventually flying Halifaxes for a total of 9hrs, Lancasters 31hrs and Stirlings 5hrs. She was one of only 11 ATA women cleared to fly 4-engine aircraft.

She made it right through until 1945, but then pushed her luck too far. In January, she and Edwin were hauled before a disciplinary court for 'drinking during an unauthorised period in spite of a warning by a senior officer' and 'insubordination'.

The Court was inclined Not to Overlook the Offences. "After considering the evidence, and after hearing verbal evidence given by Commander Whitehurst and Captain Rome the Court reached the conclusion that the charges were fully substantiated, and after reviewing the record of both these officers, who as pilots have undoubtedly done a good job, the Court nevertheless came to the conclusion that their disciplinary record throughout, as disclosed by the History Cards, has left a great deal to be desired, despite repeated warnings, and that this incident is so bad as to warrant their instant dismissal".

She and Edwin were duly dismissed, on the 23rd January 1945. They moved to the USA (to Edwin's home town of Hadley, MA), had 2 more children and then moved to Nassau, Bahamas.

l to r Ann Wood-Kelly, Lettice Curtis, Ruth and Winnie Fair, Nassau 1957 (ELC)

She died 25 July 2003; both hers and Edwin's log books are now in the Maidenhead ATA Heritage Centre.

And her 1930 MG M-Type, which she acquired at the age of 16, still exists!

** Her son Peter joined up with ex-ATA pilot Austin Young in 1959, in a CIA plot to overthrow Castro. They went to Cuba, but were captured almost immediately, and Peter was sentenced to 25 years jail.

 Austin Young and Peter Lambton, awaiting trial

When released in 1963, he declared flatly that the charges against him were true; "I tried and failed to help destroy Castro and I have no regrets." 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1933

1938

Christened Alys Helen Mary Parsons, but always known as 'Joan', and sometimes spelt her first name as 'Ailiss'

LRAM is 'Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music', which is a licence to teach music.

  5ft 7in tall, green eyes

Father: Rev. Randolph Cecil Parsons (d. 1941), Mother: Florence Emily [Ashton] (d. 1946) 

Her elder brother, John Cecil Lawrence Parsons, b. 1905 in Bournemouth, also had a pilot's licence:

 1934

prev: 'Domestic At Home'; piano teacher

She advertised in the Leamington Spa Courier, 8 July 1930: "MISS JOAN PARSONS, L.R.A.M. (PIANISTE). Pupil of Mr. Evlyn Howard-Jones. Is open to Public and Private Engagement and visits Pupils. Address; 19, Avenue Road, Leamington Spa." 

Having gained her Royal Aero Club Certificate in 1933, she was "thwarted in her ambition to follow a career as a commercial air pilot" as, when she had put in the necessary 200 hours solo and took the examination. she was not passed. She later said that, on insisting upon an explanation, she was told that 'although her flying was up to the required standard, her health was the obstacle". 

Nothing daunted. she took up "an intensive course of physical culture, and eventually improved her health sufficiently to be able to pass the test. But then, having temporarily relinquished her solo flying, she discovered, to her great disappointment, that she was unable to fulfill the condition of the requisite number of hours in the air."

She then worked for a while at Hayling Island aerodrome.

 In 1938, she used a legacy "from an elderly relative" to buy G-ADNL, a Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk, first registered 12 Aug 1935 to Phillips & Powis Aircraft Ltd.

 G-ADNL in 1938

It had competed in the King's Cup in 1935 (flown by Frederick Miles himself), coming 11th/29, 1936 (flown by Patrick Maxwell, an Instructor at the Phillips and Powis Civil Training School), coming 9th/26, and 1937, (flown by Wing-Cmdr Frederick William Stent, who died 28 Jun 1938 in the crash of the Miles M.11C G-AEYI), coming 7th/27.

   G-ADNL in 1935

In May 1938, she started a "lone, and almost unprepared" flight to Cape Town and back. It was her first flight outside England or Scotland.

She left Lympne, without telling anyone except her parents, on 7 May 1938.

