Tag Archives: Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

7 November 1945

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Gloster Meteor F Mk.IV, EE455, Brittania, 1945. (Gloster Aircraft Co., Ltd.)

7 November 1945: Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson, A.F.C. and Two Bars, Royal Air Force, Commandant of the Empire Test Pilots’ School at RAF Cranfield, set the first world speed record with a jet-propelled airplane, and the first speed record by an airplane in excess of 600 miles per hour (965.606 kilometers per hour), when he flew the Gloster Meteor F Mk.IV, EE454, to 975.68 kilometers per hour (606.26 miles per hour)—0.80 Mach—at an altitude of 75 meters (246) above Sea Level.

The course was an 8 mile (12.9 kilometers) straight away from the Herne Bay Pier to Reculver Point, along the south coast of the Thames Estuary. This was a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) record for speed over a 3 kilometer course. ¹

Gloster Meteor Mk.III EE457, sistership of the two record-setting Mk.IV prototypes. (Unattributed)
Gloster Meteor F Mk.III EE457, sister ship of the two record-setting Mk.IV prototypes. (Unattributed)

Months of preparation by both the Royal Air Force, which formed a special “flight,” and Gloster Aviation Co., Ltd., went into the speed record effort. Two Meteor F Mk.III fighters, EE454 and EE455, were modified to the new Mk.IV version to attempt the speed record.

Gloster Meteor F Mk.III EE455 prior to modification to Mk.IV. © IWM (ATP 15305D)

The standard B.37 Rolls-Royce Derwent Series I turbojet engines were replaced with Derwent Series V turbojets and lengthened jet nacelles. The wings were shortened, the tips reshaped and the canopy was cut down and strengthened. All trim tabs on flight control surfaces were disabled and their edges sealed. Landing gear and gear door up-latches were strengthened to prevent them from being sucked open at high speed. The airplanes were lightened and all armament deleted. The surfaces were smoothed and painted in a gloss finish. EE454 retained the standard camouflage pattern, while EE455 was painted in a distinctive yellow-gold color.

Many hours of flight testing were performed to ensure that the airplanes would be stable enough at high speeds while flying at the very low altitude required by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale‘s rules. The slightest deviation from smooth flight could have disastrous results.

Group Captain Hugh J. Wilson CBE AFC with Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Stanley Greenwood OBE. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson, A.F.C. and Two Bars, with Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Stanley Greenwood. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

EE454 was flown by Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson, A.F.C. and Two Bars (three awards), and EE455 by Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Stanley Greenwood. Each airplane was required to make four passes over the 3 kilometer (1.8641 statute miles) course, with two runs in each direction. The airplanes were required to remain at or below 75 meters (246 feet) during the runs over the course, and during the turns at the end of each run, below 400 meters  (1,312 feet).

On the day of the speed runs, the weather was marginal. It was cold and overcast, and visibility varied from 7 to 12 miles 11–19 kilometers) along the course. The wind was 8–12 miles per hour (3.6–5.4 meters per second) from the northwest.

Wilson made four passes over the course. His speeds for each run were 604, 608, 602 and 611 miles per hour (972, 978, 969, and 983 kilometers per hour). Greenwood made his speed runs an hour later. His runs were 599, 608, 598 and 607 miles per hour (964, 978, 962 and 977 kilometers per hour).

Wilson’s average speed was the higher of the two. His official FAI-homologated record speed is 975.68 kilometers per hour (606.26 miles per hour). Greenwood’s average speed was 970.63 kilometers per hour (603.122 miles per hour.).² Both pilots are credited with official FAI world speed records.

Color photograph of Gloster Meteor Mk.IV EE455 (RAF Museum)

Post-flight inspections revealed that the sheet metal of the Meteors’ engine intakes had significantly distorted by the intense pressure differentials experienced during the speed runs.

