Aviator

Flying instructor at RAF Digby in 1925 (he taught Allen Wheeler to fly, who said of him "How lucky I was with my instructor George Lowdell! Apart from being a magnificent pilot he was the most inspiring teacher").

Instructor with Suffolk and Eastern Counties Aero Club in 1928; later a Wing Commander, and instructor with Shoreham School of Flying.

However, in 1932 he was convicted of drunk-driving:

"STUNT FLIER FINED

CLACTON CARNIVAL SEQUEL

George Edward Lowdell, 29, an airman instructor, of Belvedere Road, Ipswich, was charged at Colchester on Friday with being drunk in charge of a motor car.

Stanley Elgar, postmaster of Colchester, stated that he was driving his car from Walton-on-the-Naze to Colchester, and just after he had left Weeley he noticed a Morris car in front of him " performing a rather peculiar course all over the road, swerving frequently from the near side to the off.

Several times it mounted the margin of the road, and on one occasion two young ladies had to " skip " quickly out of the way. The speed was never excessive. Near Greenstead Rectory the car was pulled up, and witness went to the driver and said: "Do you realise what you have been doing? You have only just escaped death, and narrowly missed killing other people." Defendant seemed dazed, and when told that he could not go on he said he would have to go on, he had to get to Brooklands tnat night.

Two police-officers came, and defendant was arrested. Replying to Mr. Frampton, witness said the driver did not give him the impression that he was a very tired man. , Arthur Houston, commercial traveller, Thorpe Road, Tendring, who was proceeding in the direction of Colchester, said defendant's car was '' all over the place."

When charged, defendant's reply was so muddled that he could not be understood. Dr. William F. Payne said he came to the conclusion that defendant was drunk. Defendant said he had had some whisky and beer.

 Defendant, in the witness-box, said he was formerly chief instructor to the Suffolk Aero Club, and was now instructor at Brooklands. He had been giving a demonstration at Clacton. He flew to Clacton, and during the day gave exhibitions of trick flying and joy rides. In the morning there was an accident, and he was up in the air longer than usual at upside down flying in order to amuse the crowd. During the day he had nothing alcoholic to drink, but after he had finished flying at 6.30 p.m. he had five beers. He had had nothing to eat since luncheon, and left Clacton at 8 p.m. After a heavy day he felt queer when in the car, and kept dozing.

When he arrived at the police - station he felt 'dead tired," and his whole condition he put down to continuous flying, to having no food, and to the heat of the day.

Edwin Freshfield, an undergraduate, and a pupil of defendant, said the stunt flying defendant did that day imposed a great strain. When defendant left Clacton he was very tired, but not drunk. Mr. Frampton submitted that defendant's condition was due to absolute fatigue.

The Chairman (Mr. C. M. Stanford) said the Bench were unanimous in finding the case proved. While it might have been only an indiscretion, they had to take serious notice of it, and defendant would be fined £5, with £2/5/9 costs. The Bench appreciated the action of those witnesses who had come forward at their own expense and loss of time to protect the public, and to save the defendant himself from further danger. "

  1932, aged 21

b. 15 Mar 1911 in London; "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.

Air Transport Auxiliary in WWII - see https://www.ata-ferry-pilots.org/index.php/category-blog-1940/102-lowe-stanley

 d. 1993; Enid d. 2002.

25 May 1864 – 31 Aug 1927)

She was the second woman both to attemptand to perish in a transatlantic aircraft flight.

She owned the 1927 Fokker F.VIIa, G-EBTQ 'St Raphael' which was lost over the Atlantic in August 1927, with Leslie Hamilton and Fred Minchin.

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

Imperial Airways from 1931

b. Norwich 16 Dec 1903

based in Kisumu, Kenya

  1922

 b. 4 Aug 1897

 2nd Lieut, RFC in WWI (Date of graduation 20 Aug 1916)

d. 25 Jun 1985 - Maidenhead, Berks

 The Hon. Elsie Mackay  (a.k.a. Poppy Wyndham)

 1922

b. Simla, India, in 1893, the third daughter (of four, plus one son) of Lord and Lady Inchcape; the "friendly, sociable and unpretentious" Miss Elsie from Glenapp Castle in south-west Scotland.

