Aviator
-
McClure, Ivor Herbert
Ivor Herbert McClure DSO Educated at Eton and Harrow and Oxford and Cambridge. Joined the Royal Engineers as a motorcycle despach rider in 1914; Captain in the Intelligence Corps in WWI (DSO in Jan 1918); also a playwright and performer as part of the '5WA Radio Players'. His plays include 'GHQ at Kwang-Loo', 'The Fog in the Bog', 'Disclosure (a thriller, with O Wyndham)', and 'The Man who saw the Future (a comedy)'.
He and Sidney St Barbe, in a D.H. Moth, started a tour of 14 European countries in July 1927, and flew to France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria and Hungary. However, as they tried to take off from Budapest on 6 August, "their machine went wrong" and they crashed, "breaking the wheels of the aeroplane" but escaping unhurt.
He invented, and then became the first Director of, the Aviation branch of the Autombile Association (hence his Moth's registration G-AAAA), a Member of the Aerodromes Advisory Board, and Deputy Chairman (with Nigel Norman) of the Civil Aviation Section of the London Chamber of Commerce.
CG Grey reckoned that he had "an innate love of law, order and decency".
-
McDonough, William John
Capt William John McDonough 1918, when a 2nd Lieut in the RAF, aged 20
from Birmingham, flying instructor with the Midlands Aero Club.
-
McGregor, Malcolm Charles
Malcolm Charles ‘Mad Mac’ McGregor, DFC and Bar Born 4th March, 1896, in Manga-mako, near Hunterville, New Zealand; youngest of 3 children. 6ft 3in tall,' lean, with a prominent jaw and pale blue eyes'.
54 Squadron during WWI, flying Sopwith Pups. Forced landing on June 29th, 1917 when he 'suffered a fractured jaw, loss of his teeth, and severe lacerations to his face and head'. Returned to France in May 1918 with Bishop's 85 Squadron, flying SE5s, ending the War with 15 victories.
Returned to farming, then worked with various start-up airlines in New Zealand, amassing thousands of flights. Crashed in 1923 and fractured his jaw. From 1932, instructor to the Manawatu Aero Club (crashed in December and - would you believe it - broke his jaw again, amongst other things).
After the Race, became Service Manager of Union Airways and toured the US (meeting up with Roscoe Turner) and the UK looking for suitable aeroplanes.
Killed in an accident (striking an anemometer mast) whilst landing a Miles Falcon at Rongotai, Wellington on the 19th February, 1936, aged 39.
"Sqd. Ldr. Malcolm Charles McGregor, D.F.C. and bar, is a picturesque character frequently mentioned in War Birds. He commanded the Flight (in No. 85 Sqd.) in which both Elliott White Springs and the anonymous diarist served. The "Diary of an Unknown Aviator" is eloquent of exploits shared by " Bish and Mac," the former being Lt. Col. (then Major) W. A. Bishop, V.C. The laconic entry: "Bish and Mac got one each " becomes almost monotonous. But McGregor, who arrived in London (via Auckland, Sydney and Vancouver) on September 21, refuses to discuss these wartime encounters. Rapidly blinking a pair of bright blue eyes above a small brown moustache and pugnacious chin, he pleads lapse of memory : says he cannot even recall the name of the New Zealand town in which he was born ; but he knows the date—March 3, 1896.
Transferred from A.I.F. to R.F.C. early in 1916, and trained at Oxford, Netheravon and Upavon, McGregor served six months in France with No. 54 Sqd. (Sopwith Pups) before joining the redoubtable No. 85 (S.E.5A) on its formation at Hounslow uuder Major Bishop. He remained with the latter until demobbed in 1919. He then returned to New Zealand.
A member of the N.Z.A.F. since its formation in 1921, McGregor has also engaged in various civil activities. He was a partner in the now-delunct joyriding venture, Hamilton Airways. With a DH50 borrowed from the N.Z. Government, he operated a passenger service between Dunedin and Christchurch. With a Spartan he made a series of First Official Mail Flights throughout the Dominion. These and many other enterprises ended in 1932 with his appointment as chief instructor to the Manawatu Aero Club. He has flown 3,300 hr.
Major McGregor arrived in 1his country on the s.s. Aorangi on September 19, and was subsequently supplied with his machine at Reading.
A Loss to New Zealand
Flight regrets to record that Sqn.- Leader M. C. McGregor, the oldest competitor in the MacRobertson England- Australia race, in which he did so well, has died from injuries received in an air crash at Wellington airport. Frequently mentioned in War Birds (he commanded a flight of No. 85 Squadron), Squadron- Leader McGregor has been closely associated with civil and commercial flying in New Zealand in post-war years.
FEBRUARY 27, 1936
A "Falcon" for New Zealand
SQN. LDR. McGREGOR, who, since flying so well in the England-Australia race, has become a director of Union Airways of New Zealand, has recently placed an order for a Miles "Falcon" (" Gipsy " VI engine). This machine, which te identical with that entered by Viscountess Wakefield in the King's Cup, is* for use by the company. Incidentally, Standard Telephones and Cables are to install their ATR 4 radio sets in the- three D.H. 86s, ordered by this company and in the two D.H. 89s ordered by Cook Strait Airways, its associate. These five machines are to be delivered in October and the Palmerston-Dunedin and the Wellington- Blenheim-Nelson services should be in full swing before the end of the year.