The B.37 Rolls-Royce Derwent Series V, interestingly, was not a direct development of the preceding Derwent Series I–IV engines. Instead, it was a scaled-down version of the RB.41 Nene, which was in turn, a scaled-up and improved Derwent I. The Derwent V had a single-stage, two-sided, centrifugal-flow compressor and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. The compressor impeller and turbine rotor were mounted on a single shaft which was supported on each end by roller bearings, and in the center by a ball bearing. The Derwent V used nine combustion chambers, and burned aviation kerosene. Engine lubricating oil was added to the fuel at a 1:100 ratio, by volume. The Series V had a Normal Power rating of 3,000 pounds of thrust (13.345 kilonewtons) at 14,000 r.p.m., and a Take-off or Military Power rating of 3,500 pounds of thrust (15.569 kilonewtons) at 14,600 r.p.m. (There was no time limit for this power setting.) The engine produced a maximum 4,000 pounds of thrust (17.793 kilonewtons) at 15,000 r.p.m. at Sea Level. During the speed runs, thrust was restricted to 3,600 pounds (16.014 kilonewtons) on both Meteors. The Derwent V engine was 7 feet, 4.5 inches (2.248 meters) long, 3 feet, 7 inches (1.092 meters) in diameter and weighed 1,280 pounds (581 kilograms).

(Rolls-Royce named its piston aircraft engines after predatory birds, e.g., Kestrel, Merlin, but its turbine engines were named after rivers.)

Gloster Meteor Mk. IV EE455 on jack stands. (Unattributed)
Gloster Meteor F Mk. IV EE455 on jack stands. (Unattributed)
Gloster Meteor F Mk. IV EE455 on jack stands. (Unattributed)

British Pathé news film of the speed runs can be seen at:

Group Captain Wilson was born at Westminster, London, England, 28 May 1908, the only son of Alfred Wilson and Jessie Wood Young Wilson. He was educated at the University School, Hastings, and the Merchant Taylors’ School, London.

Wilson received a short service commission as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force, 13 September 1929 and was assigned to the No. 5 Flight Training School, at RAF Sealand, Flintshire, Wales. Pilot Officer Wilson was then assigned to 111 Squadron at Hornchurch, Essex, 1930–1932. He was promoted to Flying Officer, 13 March 1931. From 1932 to to 1934, “Willie” Wilson was assigned to the School of Naval Co-operation and Air Navigation at Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire.

On the completion of his five-year short service, Wilson was transferred to the Reserve Air Force Officers list. He qualified in flying boats and acted as a flight instructor for the RAF Reserve School. Wilson was promoted to Flight Lieutenant 1 April 1937, with seniority retroactive to 1 April 1936.

Flying Officer Wilson in the cockpit of a Blackburn Roc fighter.
Flying Officer Hugh Wilson in the cockpit of a prototype Blackburn Roc fighter, RAF Northolt, 22 May 1939.

While a reserve officer, Wilson was a test pilot for Blackburn Aircraft Ltd., and made the first flight of the Blackburn Roc. He then became a civil test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.

In 1939 Flight Lieutenant Wilson was recalled to active duty. He was assigned as Commanding Officer, Aerodynamic Flight, RAE Farnborough, and also flew with No. 74 Fighter Squadron at Biggin Hill. On 1 September 1940, Wilson was promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader. In 1941, Wilson was appointed chief test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment and was responsible for testing all captured enemy aircraft. He was promoted to Wing Commander, 20 August 1945.

Squadron Leader Hugh J. Wilson, AFC and Bar, in teh cocpit of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190A3, Werke Number 313, in RAF markings as MP499. (Royal Air Force)
Squadron Leader Hugh J. Wilson, A.F.C. and Bar, in the cockpit of a captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190A 3, W.Nr. 313, in RAF markings as MP499, August 1942. (Detail from Imperial War Museum photograph)
CBE medal with Military ribbon.
Commander of the Order of the British Empire Medal with Military Division Ribbon. (Wikipedia)

Wing Commander Hugh Joseph Wilson, A.F.C. and Two Bars, Royal Air Force, was named Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.) in the King’s Birthday Honours List, 13 June 1946.

On 22 February 1947, Wing Commander Wilson married the former Thom Isobel Moira Sergeant (Mrs. Moira Garnham). They had one son. On 4 December 1959, he married Miss Patricia Frances Stanley Warren. They had two children.

Wing Commander Hugh J. Wilson retired from the Royal Air Force at his request 20 June 1948, with the rank of Group Captain. He died at Westminster, London 5 September 1990 at the age of 82 years.