Her father said he had absolute faith in his daughter. "I am sure she will accomplish her objective," he said. " She is not out to break records. but to gain experience. She is full of the spirit of adventure. Flying is in her blood."

Major J. E. Bonniksen, of the Leamington, Warwick and District Aero Club, said Miss Parsons, who was taught to fly by Tommy Rose, deserved real encouragement. "She is made of the right stuff," he said.

Things went smoothly to begin with: "... in 75 minutes I arrived at Le Bourget. I cannot describe the thrill I felt as I zoomed over the Channel. 1 thought of Bleriot and all the pioneers of flight who had opened up the pathways of the air — and I felt ashamed when I realised how insignificant I really was."... " After undergoing the usual formalities at Le Bourget, I flew towards St. Etienne and arrived there in a couple of hours. It was raining and I had to spend the night there. Next morning I went on to Marseilles, and 40 minutes later I was at Cannes."

 Then the first hitch: "In Cannes I learned that it was impossible to fly over Rome because of Hitler's visit. That was that! I had to spend two days at Cannes. Eventually I left for Rome at three o'clock in the morning arriving five hours later.  I had no time to lose, so immediately after the customs formalities I took to the air again and at 11 a.m. I was in Athens. What scenery I saw!"

"I continued on my way some minutes after my arrival, and at 2.45 p.m. I landed at Amscat, Lybya. Having a flat tyre, I had five hours to wait. At last I got going again, and landed the same day at Dekheila. I spent the night at :Alexandria before starting off again the next morning for Almaza."

[What she failed to mention is that a) she had to make a forced landing on 19 May, due to shortage of petrol, at an aerodrome at Khalkis, (which she described as being "all ridges") some distance short of Athens, and b) she had only two hours of daylight to fly from Amscat in Libya to Alexandria.]

She then spent a few days sight-seeing in Cairo.

 After that, frankly, the catalogue of mishaps continued...

 She made another forced landing, on 24 May, at Victoria West, running into a barbed wire fence which wrapped itself round the propeller and damaged the fuselage. The local garage mechanics had never worked on an aeroplane before, but eventually fixed it in five days. 

However, she finally reached Capetown, and stayed there until 1 July when she started back, "following the old Imperial Airways route... she expects to take 8 days. She hopes to reach Broken Hill, Rhodesia, tomorrow"

She left Mpike, in Northern Rhodesia, on 4 July for Mbeya, in Tanganyika Territory.

By the 6th July, the newspapers reported "NATIVES SEARCH FOR MISSING LEAMINGTON WOMAN - Nothing heard of her since Monday - Concern for safety of former music mistress"

 ... until...

9 July 1938: "BRITISH AIRWOMAN STILL STRANDED. Motor Boat Has Not Yet Reached Her. Dar es Salaam. Tanganyika, Friday.

Miss Joan Parsons, the Leamington airwoman. who was found by natives yesterday after she had been missing for three days, is still stranded in the bush near the Rufijii River, some 200 miles north of Mbeya, Tanganyika. Miss Parsons, who came down while on a flight from Capetown to London, is believed to be unhurt, though her plane was wrecked [sic]. The District Officer for Kiberege (Mr. Theodore Pike), well known Irish Rugby international, who has gone to her rescue by motor boat up the Rufiji, has not yet reached her.

An official Government communique issued here to-night says: There has been no further news of Miss Parsons, but this is not surprising as the District Officer has not yet been able reach the position where her aeroplane is reported to have crashed.” An R.A.F. machine left Mbeya to look for her this morning, but visibility was very bad because of cloud and the plane returned to Mbeya."

Her father said "We were getting rather frightened. It was such a shock to hear that Joan was missing and then to hear nothing further"

Her mother added "She will be ordered home. She will not be allowed to go on more flights of this nature"

[Good luck with that...]

By the 12 July, more of the story emerged: "Plane Runway Cut in Bush for Air-Girl. A solitary native road worker who witnessed the landing in the bush of Miss Joan Parsons, the Leamington airwoman, ran 30 miles to inform the district officer, Mr. Theodore Pike. He set off at once by moonlight for the Rufiji River in a motor boat, and is now assisting to cut a runway through the long grass where the plane landed. Miss Parsons may take off for Iringa, 80 miles away. She was given native foods, tea and sugar by Christian natives after landing. She sent no SOS, but merely asked for petrol and oil."