AUGUST 29, 1935.
Malcolm Charles (Mac) McGregor, who was to achieve fame as a First World War air ace and later helped to establish civil aviation in New Zealand, was born on 4 March 1896 at Mangamako, near Hunterville. He was the youngest of three children of sheepfarmer Ewen McGregor and his wife, Matilda Chubbin. Little is known of his early life and education. Refused parental permission to enlist in the army during the First World War, he was allowed to train as a pilot instead. In March 1916 he entered Leo and Vivian Walsh's New Zealand Flying School at Mission Bay, Auckland, qualifying on 9 September.
In October 1916 McGregor sailed for England aboard the Willochra. After three months of advanced training with the Royal Flying Corps, he was posted as a fighter pilot to No 54 Squadron in France. On 29 June 1917, however, his operational flying was interrupted by injuries sustained in an emergency crash landing. After recovering in England, he served as a flying instructor. He found these duties frustrating, however, and in March 1918 he was reprimanded for allegedly performing stunts.
He returned to France in May that year, now with No 85 Squadron of the recently established Royal Air Force. Flying SE5a fighters throughout the final offensives of the war, McGregor was promoted to captain in June, and given command of his own flight. A recommendation for the Distinguished Flying Cross in August 1918 described him as 'a pilot of exceptional, even extraordinary skill' and 'a clever leader, full of resource and dash'. He was awarded the DFC and bar, and was credited with downing 10 enemy aircraft and an observation balloon. McGregor featured prominently in the celebrated American memoir War birds (1926).
The war over, McGregor returned to New Zealand in August 1919 aboard the Bremen. He worked initially on his parents' Waikato property, before purchasing a dairy farm at Taupiri. It proved difficult to sustain in the harsh economic conditions of the early 1920s, however, and he reluctantly disposed of it in 1925. He then managed his father's new farm at Rukuhia, near Hamilton. While there, McGregor married Isabel Dora Postgate, a law clerk, on 29 July 1925 at Frankton Junction; they were to have two sons and two daughters. The farm was sold in 1927 and he worked as a drover for the next two years.
Flying, however, remained McGregor's passion. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Air Force (Territorial) in 1923 and regularly attended its refresher courses over the following years. In September 1930 he was promoted to squadron leader and appointed commanding officer of No 2 (Bomber) Squadron. He was granted a commercial pilot's licence in April 1929, and formed Hamilton Airways with one de Havilland Gipsy Moth, which toured the country the following year; two other Moths were acquired later. Many New Zealanders gained their first experience of flying through a joyride with the company.
During the difficult years of the depression McGregor was involved in several false starts in the commercial sphere. In 1930 alone he was technical director of the short-lived National Airways (NZ), operated the 'Chocolate Plane' (a brown-painted Gipsy Moth) for Cadbury Fry Hudson Limited and, in partnership with F. Maurice Clarke, formed Air Travel. This company briefly operated a regular Christchurch--Dunedin service, but its survival, until mid 1932, was achieved chiefly through a combination of joyriding, carrying aloft well-known parachutists (such as Haakon Qviller and 'Scotty' Fraser) and undertaking experimental airmail flights.
In late 1932 McGregor secured regular employment as chief flying instructor to the Manawatu Aero Club. This was interrupted, however, by lengthy hospitalisation following a flying accident in December that year; he crashed during a competition in which pilots had to burst hydrogen balloons with their propellers. After his recovery he participated in the 1934 London--Melbourne centenary air race. With navigator H. C. Walker, McGregor flew a standard, single-engined Miles Hawk Major, named Manawatu , into a creditable fifth place and in the process broke two light-plane records.
Shortly afterwards McGregor became service manager with the newly formed Union Airways of New Zealand. He travelled to the United States and Britain in 1935 to investigate airline operations and equipment, and recommended that the company order de Havilland DH86 airliners. Union Airways commenced services from its Palmerston North base in January 1936, but McGregor was destined to enjoy little of its subsequent success.
On the afternoon of 19 February that year, while approaching Wellington's Rongotai aerodrome in wretched weather conditions, McGregor's Miles Falcon Major monoplane collided with the anemometer mast and crashed. He died of his injuries at Wellington Hospital two hours later. His sole passenger, C. W. F. (Bill) Hamilton (who later achieved international recognition for developing the jet boat), survived with minor abrasions.
Six feet three inches tall, of lean build, with fair hair and blue eyes, Mac McGregor was perhaps the best-known display pilot of his time; he also possessed an exceptional technical knowledge of aviation. His popularity was demonstrated by the extraordinary response to a national appeal launched immediately after his death, which raised over £5,000 to support his widow and their four young children.