Gloster Chief Test Pilot Eric Stanley “Terry” Greenwood (29 November 1908–February 1979) was the first pilot to exceed 600 miles per hour, while test flying the Meteors. He was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in the King’s Birthday Honours List, 13 June 1946.

¹ FAI Record File Number 9847

² FAI Record File Number 9846

© 2023 Bryan R. Swopes

Captain Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh, CBE, FRAeS, MIAeS, MCAI, FRGS (19 October 1895–15 December 1955)

Aviation, ,

“Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.”

Probably every pilot, or aspiring pilot, has read these words in some form. The statement was made by Captain Alfred G. Lamplaugh, Principle Surveyor for The British Aviation Insurance Co., Ltd.

Captain Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S, M.I.Ae.S., M.C.A.I., F.R.G.S.—nicknamed “Lamps”— was well known and respected in aviation circles in the United Kingdom. He was one of the great (though largely unkown) personalities of the aviation world.

The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society reported:

THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN A. G. LAMPLUGH on 15th December 1955, at only sixty years of age is a grievous blow to aviation and one that I personally feel most deeply, for our activities in the aeronautical world brought us together on frequent occasions over a period of many years.

     Captain Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., M.C.A.I., F.R.G.S., had been Underwriter and Principal Surveyor of the British Insurance Co. Ltd. since its formation until his retirement and election to its board of directors in September last.

     He was educated at King Edward’s School and Queen’s College, Birmingham. His interests were technical rather than scholastic, however, and he served an apprenticeship with a firm of motor engineers. In 1913 he learned to fly and obtained one of the very early “B” licenses.

     The Great War came and he went into the army, to be seconded later to the R.F.C. He served in that corps and the R.A.F. until 1919.

     It was abroad, in China, that he gained his first experience in insurance. Then home once more, he became Underwriter to the British Aviation Insurance Group, later British Aviation Insurance Co. Ltd., and was introduced to aviation insurance, this group in those days being the only body to undertake such work.

     His interest in almost every aspect of things aeronautical was enormous and far beyond a merely professional one. This interest—and his great abilities—were reflected in the number of positions, mainly honorary in nature, which he filled with success and in many cases for long periods.

     He was a member of the Committee of the Royal Aero Club for nearly thirty years; a memmer of the Council of the Air Registration Board since its inception; an honorary member of the British Airline Pilots’ Association; a member of the International Union of Aviation Insurers; Chairman of the Aviation Insurance Offices Association; and President of the London Gliding Club. In 1943 he was Chairman of the Independent Committee on the Future of Civil Aviation.

     He did much for flying, both in these capacities and in other ways, not least by his services in the field of insurance. It was in recognition of this that he was appointed a Companion of the order of the British Empire.

     “Lamps” made it his business and his pleasure to be at the heart of aeronautical activities, not only getting to know people, but getting to know them well. He was a familiar figure at aviation gatherings of every sort since the early ‘twenties and will be missed by very many of us indeed.

SIR FREDERICK HANDLEY PAGE

J. Laurence Pritchard writes:

     I have a great affection for “Lamps,” and I am glad to be able to express it in the JOURNAL of the Society, of which he was a good friend.

     On September 14, last year, he wrote to me, in reply to a letter of mine about a project of his, “It would be nice to have some stabilizing influence like yours in the show and it was kind of you to write. Your interest has bucked me up a lot.”

     “Lamps” must have known that his chance of carrying out his idea was very small indeed, but his magnificent courage would never allow him not to try, whatever the odds were. I shall always be glad that I was the first to reply to his suggestion, for he was the first to listen to any suggestion of mine when he was on the Council of the Society, and its Honorary Treasurer.

     “Lamps” joined the Society in 1924, and became an Associate Fellow two years later. In 1929 he was made a Fellow.

     On the Council, to which he was first elected in 1933, he was a tower of strength with his direct comments, which were always listened to, and generally agreed upon. It was a tribute to his practical and sane outlook that the year he was elected to the Council, he was asked to serve on the Finance Committee, upon which he served until 1947.

     He was Honorary Treasurer in those difficult years 1941–46 when Councils and Committees were not able to give close consideration to the affairs of the Society, and I wanted what help I could get.