She arrived back at Nairobi on the 15 July and was hoping to leave for the UK the same day, but the "Authorities" insisted that she be escorted over the Sudan, and she had to wait for some RAF machines which were flying to Egypt. 

 She landed back in Lympne on 8 August, then reached home in Leamington Spa on 11 August 1938

Despite the plans which had been made to give her a triumphal return home, bad weather forced a delay to her final leg from Reading, so the civic reception waited for hours, eventually presented the bouquet to her brother and then went home.

Home at last, with Maj. Bonniksen and H C Everitt, of the Leamington Spa and Warwick Aero Club

Afterwards, she said her chief anxiety was "to save sufficient money to make a flight to India"

She had other plans, too:  

2 Sep 1939 - "Miss Parsons is as keen as ever on aviation, and she recently purchased an Airspeed Courier six-seater machine which was used by Sir Alan Cobham on his India flight. The machine is being refitted by the makers, and Miss Parsons will, in all probability, use it for passenger work."

She bought G-ABXN, a 1932 Airspeed AS.5 Courier formerly owned by North Eastern Airways Ltd, based at Croydon:

However, Britain's Declaration of War the very next day put a stop to all that; the aircraft was requisitioned in June 1940 and only lasted until September, when it was scrapped.

Contract Terminated by ATA after 1 month]

"Leamington's Airwoman of African Fame"

"AIRWOMAN FINED FOR QUITTING JOB

Complaint About Workmate "Exaggerated"

Joan Parsons, who made a name for herself 1938 by flying solo to the Cape, was fined £5 to-day at Leamington, Warwickshlre, for falling to comply with a Ministry of National Service direction to work in an aircraft factory. Mr. W. A. Coleman, prosecuting, said that after being at a bench for two days Miss Parsons wrote to the firm complaining that she had been molested by a labourer, who repeatedly jabbed her under the arm. This so played on her nerves that she could not continue, and she left, declining to return for fear of further aggression.

''Of African Fame"

The letter was signed, "Joan Parsons, Leamington's airwoman of African fame." The complaint was grossly exaggerated, said Mr. Coleman. The labourer was a reputable workman, who thought he was encouraging the defendant by a playful act. Gilbert Stackhouse, shop foreman, said the labourer just touched Miss Parsons on the shoulder and said: "It won't be long now." 'I knew what he meant, but she didn't." added witness. "I told her that the man was trying to keep her happy, and instructed him not to go anywhere near her again."

The "Rough Man"

In evidence Miss Parsons said her father was a clergyman. The "rough man" who irritated her wanted to tickle other girl employees. The man leered in her face and was very objectionable. She kept away from the factory because she feared an act of revenge. Mr. Coleman: But surely you have had some experience of the world and meeting people? Miss Parsons: Yes. I have been treated very well abroad, and natives in territories on which I have had forced landings in Africa have looked on me as a goddess”.

 Mr. Overall, defending, said it was not everybody who reacted favourably to being jabbed in the ribs every two or three minutes." - The Yorkshire Post, 8 November 1943

 d 20 Sep 1989 - Weston Super Mare, Somerset, leaving £118,000

[Her Sparrowhawk G-ADNL was later converted into the sole Miles M.77 Sparrowjet:

... and on 13 July 1957, it won the King's Cup with a maximum speed of 228 mph.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Sparrowjet

]

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1931

Father: Bertram William Chetwynd Talbot (a member of the familty that included the Earls of Shrewsbury and the founder of Talbot motorcars)

Address in 1931: 361 Spen Lane, Headingley, Yorks

m. 1929 in Wiltshire, John Raymond Micklethwait 

 also a pilot ("a popular local owner") who won the Grimthorpe Trophy in 1934, and the Yorkshire Trophy the same year at an average speed of 104.5 mph. He owned G-AAFK, a 1929 DH60G Gypsy Moth, and then G-ABHM, a 1930 DH60G Gypsy Moth, which they used to tour Spain in 1934.