MacRobertson—the Last Chapter
The news of the " better late than never " arrival at Darwin recently of R. Parer and G. Hemsworth in their Fairey " Fox," t i t e r various mechanical and other troubles, closes the last chapter of the Melbourne Race. Parer and Hemsworth are going on to Melbourne, and, it is said, the " Fox " will then be flown to New Guinea, for use by a mining company. A short time ago Philips and Powis (Aircraft), Ltd., of Reading, received a most entertaining account of the adventures of Sqn. Ldr. M. C. McGregor and H. C. ("Johnnie") Walker, who, with their Miles " Hawk Major," gained fifth place in the handicap, with an average speed of 105 m.p.n. Here are some extracts from their letter:—
"At the various aerodromes at which we arrived in daylight, we used to do what we later termed the ' Roscoe Turner stunt.' That was to put the nose down some distance away, and, quietly gathering speed, to end up over the aerodrome with the Pitot showing fifty the second time round. One of the officials at Allahabad said: 'Good heavens! What the h— is this you've got ? We thought the Comet was fast, but—!'
" I t was dark, again at Rangoon, and we found wireless mast? in the air everywhere at 2,000 feet, but no aerodrome After dodging these lights, and tearing around the skv for well over half an hour, both firmly of the opinion that we had done too much flying, we came in low down very cautiously from another direction. Some bright lad fired a very pistol, and we landed to find that we had struck one night in the year when the natives have a ' carnival of lights.' ' ie wireless masts were lanterns tied to balloons, and not Ruguv on a bigger scale !
" The trip to Alor Star was quite peaceful above the clouds, with us both trying to forget that machines with spats we warned not to land there. After re-fuelling, we managed with the help of numerous people to taxi to the end of the be They pointed out the best runway. It wasn't, and we end up in a mudhole at forty miles an hour. A number of the pulled us out, bent the spats straight, and this time, a taking the full 800 yards, we scrambled over a mudbank at the other end."
New Zealand's Air Services
IN the course of the past few months Flight has recorded piecemeal many ol the commercial aviation developments in .New Zealand. However, since service licences have now Ijeen issued it would be as well to detail the position as it appeared at the end of May. A few months ago Cook Strait Airways, Ltd., was registered with a capital of £50,000. A daily service was proposed connecting Nelson, Blenheim and Wellington—-a total distance of approximately 140 rnil«s. Capt, Bolt, the chk'i pilot of the company, is at present on a visit to America and this country, and is making an investigation of the types of machines likely to be suitable for the service. Union Airways of N.Z., Ltd., in which the Union Steamship Company is largely interested, was registered on May 1 with a nominal capital of ;£ 100,000, and is to start an air service between Palmerston North and Dunedin, in the southern portion of the South Island. The: distance from ix>int to point is a little less than 500 miles, and both Blenheim and Christchurch will also be served. Mr. N. S. Falla. the managing director of the U.S.S. Company and chairman of Union Airways, has also visiied England to purchase new machines which are to be entirely of British manufacture. Sqn. Ldr. M. C. McGregor has been appointed service manager •nd has already been to England. -.'
The projected and actual services in New Zealand.
Another company. Great Pacific Airways (N.Z.), Ltd., has 1M«II granted a licence to run a trunk service from Auckland to Dunedin, via New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington. Blenheim, Christchurch and Tim.iru. The wdl at Wellington will be conditional on the provision of an emergency landing ground. Among the provisional directorate is Sir Charles Kingsiord Smith. Licences have also been granted to Air Travel (N.Z.), Ltd., for a West Coast service, and to East Coast Airways, Ltd.. for a ser%'iie linking Gisborne and Napier. The time is rapidly drawing near when New Zealand will need separate control and unified administration for civil aviation development. At present the Transport Co-ordination Board deals with applications for licences for air services, but it appears that this Board has no power to license machines, personnel or aerodromes. It can, in fact, only license air services, yet in spite of this the Board recently refused licences to certain concerns because they proposed using the Rongotai aerodrome at Wellington, although this is actually classed as suitable for all types of aeroplanes under
JULY 18, 1935.
'Flight'
-
McIntosh, Robert H
Robert H McIntosh One of the original 16 pilots of Imperial Airways in 1924
11 September 1926: "AIRMAN'S DASH TO LONDON. JUST IN TIME FOR TRIAL AFTER FORCED LANDING NEAR PYRENEES. Captain R. H. Macintosh, an Imperial Airways pilot, who is flying a D.H. Napier air special in Captain Alfred Lowenstein's private air fleet at Biarritz, had a remarkable series of adventures while making a dash back to London in order to attend the Old Bailey as witness.
Captain Lowenstein asked him to go from Biarritz to Lerida to locate a landing ground there, where the whole air fleet could alight, but he could find nothing suitable and finally running out of petrol, had to alight near Barcelona for further supplies. As the time for his appearance the old Bailey was now getting near, Captain Macintosh decided to fly back to Biarritz in straight line right over the Pyrenees in order to catch a train for London.
Having attained a height of 8,000 feet, and while still climbing to cross the mountains, he was suddenly enveloped in a terrific thunderstorm and was trapped between clouds and mountains. In desperation he climbed to height of 12,000 feet and headed northward through the storm. Once again he ran short of petrol, and risking everything dived down through the clouds, luckily alighting in a small field which suddenly loomed ahead.