     “Lamps” often dropped in casually in those days, talked about any difficulties I may have had, and just as casually went out saying, All right, chaps, it’ll be done.” It was. Few appreciated how quietly he kept up others’ morale, how shrewdly he summed up all those with whom he came in contact.

     During the War he once gave me a lift in his car into the West Country. Those were the days when all sign posts had been obliterated, post office and village signs blotted out; and driving was difficult. Yet he drove with great assurance, often on minor roads, while we talked of everybody and everything. In his car he had a small portable wireless set, given him in New York, so that he could hear the news wherever he happened to be. Fixed below the dashboard was an aeroplane compass.

     “That’s how I find my way,” he replied cheerily, when I complimented him on his knowledge of all the by-roads.

     When the offices of the Guild of Air Pilots were destroyed I agreed to find room for their staff at 4 Hamilton Place. “Lamps” was one of the Wardens of the Guild and often came in to see how things were going. One day a bomb dropped in Hyde Park and blew in some of the office windows. I had given very definite orders that the moment the sirens sounded their warning all curtains were to be drawn and staff were to keep away from the windows.

     I went round the building, and as I walked up the stairs to the Guild of Air Pilots’ room Lamplugh followed me. He had dashed round to see how things were. One of the girls was sitting in front of her typewriter by a window, the blind not drawn. For disobeying the orders upon which her life might have depended she got no praise but was told sharply where to sit in the future. I expected “Lamps” to say something to me about the way I spoke to someone not on the Society’s staff. All he said was, as we walked away, “Good show, chaps.”

     I believe that when someone tries to assess the personalities of those early years of aviation, that of Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh will rank very highly indeed, for he had the courage and vision when both were required in full measure.

***************

Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh was born at Garton on the Wolds, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 19 October 1895.  He was the first of three children of Sydney Augustus Lamplugh and Ellen Cecile Gilmer Lamplugh. His younger brother, Air Mechanic 1st Class Sidney Clifford Lamplugh, was killed 6 March 1917, when the airplane on which he was an observer entered a spin and crashed shortly after takeoff. His sister, Joan Frances Mary Elinor Lamplugh, M.B., Ch.B., was a physician and surgeon who ran two medical missions in Rhodesia.

Alfred Lamplugh had apprenticed with the Austin Motor Company. He learned to fly in 1913, and he received Air Ministry B License No. 155.

He enlisted in the 4th Hussars, British Army, on 1 September 1914 and on 22 January 1915 received a commission as a Temporary Second Lieutenant, 8th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment. Infantry. He was transferred (“seconded”) to the Royal Flying Corps 12 August 1916. He was trained to fly at the Military School, Birmingham, in a Maurice Farman biplane. Lieutenant Lamplugh received an aviator’s certificate from the Royal Aero Club, 8 December 1916.

Lieutenant Alfred Gilmer Lamplugh, Royal Flying Corps. (Moseley Society History Group)

He was assigned to the 5th Reserve Squadron. (The R.F.C. became the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918.) Lieutenant Lamplaugh was deployed to Mesoptamia and according to one source, served as a pilot for T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”).He was promoted to captain 2 August 1919. On 24 October 1919, Captain Lamplugh was appointed Flying Officer, Royal Air Force.

Flying Officer Alfred Lamplugh married Miss Marie Emily Hugo at King’s Norton, Worcestershire, in December 1919. They would have two sons, Alfred Brian Hugo Lamplugh and Beric Clifford Gordon Lamplugh.

On 29 January, Lamplugh, then employed as an insurance manager, saild aboard S.S. Adriatic from Southampton to New York, arriving there 8 February 1920. He crossed the North American continent by railroad, then sailed across the Pacific to Hong Kong. Mrs. Lamplugh joined him later. They returned to England with their son Brian aboard S.S. Carnarvonshire, arriving 6 March 1923.

In 1922, Flying Officer Lamplugh was transferred to the Reserve of Air Force Officers, in which he remained until relinquishing his commission 30 December 1938. He was permitted to retain his rank.

In the King’s Birthday Honours, 13 June 1946, Lamplugh was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Alfred Lamplugh died at Marylebone, London, England, 15 December 1955. The following day, he was posthumously appointed Officier de l’Ordre de Leopold II by Belgium.