One of the richest women in Britain, and therefore a member of the Court and Social whirl: e.g. aged 19 or so, she was at Mrs Tennyson d'Eyencourt's dance in 1912: "The drawing room in which the dancing took place was decorated with tulips in different shades of yellow" and all that.

Became a nurse in her mother's hospital for wounded soldiers (this is all sounding a bit Downton Abbey, sorry) and in 1917 nursed a certain wounded South African soldier Mr Dennis Wyndham, in civilian life An Actor. She told her father she wanted to marry him; Daddy strongly opposed the marriage; they ran away to Glasgow (Glasgow??), took apartments and got her landlady and someone else to act as witnesses; went to the registrar... hang on, this is Downton Abbey!

Unfortunately for them, they hadn't been resident in Scotland for the required 15 days, and the marriage was declared null and void. The judge was very put out... "This sort of thing will not do. People must realise this is a solemn act dealing with the question of marriage and the future of a man and woman... I am going to report the whole of this matter to the Lord Advocate".

Elsie reverted to her maiden name, went back to the family home and to the endless balls, dinner-parties, at-homes, receptions, hospital ward-openings, society weddings and cruises. "Miss Mackay wore a Victorian picture dress of pink and gold brocade over an underskirt of silver lace"... She became quite a well-known interior designer for P&O. Lord Inchcape was chairman of P&O but that was just a coincidence, probably.

Meanwhile... in April 1920 a certain Miss Poppy Wyndham appeared in a horsey silent picture movie called 'A Dead Certainty'... June 1920, Poppy Wyndham (again on a horse) in "A Great Coup"... August 1921, Poppy Wyndham in "A Tidal Wave". As 'Poppy', Elsie appeared in at least 8 movies between 1919 and 1921.

 In June 1924, Elsie sold programmes at a charity matinee at the Aldwych Theatre; the following month, presided at the Catholic Stage Guild, and in June 1926, she sold "sweets and programmes under Lady Alexander's direction" at another charity matinee.

On the 9th March 1928, she denied rumours that she was going to accompany one-eyed Imperial Airways pilot Captain Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe on a transatlantic flight; she knew him, of course, but only had "a very small financial interest in [his flight]".

Sure enough, on March 14th, the black and gold Stinson-Detroiter aeroplane 'The Endeavour', containing Capt Hinchliffe and Elsie Mackay, took off from Cranwell. It was spotted 170 miles off the west coast of Ireland, heading out over the Atlantic. They were never seen again...

...except...

1) a note, found in a bottle at Flint, North Wales, saying "Goodbye all. Elsie Mackay and Captain Hinchcliffe. Down in fog and storm". Pity the handwriting was nothing like Elsie's, and the writer spelt Hinchliffe's name wrong, but anyway...

2) A London spiritualist received a message from the dead Mr Hinchliffe in July: "We landed on the water. We did not crash... I swam for 20 minutes but the currents were too strong and I became unconscious and drowned. Mackay's end was peaceful". I only report this stuff...

3) Finally, in December an identifiable wheel from the aircraft was found washed up in Ireland (which rather settled it).

Lord and Lady Inchcape generously put Elsie's £521,101 13s 4d in trust for the nation for about 50 years, after which time they hoped it "should be used to reduce the National Debt". They also gave Capt Hinchliffe's widow Emilie (sometimes known as Eileen) £10,000, his estate being a rather more modest £32.

In 1977, when the Elsie Mackay Fund matured, it had grown to over £4.5 million; the National Debt had also grown a bit, however. To £66.8 billion. Or, to put it another way, just another 99.993% to go...

See also:http://www.elsie-mackay.co.uk/ and 'A Flight Too Far', by Jack Hunter/Stranraer and District Local History Trust, 2008.

There is a memorial window to Elsie in Glenapp Church.

[p.s. this is not the same actress, called Elsie Mackay, who was married to actor Lionel Atwill; she was American]

Elsie owned a 1916 Airco DH.6 (C5220, G-EAGF)

  1917, when a Captain in the RFC, aged 25

'author and outstanding pilot', the chief test pilot of Fairey Aviation from 1924.

Later flew the Fairey Long-range monoplane on its world flight.

Originally from Glasgow.

WWI ace with 11 victories; later Wing Commander, and the first person to land at Heathrow (before it was an airport).