He discovered he was at Lartes-de-Riviere about five miles north of the Pyrenees, and, after pegging down his machine and leaving it in charge of his mechanic, rushed to the station to get a train to Touloise to catch the Paris express. At the station a further difficulty arose, they would only accept French money and Captain Macintosh had only English. Going back to small hotel he met there a Mrs Edridge and her two daughters who asked him if they could help him in any way, and who, by a strange coincidence, turned out to be residents in Croydon who had recognised the Imperial Airways pilot's uniform, which is a familiar sight in that town. . .
This meeting smoothed the last of Captain Macintosh's difficulties and travelling night and day he arrived at the Old Bailey in time, after travelling 750 miles by air and nearly 700 by rail and boat in two days without sleep, only to find that his evidence would not be needed."
Feb 1927: "FLOWN 500,000 MILES. Captain Mcintosh's Record. Captain R. H. Mcintosh, the Imperial Airways pilot, on Wednesday completed eight years of continuous flying between London and Paris. He has carried approximately 8,000 passengers between the two cities, and, at 32 years of age, must be one of the most travelled men of his age, for, in addition to flying over half million miles, he also spent four years in the mercantile marine visiting almost every part of the globe.
Captain Mclntosh was one of the youngest recipients of the Royal Humane Society's medal and certificate, which he gained for saving life at sea when he was only 16½ years old."
9 Mar 1927: "NEW AIR RECORD. LONDON TO BERLIN IN 4¾ HOURS. Captain R. H. Mcintosh, an Imperial Airways pilot, on Thursday created a new air record by flying non-stop from London to Berlin in 4¾ hours. The average speed for the 620 miles flight was 130 miles per hour.
Captain Mcintosh is one of the veteran pilots now flying the Handley Page-Napier and Argosy air liners of the Imperial Airways between London and the Continent, and has just completed eight years' continuous flying between London and Paris. He left London at 8.5 a.m. on Thursday on a special flight to Berlin, where he arrived 12.50 p.m."
8 Jul 1927: "ENGLAND—NEW YORK FLIGHT. PILOT'S ARRANGEMENTS MADE. R. H. Macintosh, the Imperial Airways pilot, announced yesterday that he had completed arrangements for an attempt to fly non-stop from England to New York within the next few weeks.
He will fly a Fokker monoplane, driven by a 500 h.p. Bristol Jupiter engine carrying petrol for a non-stop flight of 4400 miles, and will be accompanied by a navigator.
Capt. Macintosh was originally associated with Lieut-Col. F. F. Minchin, another Imperial Airways pilot, who, however has now joined Mr Leslie Hamilton in a projected attempt to fly non-stop to Ottawa, Canada."
November 1927: "NON-STOP TO INDIA. Capt. Mcintosh Out to Beat Record. Capt. R. H. Mcintosh, the Imperial Airways pilot, has completed arrangements to start on an attempt to fly non-stop from England to India early next week on a Fokker-Jupiter monoplane.
If successful he will break the world's non-stop long distance flight record of 3,905 miles set up by Chamberlin and Levine.
Capt. Mcintosh intends to start his flight from Uphaven on Tuesday or Wednesday, when there will be a full moon to assist him. With him will be Mr Herbert Hinkler the test pilot who created a world's long distance record for light 'planes recently by flying non-stop from London to Riga in an Avro-Avian of 30 h.p.
The airmen will follow the route taken by Flight-Lieut. Carr, who, piloting a big Hawker Rolls-Royce bombing 'plane, flew non-stop from England to the Persian Gulf last May."
... "Should they accomplish this, they intend make another non-stop flight from India either to Singapore or the Dutch East Indies, finally reaching Port Darwin, in North Australia, by a third non-stop flight. The total distance is just over 10,000 miles, and should be accomplished in about 110 hours' flying."
April 1928: "NEW AERIAL RECORD. Capt. R. H. Mcintosh created a record yesterday by flying from Berlin to London, a distance of 600 miles, in four and a half hours. The flight was made in a Fokker-Jupiter aeroplane. The machine used was the same in which Captain McIntosh and Mr Bert Hinkler made their unsuccessfull attempt to fly non-stop to India last year."
At the 1948 Gatwick Air Display, in an Airwork Viking [RaeC]
-
McIntosh, John Cowie
Lt John Cowie McIntosh Co-pilot with Ray Parer in the England-Australia Race 1919
Killed shortly afterwards, sadly:
"It is with the utmost regret we have to record the death, through an aeroplane accident in Australia, of Lieut J. McIntosh, who with Lieut. R. J. Parer, made that exceedingly plucky and sporting flight from England to Australia last year. It appears that Lieut. McIntosh, while making a cross-country flight, accompanied by his mechanic and a passenger, experienced engine trouble near Pithara (300 miles from Perth), and crashed after a nose-dive from about 2,000 ft. The mechanic also was killed, and the passenger injured."
Neil Follett kindly contacted me to clarify this, thus: "He was flying an Avro 504, which crashed on take-off from Pithara where he was conducting joy flights. I think 200 feet would be more appropriate than the 2000 feet mentioned. Pithara is about 200 kms (120 miles) from Perth, as the crow flies."
-
McKenna, John Francis Xavier
F/O John Francis Xavier McKenna AFC 1930, aged 24
b c.1906. From Porton, Wilts.
B.Sc. F.R.Ae.S.