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes

26 September 1927

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Flight Lieutenant Sidney N. Webster, RAF, leads the Schneider Trophy Race with his Supermarine S.5 N220. (Unattributed)
Flight Lieutenant Sidney N. Webster, RAF, leads the Schneider Trophy Race with the blue and silver Supermarine S.5 racer, N220. (Unattributed)
Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster, Royal Air Force.
Flying Officer Sidney Norman Webster, Royal Air Force, circa 1919. (Unattributed)

26 September 1927: Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster, A.F.C., of the Royal Air Force High-Speed Flight, won the 1927 Schneider Trophy Race, flying a Supermarine S.5 float plane, number N220.

The course consisted of seven laps of a 50-kilometer course at Venice, Italy. Webster completed the race in 46 minutes, 20.3 seconds, averaging 281.656 miles per hour (453.281 kilometers per hour). He established a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over 100 Kilometers.¹

Webster’s teammate, Flight Lieutenant Oswald Worsley, flying S.5 N219, placed second with a time of 47:46.7 and average speed of 272.91 miles per hour (439.21 kilometers per hour).

With its engine running, this Supermarine S.5 shows off its very clean lines.

The Supermarine S.5 was designed by Reginald Mitchell, who would later design the famous Supermarine Spitfire fighter. N220 was a single-place, single-engine, low-wing monoplane equipped with pontoons for landing and taking off on water. The airplane was of all metal construction, primarily duralumin (a hardened alloy of aluminum and copper). The airplane used surface radiators in the skin of the wings for engine cooling.

The S.5 had a length of 24 feet, 3½ inches (7.404 meters), wingspan of 26 feet, 9 inches (8.153 meters) and height of 11 feet, 1 inch (3.378 meters). The S.5’s empty weight was 2,680 pounds (1,216 kilograms) and gross weight was 3,242 pounds (1,471 kiograms).

Supermarine S.5 N220 at Venice, Italy, September 1927. (FlightGlobal)
Supermarine S.5 N220 at Venice, Italy, September 1927. (FlightGlobal)

Webster’s Supermarine S.5 was powered by a water-cooled, naturally-aspirated 1,461.135-cubic-inch-displacement (23.943 liter) D. Napier and Son, Ltd., Lion Mk.VIIB, serial number 63106, a double-overhead camshaft (DOHC) twelve-cylinder engine with three banks of four cylinders. This was called a “Triple-Four,” “W-12,” or “broad arrow” configuration. The Napier Lion had an included angle of 60° between each cylinder bank.

D. Napier and Son, Ltd., Lion VII “broad arrow” 12-cylinder aircraft engine.

The Mk.VIIB had four valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 10:1. It produced 875 horsepower at 3,300 r.p.m. The Lion VIIB drove a two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller through a gear reduction unit with a ratio of 0.765:1. (Worsley’s Supermarine S.5, N219, was equipped with a 900 horsepower direct-drive Mk.VIIA.) The engine used a mixture of 75% gasoline, 25% benzol, and 0.22% “T.E.L. dope” (tetraethyl lead) additive. The Napier Lion Mk.VII was 5 feet, 6¼ inches (1.683 meters) long, 3 feet, 2½ inches (0.978 meters) wide and 2 feet, 10½ inches (0.876 meters) high. The geared Mk.VIIB was heavier than the direct drive Mk.VIIA, and weighed 920 pounds (417 kilograms).

The Supermarine S.5 had a maximum speed of 319.57 miles per hour (514.3 kilometers per hour).

“Webbie” Webster had been awarded the Air Force Cross on 2 January 1922. He received a second award, signified by a “bar” added the the ribbon of his medal, 11 October 1927:

Air Ministry.

11th October, 1927.

     The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of a Bar to the Air Force Cross held by Flight Lieutenant Sidney Norman Webster, A.F.C., in recognition of his achievement winning the recent “Schneider Cup” Air Race.

Flight Lieutenant Sidney N. Webster, RAF, stands with his winning Supermarine S.5, N220, at the Woolston factory. Designer Reginald Mitchel is in the front row at center.
Flight Lieutenant Sidney N. Webster, RAF, stands with his winning Supermarine S.5, N220, at the Woolston factory. Designer Reginald Mitchell is in the front row at center.