Winner of the speed prize (at 76.1 mph!) in the Lympne Motor Glider competition of October 1923, in the Parnall Pixie.

d. 1976

b. 30 Jun 1901 in London

a solicitor

d. 1991

  1916, when a Lieut, 15th Hussars, aged 27

 b. Sydney, NSW; wounded during the Battle of the Somme.

Later Air Commodore; died 1957

  1912, aged 19

b. 14 Sep 1893 in Sheffield, an 'Engineer's Improver' in 1912, later an instructor at Hendon for Grahame-White - he applied for the RFC but was rejected on medical grounds.

After WWI he was a test pilot for Samuel White and English Electric; he also became interested in gliding and became a member of the London Gliding Club and a founder-member of the British Gliding Association. In WWII he was with Armstrong Whitworth as Service Liaison Officer.

And he was remembered for wearing "startling socks".

d. May 1968 in Bridport, Dorset

 b. Beryl Clutterbuck 26 October 1902 in Rutland but moved to 'British East Africa' (Kenya) when she was 4.

Married three times; the first of these was to Mansfield Markham in 1927.

Began flying in 1931, but it wasn't until 1936 that she made headlines by being the first person to fly solo from England to North America. Her autobiography, West with the Night, sold over a million copies.

d. 3 August 1986, aged 83

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

photo: 1928, aged 25

 Sir Arthur, the engineer who founded Marshalls of Cambridge; 'Chariots of Fire' Olympic athlete; died 2007 (sad, but then he was 103)

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

  1917

b. 1 May 1899, Nottingham

RFC in France and Italy during WWI 

Pilot-Instructor for the Nottingham Aero Club 1924-29

Emigrated to Canada in May 1929. Joined Canadian Airways as a mail pilot in October until the contract was cancelled.

1930 - Bernard Martin 2nd left at Walker Airport, Ontario (the aircraft is a Pitcairn Mailwing)

He then did 'crazy flying' for a while, as "Doctor Dore", wearing a long beard and carrying a cane.

d. 17 Jun 1933 when Chief Pilot for the Fairchild Aircraft Co., Montreal. His plane burst into flames on landing. 

"Killed in Canada While Testing ’Plane 

MONTREAL

Mr. Bernard Martin, one of Canada's best known air pilots, was killed when a new aeroplane, which he was testing for commercial flying, crashed near here, bursting into flames. He was born at Nottingham, England, where his father is said to be still living. In 1917, Martin was the youngest flyer in the R.A.F. unit with which he served on the French front. After the War, he was a flying instructor in England for several years before coming to Canada and joining the Commercial and Air Mail Service."

 Buried in Montreal.

  1930, aged 24

an Army Officer. Address c/o the Guards Club, London

b. South Australia in 1883

Joined the 9th Australian Light Horse in 1914, took part in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, then joined the Australian Flying Corps.

From 1923, joined QANTAS as a pilot (mainly on the Charleville to Cloncurry route) and then, in 1930, set up Matthews Aviation Pty. They originally had an Airco DH.4 (VF-UBZ), then a series of DH Moths (several of which they crashed), and finally a Saunders-Roe A.17 Cutty Sark VH-UNV and a Saunders-Roe A.21 Windhover VH-UPB, which they used on a regular service from Melbourne to Tasmania.

Here is his Cutty Sark coming ashore at Hobart in December 1930:

However, the Windover drifted onto the rocks of King Island, Tasmania on the 13 May 1936.

Became a Wing Commander in the RAAF in WWII.

d. 27 Jan 1958

  1929, aged 38

a 'Merchant'. Address c/o the Naval and Military Club, London

"Joined the RAF in 1930. Learned to fly at Sealand. Flew Bulldogs with No 17 (Fighter) Squadron at Upavon and finished with two years as test pilot at Martlesham. Instructor at the Phillips and Powis Civil Training School."

  b. 9th Jan 1910 in Sydney

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.

Air Transport Auxiliary in WWII

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/airmen/Mayers.htm

photo: 1935, aged 24

37925 Flight Lieutenant James Henry Gordon ‘Butch’ MacArthur DFC

Born in Tynemouth on 12th February 1913, MacArthur became a civil pilot in the 1930’s, at one time holding the London to Baghdad speed record. He took an RAF Short Service Commission in 1936, being Commissioned as an Acting Pilot Officer on the 6th, and on 18th July was posted to No.9 Flying Training School at Thornaby where he became a full Pilot Officer on 11th October. He then joined the Station Flight at Aldergrove on 14th January 1937 and was promoted Flying Officer on 11th May. On 1st October 1938 he was posted to the Experimental Section, Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough as a test pilot.