AFC in January 1939 as Sqn Ldr
Killed in WWII: 19th January 1945, when a Group Captain RAF; buried Durrington, Wilts.
-
Meakin, Marjorie Joan
Marjorie Joan Meakin b. 7 Jan 1910
6 April 1934, Derby Daily Telegraph: "DERBY PRIDE IN WOMAN'S GLIDING FEAT REPTON ESCAPADE RECALLED Miss Joan Meakin, the 24-years old airwoman, who yesterday completed a record flight in a towed glider from Cologne, Germany, to Heston Aerodrome, lived for several years at Repton.
She was nursed from birth until she was nearly 10 years old by Mrs. C. Williams, of Wolfa-street, Derby, who is well known locally as an enthusiastic hospital worker and flag-day organiser. Mrs. Williams told a "Telegraph" representative that she was with Miss Meakin's family as nurse for more than years, during which time she had complete charge the children.
UNCLE AT MARSTON Miss Meakin, she said, was born at Elford, near Tamworth, but when she was two years old her family removed to Bower Hill, Repton, where they lived for several years before going to London. Miss Meakin is a niece of Mr. J. M. Spurrier, of Marston-on-Dove, said Mrs. Williams. Her mother, Mrs. J. H. Thurston, occasionally stays at Marston and visits Mrs. Williams at Derby.
As a child, Miss Meakin was exceedingly mischievous and daring. When she was about five years old she ran down the hill from her Repton home and climbed to the top of a tall copper beech tree, and then challenged her nurse to find her. "Although she was such a tom-boy. she had a very sweet disposition," said Mrs. Williams. " I am extremely proud to know that she has achieved such fame."
BROTHER KILLED Among the other children Mrs. Williams nursed was the eldest boy, Peter, who, as an R.A.F. cadet, was killed some years ago in a 'plane crash. Peter Meakin attended the preparatory school at Repton. When Miss Meakin insisted upon taking up flying, her step-father, Mr. J. H. Thurston, tried to dissuade her for her mother's sake. When she persisted, however, he promised to buy her a glider if she was the first woman to glide over the Channel.
During her daring glide, Miss Meakin was towed by a German Klemm machine. She experienced good weather except for one patch, where she was thrown from her seat several times by the " bumpy " air.
TO JOIN AIR CIRCUS She intends to join Sir Alan Cobham's air circus in a short time, and to make gliding her career.
Miss Meakin's father is Mr. Henry M. Meakin, of The Soho, Burton. Mr. Meakin is a representative for the firm of Messrs. Strauss, the London barley and hop merchants. Mr. Meakin's father was the owner of large maltings in Burton several years ago, known as Meakin's Maltings, now occupied by Messrs. R. Peach and Co., Ltd., Burton Maltings."
She wrote to Sir Alan Cobham in the early 70s: "It was the excitement, and freedom, and comradeship, and the sheer fun of it all that I adored, living the life of a gypsy, moving off each day to a different town - everyone keen and happy.... Now, forty years later, were it possible, I would join the Display again tomorrow to experience the thrills of seeing Geoffrey Tyson flying upside down so low that the top of his rudder parted the long grass, or Jock Mackay crazy-flying..."
Joan married Ronald Price, and eventually they retired to the Isle of Wight. She died there in November 1977. "A calm and intrepid spirit lay behind the warm personality of a really charming girl who was loved and respected by all who knew her". -
Medhurst, Charles Edward Hastings
Flt-Lt (later Air Chief Marshall) Charles Edward Hastings Medhurst KCB OBE MC RAF 1941 (NPG)
b. 12 Dec 1896, Smethwick
2nd Lieut., Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers then Royal Flying Corps in WWI
RAeC Certificate No 1437 on 13 Jul 1915 (Maurice Farman Biplane, at Military School, Farnborough)
His son Pilot Officer R. E. H. "Dickie" Medhurst was killed on September 19, 1944 when the Douglas Dakota Mk. III he was co-piloting exploded after taking AAA fire during an air drop mission during Operation Market Garden.
d. 18 Oct 1954
bur. St Michael and All Angels Churchyard - Great Tew, Oxfordshire
-
Mellor, Harry Manners
Flt-Lt Harry Manners Mellor b c1903. From Much Hadham, Herts
Killed in WWII: 26 May 1940, when a Wing Commander 22 Sqn RAF; commemorated at Runnymede.
-
Melrose, Charles James
Mr Charles James 'Jimmy' Melrose photo: 1934
Born 13th September 1913, in Burnside, Adelaide
'Boy Phoenix', Australian pioneer. A 'big, well-set chap', who learned to fly with the South Australian Aero Club. With only 200 hours flying experience, he broke the Australia to England record in 1934.
[His uncle was Noel Pemberton Billing,
founder of Supermarine, well-known politician, inventor and, er, fruitcake, who leant to fly in one day in 1913].
Frankly, Jimmy sounds rather too good to be true; "a skilful and courageous natural flyer, Melrose was tall, flaxen haired and blue eyed; while conforming to the popular ideal of a hero, he avoided lionization. He exercised seriously, swimming at Glenelg where he and his mother lived; he kept early hours, neither smoked nor drank alcohol and ate 'Oslo' lunches."