Lived at 'The Old Mansion', Bisley, Stroud, Glos 1951-53

Husband John d. 1966 in Rhodesia

d. 1 Jun 1992, Mutare, Zimbabwe 

Father: Capt. Philip Dennis Bennett (5th Bn, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, an architect, m. 17 Aug 1915, d. 24 Feb 1919 from influenza)

Philippa was born 9 months after her father died.

Mother: Doris Mary [Lowe, m. 1922 Ian Forbes Panton, he d. 1935]

Philippa's elder brother Dennis Labron Bennett was b. 20 Nov 1917, BA (Cantab), d. 25 Oct 1942 at El Alamein

Ed. Westonbirt School, Glos

Address in 1937: Ash Cottage, Harlington, Hayes, Middx

She was engaged to Francis Richard Bevan, RASC (previously a 'Mountie' with the RCMP) in May 1940.

 Postings: 5FPP, 15FPP

Class 5 (4-engine) pilot

7 accidents, 3 her fault:

- 7 Sep 1941, in Hurricane W9124 at Hatfield, she collided with a Tiger Moth due to 'gross carelessness'

- 20 Oct 1941, she failed to control the landing swing of Tomahawk AH808, and ground-looped (at Colerne)

- 18 Nov 1941, a forced landing in Anson R3340 after port engine failure

- 20 May 1942, she taxied Anson AX537 into a narrow parking space, ignoring the signal made by a member of the ground crew, and the tail hit a starter trolley

- 9 Sep 1943, a forced landing in Halifax II BB135, after a battery exploded

- 28 Oct 1944, another forced landing, this time in Walrus I W3008 after she lost all brake pressure

- 8 Jun 1945, a fourth forced landing, in Barracuda II DR202 when she noticed the batteries were overheating (due to incorrect voltage adjustment).

Commended for "valuable service in the air", 14 Jun 1945

   RAeC

26 March 1946: "26-year-old Miss Philippa Bennett has been flying planes ever since she was 17. For 5 and a half years she flew with the Air Transport Auxiliary service, when she piloted all types of planes from 4-engined bombers to Spitfires. She got her B Licence in 1938. Now she is proposing to make a business out of what was her hobby and her war work; she has bought two high wing monoplanes with which she is starting her own air taxi service at Southampton Airport. She hopes to specialise in aerial photographic work.

Photo Shows: Miss Phillippa Bennett in her taxi monoplane at Southampton Airport"

 The three aircraft Philippa eventually owned included the Foster Wikner Wicko GM1s G-AFJB and G-AGPE (the latter used for spares)

  http://www.wicko.com/wickohistory.htm

"When Geoffrey Wickner purchased a surplus Halifax bomber with the intention of returning to Australia he sold the Wicko to Philippa Bennett who used the aircraft in her air taxi service again out of Eastleigh. During that time the machine was extensively damaged in a forced landing, caused by bad weather when it ran over the edge of a cliff, fortunately without injury to the occupants. After repair the aircraft was sold but again was registered to Philippa and Lettice Curtis who raced the aircraft at a number of events under the race number 39. The handicappers were unkind to the Wicko and her pilot and the aircraft was not too well placed at any event. "

"Although exciting and fulfilling, it was not a financially viable enterprise"

m. Jul 1947 in Winchester, Wing Commander Maurice Booth DFC (3 sons)

"She later settled in the village of Durrington in Wiltshire where she owned and ran the village shop" - The Telegraph

d. 24 May 2007 - Salisbury

RAeC 1929

Father: Horace John Maurice Drummond Sale-Barker (d. 10 Nov 1914 in Surrey), Mother: Florence Dyer [Ledgard] (later Mrs. H S Brookes)

prev: a ski Instructor - here she is in "the ski-ing school opened by Lilywhite's in what was previously a dance hall in Piccadilly", in 1931:

  'The Graphic'

  At Combermere Abbey, the home of Delia Crossley, in 1932

In January 1933, she and Joan Page crashed on their way back from the Cape, and had to be rescued from the South African bush near Lake Magadi, 40 miles south of Nairobi, "amongst lions, elephants and buffalo" The machine was wrecked and rescue parties sent out. Joan suffered a broken leg, Audrey had a cut on the head, and they waited two days by the wrecked machine before being rescued. (They had flown to the Cape "to stay with Lady Bailey" and had crashed on their way there as well, but escaped unharmed.)