MacArthur was posted to 238 Squadron at Middle Wallop as a Flight Commander in June 1940, having become a Flight Lieutenant on 11th May, before joining 609 at Middle Wallop as B Flight Commander on 1st August 1940 under S/Ldr Darley. On 8th August whilst flying Spitfire R6977 he destroyed two Ju.87’s off the Isle of Wight at 12:30hrs, and destroyed a Bf.110 on the 11th, again in R6977, 15 miles south south east of Swanage at 10:15hrs. Flying R6977 again he claimed a Bf.110 probably destroyed on the 12th and Claimed a Bf.109 damaged on the 13th August flying R6977. On 15th August he destroyed two Bf.110's in R6769, one northwest of Southampton and the other 15 miles south south west of this. He claimed another Bf.110 Destroyed on the 25th in X4165 at 17:20hrs in the Warmwell / Poole area and on 7th September he destroyed a Do.17Z in L1008, damaging a Do.215 just over a week later on the 15th in R6979 during an action in which he suffered an oxygen failure at 25,000ft. Attacked by Bf.109’s he lost consciousness and came to just in time to pull out of a high-speed dive at a low altitude. The damage to his ears was to require future hospital treatment, but on the 16th he flew Spitfire R6922 to Hamble for repair. The Air Speed Indicator began to malfunction so he decided to follow another aircraft down onto the runway, much to the chagrin of the pilot of the other aircraft who then went around for another circuit. McArthur followed him for a few more circuits until he finally landed, forgetting to lower his undercarriage in the process and writing off the aircraft. ‘I didn’t like the thing anyway’ he is recorded as saying.

Following medical tests Butch handed over command of B Flight to Flight Lieutenant Dundas, after which he was not allowed to fly above 5,000 feet and in consequence was not able to return to operations, although on 25th September flying X4165 he had destroyed another Bf.110 (reported as a Jaguar) over Bournemouth. MacArthur was awarded the DFC on 22nd October 1940, announced on the 9th in Squadron Routine Orders, and was portrayed by Captain Cuthbert Orde in November.

Subsequently employed on what he called ‘stooge jobs’, he was promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader on 1st September 1941, being promoted to Wing Commander on 1st January 1944.

Released from the RAF in 1947 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Edmonton, Alberta in 1948 and was posted to the Winter Experimental Establishment, testing RAF and Royal Navy aircraft. In 1949 he turned his hand to air racing and was granted leave for the races, acquiring Spitfire MkXIVe TZ138 on 4th August 4th, 1949 in partnership with F/Lt Ken Brown DFC, who had been a Flight Sergeant with 617 Squadron on the Dams raid. Purchasing the Spitfire for $1250, registering it as CF-GMZ on 25th August.

Sponsored by Pat Reid of Imperial Oil, who told Brown 'you have a sure winner on your hands', and granted a Class F racing certificate of serviceability by the Department of Transport, Butch flew from Edmonton via Toronto and raced in the Tinnerman Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio as number 80, finishing in third place in the Thompson Trophy on 4th September 1949 and receiving a substantial prize for his efforts. MacArthur left the airfield the following morning at 06:00hrs with the winnings and without filing a flight plan or informing F/Lt Brown, later selling the aircraft for $1000 to apparently pay for race debts despite the sponsorship.

He was transferred shortly afterwards and served in Canada, the United States and Japan and being awarded the United Nations Korea Medal and the Canadian Forces Decoration.

He was badly injured in an accident involving two cars in 1957, ending up in a hospital in Montreal and leaving the airforce soon afterwards, moving to Mexico. He married and divorced after a few years but remained in Mexico and is reputed to have joined the Mexican Air Force.

Wing Commander ‘Butch’ MacArthur was killed in a flying accident at the Las Vegas Airshow in May 1961 at the age of 48 and was buried with full military honours through the help of the Vancouver Legion. His medals were sold at Sothebys in 1986.