In January 1946, Air Commodore Webster was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He was promoted to Air Vice Marshal in 1949 and retired from the Royal Air Force 12 August 1950.

Air Vice Marshal Sidney Norman Webster, C.B.E., A.F.C. and Bar, Royal Air Force, died 5 April 1984 at the age of 83 years.

Schneider trophy at the Science Museum, London. (Wikipedia)
Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider (the Schneider Cup) at the Science Museum, London. (Wikipedia)

¹ FAI Record File Number 11070

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

2–6 July 1919

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The Royal Air Force rigid airship HMA R34 landing at Mineola, Long Island, New York, 6 July 1919.

2–6 July 1919: Two weeks after Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic airplane flight, the Royal Air Force rigid airship R 34 landed at Mineola, Long Island, New York, completing the first east-to-west Atlantic crossing by air. The airship was under the command of Major George Herbert Scott, A.F.C., R.A.F. The total complement, including passengers, was 30 persons.

The 108 hour, 12 minute flight started from East Fortune Airship Station near Edinburgh, Scotland at 2:38 a.m., British Summer Time (1:38 a.m., Greenwich mean time) on Wednesday, 2 July. R 34 arrived at Mineola at 9:54 a.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time (1:54 p.m. G.M.T.) on Sunday, 6 July. According to records of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the distance flown by R 34 was 5,797 kilometers (3,602 miles). On arrival, the airship had only 40 minutes of fuel remaining.

This chart of R34's flight was published in the Times, 7 July 1919.
This chart of R34’s flight was published in The Times, 7 July 1919.

R 34 was based on extensive study of the captured German Zeppelin, L-33. It was built for the Royal Naval Air Service ¹ by William Beardmore and Company, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland. 643 feet long (196 meters), with a maximum diameter of 78 feet, 9 inches (24 meters), the dirigible had a total volume of 1,950,000 cubic feet (55,218 cubic meters). The airship had a light weight metal structure covered with doped fabric. Buoyancy was provided by 55,185 cubic meters (1,948,840 cubic feet) of gaseous hydrogen contained in 19 gas bags inside the airship’s envelope. R 34 had a gross lift capacity of 59 tons. Useful lift was 58,240 pounds (26,417 kilograms).

Crewmen working in the forward control car of R34 during the Atlantic crossing, July 1918. (National Museums Scotland)
Crewmen working in the forward control car of R 34 during the Atlantic crossing, July 1918. (National Museums Scotland)

The airship was powered by five water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 15.395-liter (989.483-cubic-inch-displacement) Sunbeam Maori Mk.IV dual overhead cam (DOHC) 60° V-12 engines with four valves per cylinder. The Mk.IV’s cylinder bore had been increased from 100 millimeters to 110 millimeters (3.94 to 4.33 inches), resulting in a larger displacement than previous Maori variants. The Maori Mk.IV was a direct-drive engine which produced 275 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. Each engine turned a two-bladed, 17 foot diameter (5.182 meter) propeller through a remote gearbox with a 0.257:1 reduction. The two wing engines were equipped with reversible gearboxes. With the engines turning 1,800 r.p.m., the R 34 had a cruising speed of 47 knots (54 miles per hour/87 kilometers per hour) and consumed 65 gallons (246 liters) of fuel per hour.

R 34 made the return flight to England, 10–13 July 1919, in 75 hours, 3 minutes.

Major Scott was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD.

St. James’s Palace, S.W. 1,

23rd August 1919.

     The KING has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following appointment to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, in recognition of distinguished services to Aviation. :—

To be a Commander of the Military Division of the Said Most Excellent Order :—

Major George Herbert Scott, A.F.C., Royal Air Force, Commander of H.M. Airship R/34 on the outward voyage to the United States of America and and also on the homeward journey.

R 34 at Long Island, New York. (Evening Times)

Colonel (A./Brig.-Genl.) Edwards Maitland Maitland, C.M.G., D.S.O., Capt. (A./Major) Gilbert George Herbert Cooke, D.S.C., Lieutenant Guy Harris and 2nd Lieutenant John Durham Shotter were each awarded the Air Force Cross.