   Daily Mirror

She was Captain of Great Britain's ladies' ski-ing team in 1934 and 1935.

   1939

"Sun and Snow at St. Moritz. Miss Audrey Sale-Barker (r, with Miss Patricia Lowry-Corry) has been appointed ski-ing instructress at the Corvegia Club this season. Her mother is an aunt of Lord Inchiquin" - The Tatler

"The Cresta Party at the Dorchester - Miss Audrey Sale-Barker and Wing-Commander Walter Wilson" - 3 Jan 1940 - The Tatler

 Postings: 15FPP

 1942 caricature by 'Sammy' Clayton

One of the ATA's 'two Audreys' [along with Audrey Macmillan]

Mary du Bunsen says "The two Audreys, who were very good pilots, had a special line of feminine vapours. "My dear," one or the other would exclaim in the mess, "I've got my first Hudson (or Mitchell, or whatever it might be) and I know I shall crash and I've got a pain (cold, temperature, etc)". And they would totter out, leaving a trail of handkerchiefs, lipsticks, handbags, etc., which would be picked up by willing (male) hands. They would then fly whatever it was superbly to its destination, where they would be assisted out of the aeroplane and the same pantomime would take place. " 

Off sick from 7 to 24 Feb 1941 with influenza; 17 Oct to 11 Nov 1941 with "torn ligament in foot"; 15 Feb 1943 with "defective vision", and 1 to 28 Nov 1943 with haemmorhoids.

One accident, not her fault:

- 30 Jul 1942, the port undercarriage leg of her Wellington II W5426 collapsed on landing.

Her contract was terminated 13 Jun 1943 in medical grounds, but she was re-instated.

m. 6 Aug 1949 in Edinburgh Cathedral.  George Nigel Douglas-Hamilton (the Earl of Selkirk):

"Scotland's biggest society wedding of the season", with over 1,500 (or it might have been 4,000) guests

d. 21 Dec 1994

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1934

Father: Hugh Miller Macmillan, a shipbuilder

Address in 1934: Ferniegar, Helensburgh

Postings: 15FPP, 5FPP, 1FPP

One of the ATA's 'two Audreys' [along with Audrey Sale-Barker]

Veronica Innes says that "Audrey had an adorable white pekinese puppy, named Wun Wing Lo, which she used to carry around in a parachute pack. He must have been the most air-minded dog of his generation."

Mary du Bunsen says "The two Audreys, who were very good pilots, had a special line of feminine vapours. "My dear," one or the other would exclaim in the mess, "I've got my first Hudson (or Mitchell, or whatever it might be) and I know I shall crash and I've got a pain (cold, temperature, etc)". And they would totter out, leaving a trail of handkerchiefs, lipsticks, handbags, etc., which would be picked up by willing (male) hands. They would then fly whatever it was superbly to its destination, where they would be assisted out of the aeroplane and the same pantomime would take place. " 

 At least 5 accidents, 1 her fault:

- 28-Nov-42, she collided with a petrol drum while taxying in Fairchild EV809

- 15-Jan-43, a forced landing in Mosquito IV DZ427 after a hydraulic failure meant the undercarriage would not retract

 - 5-Aug-43, the tail wheel of her Argus HM182 collapsed whilst taxying

- 11-Nov-43, she bent the undercarriage of Mosquito VI LR291 during a crosswind landing

 - 24-Dec-43, another Mosquito, another undercarriage problem: Mosquito XVI MM277's undercarriage collapsed on landing. The previous pilot (who happened to be Senior Commander Philip Wills, the Head of the Accidents Section of ATA), had made a heavy landing earlier but not reported it - he was blamed.

m. 1944 in Glasgow, Neil Campbell Mackenzie (divorced, 1 daughter b. 1946)

In October 1947, she was an early recruit for the newly-formed WAAFVR:

  The Scotsman

m. 1952 in Dunbartonshire, Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst[b. 1887; he had been a member of the Nimrod Expedition in Antarctica of 1907–1909, led by Ernest Shackleton] and became Lady Brocklehurst

They lived at 15 Belgrave Mews South, London SW1, and Swythamley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire.