No, I have no idea what an Oslo lunch is either, but I expect it's very healthy and nutritious.*
He flew to England to take part in the MacRobertson Race in 1934; before the race, which included a prize based on a handicap formula involving loads of parameters, Jimmy said the weight of his D.H. 80 Puss Moth would be fine ‘as long as I’m not in it’. Anyway, he did eventually win £1,000 by being placed 2nd in the handicap section.
Died 5 Jul 1936 near Melton, a farming town 25 miles north west of Melbourne, aged 22. His Heston Phoenix (the first of only 6 ever built), in which he offered rides 'from Adelaide to Anywhere', broke up in flight.
He had named the aeroplane 'Billing', his mother's maiden name; his first aeroplane was 'My Hildegarde' (his mother's name) and the second 'Westley' (her middle name). I think you could say he and his mother were 'close'.
Australia went into full celebrity funeral mode: "services were held simultaneously in Melbourne's and Adelaide's Anglican cathedrals; schoolchildren lined the route from St Paul's to Springvale necropolis, as planes circled overhead. In Adelaide both Houses of parliament suspended their sittings and St Peter's Cathedral was packed, mainly with women, who had idolized Jimmy. Three Royal Aero Club Moths flew over as the service ended."
Strewth!
*p.s. Helen Blake has kindly saved me the bother of looking up 'Oslo Lunch'; it's “a Norwegian invention combining a cheese and salad sandwich on whole meal bread, milk and fruit”. Thanks Helen, and in return I think we should all buy her book on Jimmy, 'Boy Phoenix' -
Miles, Frederick George
Mr Frederick George Miles 1930, aged 27
Brilliant aircraft designer, and... biro manufacturer. Taught to fly by (and formed the Southern Aircraft company with) Cecil Pashley.
The story of the Miles Aircraft Company is being put together here:
-
Miller, Allister Mackintosh
Maj Allister Mackintosh Miller photo: 1915, when a 2nd Lieut, RFC, aged 23
photo: 1936, aged 44
b. 10 September 1892 in Scombeni, South Africa.
Known as 'Mac'; WWI pilot and founder of Union Airways, which was sold to the South African Government in 1934.
"One of South Africa's most famous aviation figures"
"A little incident which shows the sort of man Major Miller is happened at Gravesend a short time ago. Mac had just landed after flying the Mew Gull. He then told Capt. Percival that he did not like to tell him before, as he thought it might worry him, but except for a short flight in a Vega Gull he had not flown for two and a half years! "I knew it would be quite all right " was what he told Percival."
-
Miller, Jessie Maud
Jessie Maud Miller (not looking particularly chubby, imho) in 1927
'Chubbie' Miller (Mrs Keith Miller), the first woman to complete an England to Australia flight
d. 16 December 1972 in London
-
Milne, Robert E M B
Flt-Lt Robert E M B Milne 1936, aged 36
"Born in Canada in 1900 and educated at Brandon, Manitoba and Christchurch, Oxford. Saw active service in the air during 1917 and has been instructing for 13 years. Has collected 6,000 hours and has an A.1. Category, CFS. During five years at Cranwell he taught three Groves Memorial prizewinners [for the best all-round pilot in the senior term]."
Left the RAF in 1931 and joined National Flying Services at Reading, later taken over by Miles Aircraft for whom be became chief pilot. 1936-8, instructor at Skegness for Aircraft Distributors, Ltd. Post-war, Airspeed's senior test pilot at Portsmouth.
"Robert Milne, in his younger days, was a great athlete. For Cranwell he played rugger, hockey, cricket and was in the College boxing team. In 1923 he won the welterweight championship of the R.A.F. and, in the same year, was runner-up in the Inter-services championship."
-
Minchin, Frederick Frank Reilly
Col. Frederick Frank Reilly Minchin 1913
b. Madras, India, 16 Jun 1890; a very early flier (RAeC certificate No 419) in Feb 1913, when his address was given as County Tipperary.
June 1926: "Colonel F. F. Minchin, an Imperial Airways pilot, and Mr Mayer, of the Bristol Aviation Company, will leave Croydon at dawn today in a Bristol Bloodhound aeroplane, fitted with 40 h.p. Jupiter air-cooled engines, upon an attempt to fly from London to Cairo in two days."
August 1926: "EXPRESS AIRMAN. Visits Five Towns in Four Countries in a Day. Lieut. F. F. Minchin, the Imperial Airways pilot, made a remarkable Continental flight yesterday, visiting five cities in four countries.
He left London at 8.30 a.m. on a Napier-Vulcan Air liner, carrying passengers, called Lympne, near Folkestone, at Brussels, to pick up and set down passengers, and arrived at Cologne at 12.15 p.m. Leaving Cologne an hour later, he flew to Amsterdam, and, after calling at Ostend and again at Lympne, arrived back in London at 8.45 p.m."
October 1926: "FLYING CIRCUS. BELGIAN MILLIONAIRE'S AIR FLEET TO VISIT ENGLAND. The whole of the private air fleet owned by Capt. Alfred Lowenstein, the Belgian millionaire financier, will visit Britain for the first time next week.