The Air Force Medal was awarded to Flight-Sergeant William Rose Gent, Sergt.-Maj. II. Walter Robert Mayes, D.S.M., Flight-Sergeant Walter James Robinson, Flight-Sergeant Reginald William Ripley, Flight-Sergeant Norman Albert Scull, and Sergeant Herbert Murray Watson, D.S.M.

¹ On 1 April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps were combined to form the Royal Air Force.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

Amy Johnson, C.B.E. (1 July 1903–5 January 1941)

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“Flying Tonight.” Portrait of Amy Johnson, 1930. © Ruth Hollick, Melbourne.

Amy Johnson was born 1 July 1903 at Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the first of two daughters of John William Johnson and Amy Hodge Johnson. She attended The Boulevard Municipal Secondary School in Kingston before going on to the University of Sheffield in South Yorkshire. There, she majored in Economics and graduated in 1923 with Bachelor of Arts degree.

Miss Johnson worked as a secretary for a London law firm from 1925 to 1929. She joined the London Aeroplane Club at the de Havilland Aerodrome, Stag Lane, where one of her flight instructors was Captain Valentine Henry Baker, M.C., A.F.C., a World War I fighter pilot who would later co-found the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company. She trained in a de Havilland DH.60 Cirrus II Moth, and on 9 June 1929, after 15 hours, 45 minutes of dual instruction, made her first solo flight.

Amy Johnson’s application for an Air Ministry Pilot’s Licence. (The National Archives Catalogue Ref: BT 217 /1208)

Johnson was issued a Pilot’s Certificate and License by the Air Ministry of Great Britain, 6 July 1929. This was an “A” Flying Certificate, for private pilots. She was also awarded a Certificate for Navigators, and in December 1929, became the first woman to be certified as an Engineer (aircraft mechanic).

With the financial assistance of her father and of Baron Charles Cheers Wakefield, the founder of the Wakefield Oil Company (better known as Castrol), she purchased a one-year-old de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth biplane, c/n 804, registered G-AAAH. It had previously been owned by Air Taxis Ltd., of Stag Lane (a company formed by G.B.H. “Rex” Mundy and Captain W. Laurence Hope) and first registered 30 August 1928. Johnson named her airplane Jason, which was the name of her father’s business.

Miss Amy Johnson with her de Havilland DH-60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAAH, at Stag Lane, 5 May 1930. (Central Press/Getty Images)

On 5 May 1929, Amy Johnson and Jason took off from Croyden Aerodrome on a 19-day, 11,000-mile (17,700 kilometer) journey to Australia. She arrived at Darwin, Northern Territory, on 24 May.

Amy Johnson lands at Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, 24 May 1930. (Fox Photo/Getty Images)

For her accomplishment, she won a £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail, a London newspaper. The Australian Air Ministry issued her its Pilot Certificate and License Number 1. The International League of Aviators awarded her The Harmon International Aviatrix Trophy for 1930.

Amy Johnson was awarded a prize of 10,000 by the Daily Mail for her flight. (DailyMail.com)
Amy Johnson with Jason.

In the King’s Birthday Honours, announced 3 June 1930, George V, King of the United Kingdom and British Dominions, appointed Amy Johnson a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Amy Johnson, CBE, by Sir John Longstaff, 1930. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD

St. James’s Palace, S.W.1

3rd June, 1930.

     The KING has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of His Majesty’s Birthday, to give orders for the following promotions in, and appointments to, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire :—

To be Commanders of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order :—

Miss Amy Johnson, in recognition of her outstanding flight to Australia.

—Supplement to the London Gazette, Number 33611, Tuesday, 3 June, 1930, at Page 3481

Amy Johnson, C.B.E., July 1930. (Sasha)

Amy Johnson made a number of record setting long-distance flights, both solo and with other pilots, one of whom was James Allan Mollison. Mollison proposed marriage only a few hours after first meeting her. They married in July 1932. She soon after set a new record for a solo flight from London, England, to Cape Town, South Africa, flying a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth there in 4 days, 6 hours, 54 minutes, 14–18 November 1932. She broke the previous record which had been set by Jim Mollison. For this flight, she was awarded the Segrave Trophy of the Royal Automobile Club, for “the most outstanding demonstration of transport on land, sea or air.”