"By all accounts, she never really settled in Swythamley. At one point she tried in vain to rescue her father's ship-building business and finally ended up living in London." - Swythamley Historical Society, via Alan Weeks

 c. 1963, at the Women of the Year Luncheon (The Times)

Sir Philip d. 28 Jan 1975

d. 13 Aug 1975 - St Marylebone, London, leaving £350,323

RAeC 1930

1933

Father: Rupert Gustavus Muntz, a clerk (b. 1863 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, m. 1906, d. 1914); Mother: Lucy Elsie [also Muntz] (d. 1955)

m. 1933 in Chester, William Fettis 'Frank' Davison, an 'engineer (railway rolling stock)', later owner and manager of Hooton Aerodrome in Cheshire:

   RAeC 1927

Co-Director, with Frank, of Utility Airways Ltd

'B' Licence holder. Prev. Exp: 1,265 hrs

 [divorced]

 Elsie Joy Muntz, who was always known as Joy, and signed herself as ‘E. Joy Davison’, originally wrote to Pauline Gower in early December 1939:

“My Dear Pauline,
I have just this minute got wind of the W.S.A.T.A [Women’s Section Air Transport Auxiliary], and would very much like some further details about it.
At present I am flying for the N.A.C. with Portsmouth, Southsea and I.O.W. Aviation, based at Cardiff, but I am not particularly impressed, though the pay is reasonably good. Could you let me know how much the ATA are offering as a salary, and whether (if you know yet) there will be any chances of promotion later, or will one stay for ever as a Second Officer?
My experience at the moment is nearly 1,300 hours, of which about 600 is on twins and about 100 night. Normal peace-time occupation is Commercial Pilot; age is 29; not married any more (since 20/11/39!) ‘B’ Licence No 2567. Types flown: Moth, Avian, Puss Moth, Fox Moth, Cadet, Swift, Desoutter, Drone, Proga, Monospar, Tiger Moth, Klemm, Airspeed Courier, Airspeed Ferry, Miles Falcon; Privately owned: Cadet; experience: British Isles only.
My best wishes to Dorothy, if you should see her, and of course to yourself.”

By the 9th of December, however, she wrote:
“My Dear Pauline,
Many thanks for your letter and dope enclosed, also for the further circular letter from BA detailing salary etc.
Sorry old thing, but I fear the dough isn’t good enough, particularly considering one would be flying open cockpit stuff for a large majority of the time! Afraid I’m getting soft or old or something, but when I’ve got a job which pays about twice as well and where one earns one’s money in more or less comfort, the change offers no worthwhile attractions! Nevertheless I wish you all very well, and if any of you should happen to come to Cardiff for any reason do look me up. Of course I may be away I can give no promises!
Let me know when you have time and things have progressed a bit further, which of our flying females you have roped in!
Best of wishes to you, my dear, and the very best of luck to you. Awfully glad they picked you to be at the head of this thing. May it and you go far together!”

Six months later, and things had moved on somewhat:
“Dear Pauline,
Herewith the dope about me. Since chatting on the phone, I’ve managed to get some extra petrol to cover the trip to Hatfield by car, so think maybe it would save time if I were to come through while the contracts going through official channels – what do you think? If you agree send me a wire, and I’ll pack up and come pronto. Point is, the posts here are awful and I didn’t get your letter till this morning so a whole day was wasted which in these times is the devil!!
What sort of digs accommodation is there around Hatfield? Pretty crowded I reckon.
Am looking forward to coming a lot and so glad I can be of assistance. I’ll tell you more about what’s kept me out of it since N.A.C. cracked up, when I see you!”

Joy started on the 1st of July, 1940.

Exactly one week later, unbelievably, tragically, she died in a crash.

The accident report said that the aircraft made a ‘spiral dive’ (not a spin) at about 600-700ft. "It continued in this spiral until it hit the ground and eye-witnesses, who are experienced pilots, state that they had no reason to consider that it was out of control but, for some unknown reason, it remained in the spiral until it hit the ground."

The pilot/instructor, Sgt l’Estrange was an exceptionally experienced instructor and was well acquainted with Master aircraft; Joy, as we have seen, was an exceptionally experienced pilot on many different types of aircraft.
No cause was ever found for the crash. One theory was that carbon monoxide leaked into the cockpit (despite Joy’s prediction, and unlike many pre-war Miles designs, the Master had an enclosed cockpit) and rendered the two of them unconscious.

Her many friends were aghast; Jennie Broad, who had also just joined the ATA, wrote to Pauline the very next day (9th July):
“Dear Miss Gower,
I would appreciate any information you are able to give me of Mrs Davison’s accident. We were old friends and if there is anything I can do please do not hesitate to let me know at once.
I have written to Mrs Davison’s mother, but as she will probably be in Hatfield before she receives my letter, will you be so kind as to give her, or anyone else representing her, my address and ask them to get in touch with me?”

Pauline wrote straight away to Joy’s mother:
“I should like you to know how we shall miss your daughter. She was a most kind and cheerful member of this Section, and a first class pilot. May I offer you our most sincere sympathy in your bereavement."

Cremated at Bristol.

Nearly a year later, on the 4th July 1941, Joy’s sister, Hope Muntz, wrote to Pauline Gower, asking her if possible to ‘write a few lines to my mother on the 8th…. If you could give any news of the ATA and of Jenny Broad & Mrs Patterson I know she would be so pleased.”

Pauline, of course, did write, to say; “we shall be thinking of Joy and wishing she could still be with us.” 

Postscript:

Frank had married fellow aviator Margaret Ann Longstaffe in 1939:

  1935

and 3 years after he was killed in a sailing accident in 1949, she became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

1934

Contract Terminated

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

A student in 1929

ATA

MAMM

 * King's Commendation for valuable service in the air

Charles' brother (see below)

Next of kin: Father, Lt-Col James Huntly Sherborne, 6th Baron Sherborne, Sherborne Park, Cheltenham, Glos.

Ed. at Stowe

prev. Foreign Office (Communications) Aug-39 to Jul-40

prev. exp. 250 hrs

Postings: 1FPP, 2FPP, 15FPP

"A pilot of exceptional ability, and a successful Flight Captain, inasmuch as his high qualities as a pilot set a good example to others. His quiet disposition and lack of natural aptitude for leadership prevent him from being an outstanding Flight Captain as well as an outstanding pilot."

m. Joan Doreen East 1945;  Pauline Stewart Robinson 1959

d. 21 July 1981, Hereford 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1937

Father: Walter Septimus Curtis, The 'Lord of the Manor', Denbury Manor, Newton Abbott, Devon; mother, Eleanor Frances [Master]

6 siblings, inc.  Robert M (b. 1920), and 4 sisters inc Lillias Marion, (b. 1902), Rosemary (b. 1905), Adelaide Gabrielle (b. 1909), and Evelyn (b. 1922)

Ed. Benenden School, Cranbrook; St Hilda's College Oxford (BA Mathematics)

 prev. exp. 440 hrs on "Puss, Leopard, Tiger & wooden Moths", Swallow, Hornet, Spartan

prev. C. L. Surveys Ltd., Southampton

  Postings: 15FPP, 6FPP, 5FPP, 1FPP

4-engine (Class 5) pilot

 Off sick from 23 Apr to 7 May 1944 after her flying accident in the Typhoon

4 accidents, one her fault:

- 22 Aug 1942, brake failure when landing in a Havoc II

- 18 Jul 1943, starboard engine failure in an Anson

- 10 Jul 1943, she opened the throttles of her Mosquito VI too rapidly and the aircraft swung

- 22 Apr 1944, she crashed in a Typhoon after complete engine failure when approaching to land.

"Flying exceptional. Discipline greatly improved. When in her best mood her behaviour is impeccable but when in her worst, Oh Lord!"