Capt. Lowenstein is transferring his headquarters from Biarritz to his English estate, near Melton Mowbray, for the hunting season next week. His "Flying Circus," as his private air fleet is known in air circles, now consists of an eight-seater Napier Fokker, a three-engined Fokker, a Martinsyde F4, and a Napier Viking Amphibian flying boat, is bringing his guests to England, and be stationed on his Leicestershire estate for rapid communication with the Continent.
Lieut.-Col. F. F. Minchin, the Imperial Airways Pilot, is in charge of Capt. Lowenstein's air fleet, with Mr Leslie Hamilton, another famous British pilot, his second in command." (see also Donald Drew)
1927
Fred was killed, with Leslie Hamilton and Princess Anne Lowenstein-Wertheim, when trying to cross the Atlantic from East to West in 1927. For a video of them and the aeroplane, see the middle bit here.
-
Moll, Jan Johannes
Jan Johannes Moll "Jan Johannes Moll was born at Surabaya on March 6, 1900, and entered K.L.M. by way of the Netherlands-Indian Air Force and K.N.I.L.M. In 1931, with Capt. Pattist (now K.L.M. Chief of Flying Services at Schiphol), Moll flew a Fokker FVIIB (Abel Tasman) from Batavia to Melbourne and back. His Indian Archipelago flying experience is probably unique."
Died at Aalsmere, The Netherlands, on 12th December 1988, aged 88
-
Mollard, Roger Pierre
Roger Pierre Mollard b. St Germain-en-Laye, France, and educated at Worksop College, Nottinghamshire.
RAF from 1921, serving in the UK and India, then joined the European division of Imperial in 1929, based in Heliopolis.
He was the pilot when Shorts S.23 Empire Flying boat G-ADUZ 'Cygnus' crashed and sank on the 5th December 1937, as he was attempting to take-off in rough weather at Brindisi. Two people were killed - one a passenger, the other a member of the crew - and another 11 injured. Apparently, both wings were "torn out of their sockets" by the crash.
To make things even worse, one of the injured was Sir John Salmond, a Director of British Airways... who didn't seem best pleased... Sir John was transferred to the Anglo-American nursing home in Rome; when questioned, he "refused to discuss the incident. He looked pale, his face was bruised, and he had a gash over his right temple."
Eventually, the inquiry established that "the aircraft attempted to take off with the wrong flap settings. This caused the aircraft to start porpoising, leading to loss of control. The 1st Officer (R Mountain, who got the Royal Humane Society Silver Medal and the Stanhope Gold Medal for bravery) saved 3 passengers from the aft cabin which had only about half a metre of air space left."
It seems that the second pilot, on being given the word 'flaps' during the pre-take-off checks, set them in the fully-down instead of the take-off position.
Imperial Airways reviewed their take-off procedures, concluded that they were not to blame, (did anybody suggest saying 'flaps to take-off position', or something?) but, just in case, "sent a reminder to all concerned".
see also http://www.fad.co.za/Resources/aviation/mollard/index.php
-
Mollison, James Allan
James Allan Mollison MBE with Amy and Sir Alan Cobham in 1932 or 33
Born 19th April 1905 in Glasgow, and educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh Academies.
RAF commission in 1923, transferred to reserve 1928, then a lifeguard and air-mail pilot in Australia. Made many record flights; his philosophy seems to have been "...one cannot be young for long, and it has always been my practice to live for the moment." He and Amy were married in July 1932, but They Said it wouldn't last, and it didn't; Jim had to fly Black Magic back by himself after the Race; Amy went on KLM.
Jim joined the Air Transport Authority (ATA) early in WWII, and carried on right through until 1946, ferrying more than 1,000 aircraft, comprising nearly every type used by the RAF - he was a 'Class V' pilot (authorised to fly any type of aircraft without previous instruction). He reckoned he had "on a conservative estimate, successfully delivered not less than 15 million pounds' worth of aircraft." - see https://www.ata-ferry-pilots.org/index.php/category-blog-1940/275-mollison-james-allanJim re-married and divorced twice, continued drinking [he once said that, when he was cold, tired and frightened, he recommended "brandy, lots of it"] and ended up as the owner of a hotel in Surbiton, bought for him by his third wife Mary [Kampuis], on the strict understanding that it would never be licensed to sell alcohol.
Died 30th October 1959 in Surbiton, London, aged 54, from alcoholic epilepsy.
RAeC 1939
Educated: Glasgow and Edinburgh AcademiesCommissioned RAF 1923, transferred to reserve 1928, subsequently air-mail pilot in AustraliaRecord flights:Australia-England. July/Aug 1931. 8 days 19hrs 28minEngland-Cape (first flight by West coast Route) Mar 1932 - 4 days 17hrs 5minFirst solo Westward North Atlantic flight. August 1932First solo westward south Atlantic flight, and first flight England-South America, February 1933First flight England to USA (with Amy Johnson) July 1933England to India (with Amy Johnson) October 1934. 22 hoursNew York-Newfoundland-London (North Atlantic record crossing coast-to-coast 9 hours 20min) October 1936England-Cape by eastern route, November 1936. 3 days 6hrs.Joined ATA early in war. Released in 1946, after ferrying more than 1,000 aircraft, comprising nearly every type used by RAF - single, twin and multi-engined)Rank: Flight CaptainCategory as pilot: Class V (authorised to fly any type of aircraft without previous instruction)Ferried aircraft all parts of England, Scotland, North Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland.On conservative estimate successfully delivered not less than £15,000,000 of aircraft.For his war-time service in the ATA, Mr Mollison was awarded the M.B.E. -
Montagu, Venetia
Venetia Montagu Beatrice Venetia Stanley, b. 22 Aug 1887; in 1915, she married the Hon Edwin Samuel Montagu, later Secretary of State for India. He died in 1924, though.