Miss Amy Johnson, C.B.E., 10 May 1932. (Bassano, Ltd./© National Portrait Gallery, London)

The couple made a transatlantic flight, another flight from Britain to India, and competed in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from England to Australia. She was twice elected president of the Women’s Engineering Society.

1st April 1936: English aviator Amy Mollison, nee Johnson (1903 – 1941) wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town. (Photo by Sasha/Getty Images)
Amy Johnson’s record-breaking Percival D.3 Gull Six, G-ADZO, at Gravesend, Kent, 4 May 1936. (Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library)

In May 1937, Johnson, who was already a rated navigator, traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, in the United States, where she studied advanced navigation under P. V. H. Weems, the acknowledged world authority in celestial navigation. (Among other devices, Weems invented the Weems Mark II Plotter, which every student pilot the world over would immediately recognize.)

Amy Johnson, C.B.E., at Annapolis, Maryland, 3 May 1937. (Baltimore Sun)

Mr. and Mrs. Mollison divorced in 1938.

During World War II, Amy Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, ferrying Royal Air Force aircraft around the country. (Fellow record-setter Jackie Cochran also flew for the ATA before returning to America to found the WASPs.) Johnson held the civilian rank of Flight Officer, equivalent to an RAF Flight Lieutenant.

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford

On 4 January 1941, Flight Officer Johnson was assigned to take an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford Mk.II, registration V3540, from Prestwick, Scotland, to RAF Kidlington in Oxfordshire. She landed at RAF Squires Gate, Lancashire, and remained there overnight, visiting her sister.

The following morning, 5 January, although weather was very poor with falling snow limiting visibility, Johnson departed Squires Gate at approximately 10:30 a.m., to continue her assignment. Reportedly advised not to go, she insisted, saying that she would “smell her way” to Kidlington.

What took place thereafter is not known. There was speculation that she was unable to land at Kidlington due to poor weather and continued flying east, perhaps finally running out of fuel.

At approximately 3:30 p.m., Johnson bailed out of the Oxford and parachuted into the Thames Estuary. The airplane crashed into the river a short distance away and sank.

Amy Johnson’s parachute was seen by the crew of HMS Haslemere, a barrage balloon tender assigned to the Channel Mobile Balloon Barrage in the Estuary. They attempted to rescue her and in the process, the ship’s captain, Lieutenant Commander Walter Edmund Fletcher, Royal Navy, dove into the water. In the cold temperatures and rough conditions, Fletcher died. For his effort to rescue Johnson, he was awarded the Albert Medal, posthumously.

HMS Haslemere, a 220.7 foot (69.82 meter), 832 gross ton, two-engine, twin-screw cargo steamer, built at Glasgow, 1925. (Roy Thornton Collection via Dover Ferry Forums)

Amy Johnson is presumed to have drowned. Her body was not recovered. Some documents related to her flight and personal belongings were found soon after.

In recent years, stories have emerged that the AS.10 was shot down after Johnson twice gave the incorrect response to a radio challenge. Tom Mitchell, an anti-aircraft gunner of the 58th (Kent) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, at Iwade, a small village along the shore of the Thames Estuary, said in 1999 that he shot her down under orders, firing 16 shells at the Oxford. The men of the battery were ordered to never mention the incident. There were contemporary reports that a destroyer had also fired on Johnson, though the Admiralty denied this.

More recently, former crewmen of HMS Haslemere have said that, rather than having drowned, Amy Johnson was killed by the ship’s propellers as it maneuvered to pick her up.

Official telegram notifying Amy Johnson’s parents of her death. (Royal Air Force Museum)

What is known, however, is that Flight Officer, Amy Johnson, C.B.E., died in the service of her country.

Amy Johnson, C.B.E., B.A., A.R.Ae.S., F.R.G.S., F.S.E., M.W.E.S., was a legendary pioneering aviator. Her accomplishments are far greater, and her skills as a pilot superior, to those of others who may have achieved greater public acclaim (especially in the United States). She is one of the great individuals in the history of aviation.

First Officer Amy Johnson, C.B.E., Air Transport Auxiliary, circa 1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes