Aviator

 Miss Nora Thornton Trevelyan

Royal Aero Club Certificate 8901 (17 Aug 1929)

b. 3 Jun 1902, from Wooler, Northumberland

She owned a 1929 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAIB, but she crashed it at Renfrew following engine failure on the 15 May 1930; she and her passenger Mr Spencer escaped with minor injuries.

She married William Eric Davies in July 1931.

 Mary du Caurroy Tribe, Duchess of Bedford

She was probably best known as an aviator, but had several other strings to her bow; she was a member of the Society of Radiographers, and was "interested in natural history, especially ornithology". To prove this, she once shot 200 pheasants in a day and (although presumably not the same day) caught 18 salmon weighing 200lb.

Actually, she wrote scientific papers on ornithology, and was a member of the British Ornitholgists' Union.

She was deaf (I'm not sure if this was always true, or if it developed later on in life).

During WWI, Woburn Abbey was turned into a hospital and every morning the Duchess would "go on duty at 5 or 6am, and in her nurse's dress would assist at nearly every operation." The King was pleased to award her the 'Royal Red Cross, in recognition of her valuable nursing services', in Jan 1918.

Her personal pilots included C D Barnard, James Allen and (from 1934) R C Preston, but she herself learned to fly in 1933.

Dame Mary from 1928.

She owned:

a 1927 DH.60X Moth, G-EBRI;

the 1927 Fokker F.VIIa, G-EBTS, 'The Spider', in which she broke the England-Cape Town record in 1930;

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

later she owned

a 1931 DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ABOC, later sold in Kenya,

a 1932 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-ABXR,

a 1933 GAL ST.4 Monospar 2 G-ACKT, registered in October, in which her personal pilot, James Bernard Allen, was killed in December 1933, and finally

a 1934 D.H.60G Moth G-ACUR in which she flew out over the North Sea in March 1937...

... and disappeared.

b. 10 Apr 1901 in Bushey, Herts. 5ft 11in tall, dark hair, blue eyes.

Flew his Moth solo to Cape Town in 1929-30 and returned in November 1930 on the 'Balmoral Castle' steamship to his home at 1 Hatton Gardens, London.

A year later, flew Miss Cook (a descendant of Charles Darwin) to study gorillas in Africa, and in 1935 flew the route of the 1934 MacRobertson Race to film it from the air.

In 1935, apparently (according to the Hull Daily Mail), "Everybody knows of Mr Roy Tuckett, the aerial film pioneer whose film, London - Melbourne," is attracting such large audiences at cinemas ail over the country, but few know that he was very nearly compelled to give up his career as airman through acute digestive trouble. In his own words: "A year ago I feared I could not carry on, could not eat a meal, could not even drink a cup tea without suffering agony from indigestion. Nothing tried seemed to bring me any relief. I had two X-rays, and my appendix was removed—all to no avail. I was on the point of abandoning my flight over the Australian Air Race Route when, as a last resource, I tried Maclean Brand Stomach Powder. To amazement the first dose brought instant relief, so I continued the treatment, carried the powder on my flight, and am completely cured."

In August 1935 he made a startling offer to Haile Selassie: "CABLE TO EMPEROR South African (sic) Airman Offers His Services Mr. F. Roy Tuckett. the South African airman-kinematographer, who filmed his solo Croydon-Capetown flight in 1929, and the London-Melbourne air race, yesterday cabled the Emperor of Abyssinia as follows:— Offer my services in defence of your country. Seven years' flying experience of light aircraft includes 50,000 miles cross-country flights over desert, or under tropical conditions, mainly in Africa. Would be willing to deliver aircraft to Addis Ababa." Interviewed by a Western Morning News representative, Mr. Tuckett explained the motive actuating his cabled offer. "I want to start a new life" he said."

While he was waiting for a reply, after a while WWII broke out. Roy joined, firstly, the Fleet Air Arm (1939-41) as a Lieutenant then, in September 1941, the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). He was Pilot No. 658.

see https://www.ata-ferry-pilots.org/

He later moved to Scotland, and saw something very strange in 1953: "The time was 10.45 a.m., and there was a dead calm... Happening to glance up, I noticed darkish cloud overhead from the base of which issued a long dark streak, which I took to be smoke, pointing down towards the sea at an angle of 45 degrees, and finishing a hundred or so feet above it...  As I watched, I noticed it was shortening and being sucked into the cloud at the junction with which it became vapourised and was revolving rapidly. There was considerable turbulence of the cloud base. It continued to be drawn into the cloud until, within a matter of about three minutes, it had disappeared... I have been all over the world as an air pilot and have seen waterspouts and "dust devils" being sucked into the clouds from the desert, but I have never before witnessed a phenomenon quite like this."

He then wrote to the local paper; ". Weather freak Sir, —I was glad to see that other readers had observed similar phenomena in the sky on Monday. I suppose it must be ascribed to some particular weather trend. By the way, I have never been in the army. My flying experience was in my own plane in film work abroad.— Yours, &c., F. Roy Tuckett. West Balkello Cottage, Strathmartine, by Dundee, July 16, 1953."

d. 25 April 1961 in London

Roy owned the 1930 D.H60G Gipsy Moth G-AARW, later re-registered ZS-ABX.

(on left)

Image courtesy images.ourontario.ca.

one of Canada's rarest air mail stamps - only about 9 are known to exist, and they go for about $35,000 each

 b. 18 Dec 1891 in Carracastle, Mayo, Ireland.

RFC from September 1914, then RAF; served in Egypt, and in the Dardanelles in 1916 (just after the Gallipoli campaign had ended in failure). Air Force Cross in June 1918. He left the RAF in June 1922, joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers as a Flying Officer in April 1923, then became a naturalised Canadian and joined the Ontario Provincial Air Service as a pilot.

d. c.7 September 1927, trying to cross the Atlantic from London, Canada, to London, England.

Carling Breweries of Ontario had offered a $25,000 prize to any Canadian or British subject making the flight; eventually, they also agreed to provide the plane, M-202, a Stinson SM-1 Detroiter monoplane named 'Sir John Carling'. Terry, and his navigator [and fellow Irish-Canadian] Lieutenant James Victor Medcalf, gave up their jobs to make the attempt, and were sworn in as 'official carriers of government mail' by the mayor of (Canada's) London. 

Their first flight was made on 29 August, 1927. 10,000 people watched the aircraft take off; it got as far as Kingston, Ontario but had to return to base because of fog. It took off again at 5am on the 1st September, but fog and heavy rain again forced it to land in Caribou, Maine and stay there until 5 September when they flew to Harbour Grace, St. John's Newfoundland.

They set off across the Atlantic at 09:45 on 7 September, and were spotted 30 miles out, flying past Cape St Francis. They were never seen again, however, and an extensive search failed to find any trace. [One bag of air-mail had been left behind, hence there are still a few stamps around].

They had taken out insurance (which paid out $15,000), so that and the $25,000 prize were put in trust for their wives and 3 children.

1911

1921

in 1922, 'Flight'

RAEC certificate No 70. i.e. very early aviator, and journalist; wrote 'the struggle for the air 1914-18', 'the old flying days' in 1927, and other books; died 1952

b. 1904 in Rochdale, a stockbroker

engaged to Violet Baring

and Gilmore the Lion

 Born 29^th September, 1895 in a small farmhouse near Corinth, Mississippi; left school at 16, became a car mechanic, then a 'balloon pilot' in France and Germany during and after WWI.

Always called himself 'Colonel' (although he only reached First Lieutenant in the Army), wore a (self-designed) uniform - cap, sky blue tunic, jodhpurs and boots - and, although he said that he didn't particularly like wearing 'this monkey suit', he reckoned that it 'makes people notice me'.

As, perhaps, did Gilmore the lion cub, who flew with him (to begin with, on his lap) and had his own parachute. (Later known as Gilmore the Lion, and finally...

Gilmore the Stuffed Lion).

Dare-devil barnstormer, wing-walker and parachutist through the 20s; permanently penniless, he was sentenced to a year in jail in 1922 when he unknowingly bought a stolen plane (he was later pardoned). Moved to Los Angeles and flew for the movies, including Howard Hughes' 'Hells Angels', but it was from a combination of flying movie stars on charter trips and air racing that he finally made some money.

"There was only about a dozen people in the United States in 1939 who had flown over 300 miles per hour - after 1926, just a handful of us kept speed development going".

 with Clyde Pangborn before the 1934 MacRobertson Race

A hugely successful air racer - winner of the Bendix Trophy, and the Thompson Trophy 3 times.

Died 23^rd June, 1970 in Corinth, Mississippi, aged 74 (Gilmore died in 1952, aged 22).

Roscoe is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana.

Gilmore is in the Smithsonian!

(c) RAeC [0823-0004]

b. 25 May 1912, in Eltham, London

Got his Aviator's Certificate in August 1933 with Surrey Flying Services,  then became Director of Aircraft Exchange and Mart (Sales agents for Airspeed) in 1934.

He always wrote in either green or turquoise ink, his spelling was terrible, and he had to remind the organising committee for the Race that the aeroplane had been "entered jointly by Stack and myself", so would be grateful if they would copy him in on any correspondence.

He and Stack teamed up for the MacRobertson Race as "Turner had the money but Stack had the reputation". [Stack admitted that he had been "having a bad time financially"]. 