"Shows a tendency to disregard the interests of others"

In August 1948 she set a new international women's record for the 100-kllometres closed circuit of 313.07 mph (flying a Spitfire XI owned by the United States Embassy) In the Lympne high-speed flying handicap, beating Jacqueline Cochran's 1940 record.

wrote:

- 'The Forgotten Pilots' (1985); 

- 'Winged Odyssey' (1993)

- 'Lettice Curtis - her autobiography' (2004)

 d. 21 Jul 2014 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettice_Curtis

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

RAeC 1934

ATA

Father Harry M. Glass, 9, Whitehall, London SW1. 

Educated 'privately'.

A well-known pre-war racing aviator; prev. exp. 523 hrs on Avro Cadet, D.H. Moth, and B.A. Eagle, in "Egypt, Italy, France, Hungary, Germany, and the North African Coast."

Mabel, her sister Sheila and their pet tortoise, at the Tynwald Air Race in 1938 (they were disqualified for making a wrong turn at the start.)

And their pet tortoise's name was George.

Owned 1931 D.H. 60G Moth G-ABOE, then 1934 B.A. Eagle G-ACPU.

prev. a WAAF, A/C/W 2 from 22 Sep 1939

Address in 1940: 'Arnlui', Cranley Rd, Guildford

 She answered the question on her ATA application form "Are you prepared to serve?" with "Very much so!"

Postings: 15FPP, 6FPP, 5FPP, 16FPP, 12FPP

 "F/O Glass is a very good pilot and exceptionally keen. She has worked hard and conscientously but is inclined to lack imagination when flying. Her tendency to push through very bad weather has now been checked."

"A very keen strong pilot. No work is too much for her."

However, she was reprimanded twice for taxying without due care; once when her Anson hit a parked Spitfire after skidding on a wet runway, and then when her Hudson ground-looped and sustained damage to its port rudder, flap and aileron. On the second occasion she was docked 3 days pay. 

Post-WWII, Mabel, Sheila and their mother settled in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa.

 c.1953, holding the President's Cup of the Zululand Flying Club

National Library of Australia

Mabel continued to compete in aviation races until her death.

d. 4th Nov 1967 - Westville, Durban, South Africa.

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):

prev exp 350hrs. Owned a Stinson

A Company Director. Son of the famous financier.

He wrote to Gerrd d'Erlanger: "I am told that I have an opportunity of joining the Fleet Air Arm, but as I have offered my services to you and I have two friends, Leo Partridge and Rupert Bellville, in the ATA, I would naturally prefer to join your organisation."

Address in 1940: Woolley Grange, Littlewick Green, Nr Maidenhead

Next of Kin: a) Mr Jack Misonne, Villa Begonia, Biarritz, France, b) Mrs Burnaby, Thorpe Satchville, Melton Mowbray, Leics.

Waived his ATA salary: "It is my opinion that everyone who is in a position to undertake war work without remuneration should do so. Therefore I suggest my salary be paid towards the start of a charity fund for the pilots [and dependents] of the ATA."

d. 29 Mar 1941 (Died in ATA Service) - Blenheim V6263 stalled and crashed on undershot approach to White Waltham.

"PILOT-OFFICER LOWENSTEIN

Millionaire Buried At Twyford 

Fellow-members of the Air Transport Auxiliary attended the funeral last Thursday of Pilot-officer "Bobby" Lowenstein, the millionaire owner of the Pinfold, Thorpe Satchville. who met his death as the result of accident at an air port. 

A requiem mass was held In the early morning at Melton Catholic church, and during the afternoon a service for Protestant friends was conducted by Father A. E. Bermingham. 

The coffin lay in state in front of the altar, draped with the Belgian flag and the Union Jack By it was a hoseshoe of flowers in the Belgian colours. After the service the coffin was taken to Twyford. for the interment.

It is believed that Pilot-officer Lowenstein had only two relatives alive, an aunt and an uncle, now in Biarritz, who escaped from Belgium at the time of King Leopold's capitulation."

Grantham Journal, 10 Apr 1941 

 Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file):