She already had an interesting past. In 1912, when she was 26, the 60-year old, married, Prime Minister Asquith fell in love with her, and over the next three years wrote her 560 letters, sometimes three a day, detailing his most intimate thoughts and documenting the growing crisis which led to WWI.
Asquith wrote to her in 1915; "Darling - shall I tell you what you have been and are to me? First, outwardly and physically unapproachable and unique. Then, in temperament and character, often baffling and elusive, but always more interesting and attractive and compelling than any woman I have seen or known".
Mrs Asquith, inexplicably, wasn't so keen; she said Venetia was 'a woman without refinement or any imagination whatsoever'.
Venetia was descibed then as 'tall, with dark eyes and a strong nose and face... widely read and vaguely eccentric; she kept as pets a bear cub, a penguin and a fox'.
---
It was probably G-AFBW, the third of her Moths, which she used to tour Spain in December 1930. ‘Flight’ reported their exploits on December 5th:
“The Hon. Mrs. Edwin Montagu, who has just returned from a tour of Spain in her light aeroplane, tells a story illustrative of the development of flying in that country. When passing over the coast at Valencia, she decided to land, but was unable at once to find a suitable landing ground. What was her surprise, therefore, to sight a "windsock" on the beach. Her pilot brought the machine down on beautifully firm sand, and a courteous Spaniard hurried across the beach to greet them. He was the owner of a cafe on the edge of the sands and had installed the "windsock" on the restaurant roof to attract the increasing number of private flying enthusiasts in his country. He wheeled Mrs. Montagu's machine into the yard behind the cafe, and took charge of it while she and her pilot visited the town. He said that the installation of a wind-indicator had been an inspiration, and that many airmen see it and come down for refreshment, the broad stretch of hard sand making a good landing ground.”
The fact that the report mentions ‘her pilot’, and that there is no record of her ever having gained her Royal Aero Club Certificate, strongly suggests that she did not fly the ‘plane herself.
However, it was certainly G-AFBW which she, and her pilot Rupert Bellville, used the following year (1931) when they decided to tour Persia and Russia.
They left Heston on March 27th and reached Budapest on April 1. On April 5, “when flying to Sofia, they made a forced landing at Nisch, Jugoslavia, but were able to proceed later. The flight was continued on April 7 from Sofia to Constantinople.”
They left Constantinople on the 13th April, but 20 days later on May 2nd, met with a mishap: “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 “obtained a new—or rather a second-hand—mount with which to continue her tour. 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.
Venetia Montagu owned:
ex-Adelaide Cleaver's 1929 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAEA;
a 1929 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAJO;
a 1930 DH.60G Gipsy Moth G-ABFW, the one she crashed in Persia in May 1931, and later
a 1934 DH.85 Leopard Moth G-ACLN, which went to Spain.
She died in 1948, aged 60; only then did her daughter discover the letters that Asquith had written to her. -
Morris-Davies, Florence Mary
Florence Mary Morris-Davies 1936
Florence Mary Head as was, b. 17 September 1881 in London, daughter of Sir Robert Garnett Head, 3rd Bt. and Florence Julia Pollock. She married Percy Meyrick Morris-Davies of Llanfarian, Cardiganshire on 17 July 1922, and - after a honeymoon in Wales - they lived at Guestling House, Guestling, Sussex. After he died on 1 January 1934, she took up flying, got her RAeC Certificate at the Cinque Ports Flying Club in June 1936 and bought a B.A. Swallow, G-AEMD, in August 1936.
She used this to attend the 'Maygar Pic Nic' fly-in in 1937, arranged by the Magyar Touring Club to celebrate its birthday, and won a prize: "Those pilots who landed at the aerodrome at Szekesfehervar—near Lake Balaton—on June 15 between the hours of 10.00 and 14.00 were eligible for a competition, which was decided by a draw to select the sealed time. Much to everybody's pleasure, the eventual winners were announced to be Mrs. Morris Davies and Mrs. Macdonald, who, between them, had flown a B.A. Swallow to the Picnic."
The following year, they used the same aircraft to tour the south of France. In the intervening April, she advertised in the times for an 'educated girl' to act as house-parlourmaid; "capable of caring for one dog; easy situation, country house and seaside flat; one lady, two house staff".
She moved to Woodford Green, London, by 1940.
For some reason, she had to change her name by deed poll in 1949 from 'Florence Mary Davies' to 'Florence Mary Morris-Davies'. She described herself then as a "widow, of Greystones, Kingsgate in the county of Kent".
She died on 3 July 1979.
Page 13 of 23