 MacArthur, Stack and Turner befoe the race

After their early withdrawal from the Race, Stack and Turner sued Airspeed. They contended that the aeroplane - the specially-built Airspeed Viceroy - wasn't really ready; it vibrated alarmingly, the brakes locked up, the electrics were positively dangerous, and the fuel consumption was double what they had been promised. Neville Shute Norway of Airspeed described these as 'trivial defects'.

Stack and Turner finally withdrew the accusations and had to hand back the aeroplane - for which they'd paid £2,448 as a first instalment - and another £1,850 cash. The aeroplane stood around for a while then, just as it was being prepared by Max Findlay and Ken Waller to fly in the Schlesinger Race in 1936, representatives of the Spanish Republican Air Force made them an offer they couldn't refuse: Findlay and Waller had to make do with an Envoy. Which crashed, killing Max and the radio operator. 

In 1935 Sydney entered his Percival Gull for the King's Cup Air Race, but didn't, in the end, take part.

In 1944 he was a test pilot for Rolls Royce in Nottingham.

  1930, aged 29

 A Londoner. 

A Fishmonger - "C. Tutt & Sons" but a prominent pre-war racing pilot, owning:

- a 1929 D.H. Gipsy Moth, G-AAJW;

- a 1931 D.H. Gipsy Moth, G-ABPK;

- a 1932 Comper Swift, G-ABWE;

- a 1933 GAL ST.4 Monospar 2, G-ACEW.

Air Transport Auxiliary in WWII - see https://www.ata-ferry-pilots.org/index.php/category-blog-1941/410-tutt-charles-henry

d.1992, Surrey

photo: 1933, aged 18

originally from Melbourne, a textile merchant. Married a ballet dancer called Betty Cuff in Melbourne in 1940; died 1975

 b. Edinburgh 1902

Imperial Airways from 1930; based Cairo

  Sub-Lieut, RNAS, 13 Oct 1915 (RAeC)

 b. 21 Oct 1892 - Srinagar, Kashmir, India

Father: Rev. Canon Cecil Earle Tyndale-Biscoe, Mother: Blanche Violet [Burges]

He graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge University, with a Master of Arts (M.A.)

RNAS from 11 Jul 1915 (Captain)

Post-WWI, a Conservator for the Indian Forest Service:

m. 25 May 1918, in Redcar, Yorkshire, Elsie May [Crone]

1934

"A Flight to Madras
Indian flying clubs seem to be getting keen on flights between India and England. The Maharajah of Vizianagaram has purchased an Avro " Commodore (215 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley "Lynx”), and, reports Shell Aviation News, the Madras Flying Club has contracted to fly the machine out from England. Mr. H. L'E. Tyndale-Biscoe, assistant pilot- instructor, will be the pilot on this flight, which is due to start from Manchester this month.
On October 21 Mr. H. Tyndale-Biscoe, an instructor of the Madras Flying Club, left Heston for Madras in an Avro "Commodore." He is delivering this aeroplane to the 'Rajah of Vizianagaram, who recently learned to fly at the Madras Club. The machine, which is equipped with a complete set of blind flying instruments, is arranged so that half of the back seat can be adapted as a bed if necessary. Mr. Tyndale- Biscoe is about to join the flying staff of Messrs. Tata, in India." - 'Flight'

 Chief Flying Instructor of Madras Flying Club in 1943, when he was awarded the MBE

 Later a Group Captain in the RAF.

d. 1969 - Seychelles

  1930

   1931

from Garthynghared, (yup, 'Garthynghared'), Dolgellau, Wales, b. 16 Sep 1907, owned a 1929 DH.60G Gipsy Moth, G-AAJM.

She was prominent in the First All-Ladies Flying Meeting in September 1931, performing an 'acrobatic' display in a Moth: "Seeing that this lady has only done some 50 hours since obtaining her licence, her show was really extraordinarily neat. She first of all did several loops, and then finished with two of the prettiest and most smoothly executed stalled turns that we have seen."

She and her brother Samuel  Peregrine 'Perry' Tyzack  bought an Avro Club Cadet (G-ACHW) in June 1933,

  Doreen (r) with V Smith and the Cadet in 1935 - Northampton Mercury

but the following month she crashed whilst performing an aerobatic display in D.H. Moth G-AAGS in Barmouth, killing one spectator and injuring another. She suffered head injuries and severe shock. The inquest's verdict was 'accidental death following a judgement of error' on her part.

So, in December, they advertised the Cadet for sale:

"AVRO 'CLUB' CADET. Done just under 16 hours since new. Instruments in both cockpits and Reid & Sigrist Turn Indicator. Special finish. Price £1,150.—Reply to : TYZACK, Plum Park, Towcester, Northants."

Southend-on-Sea Flying Services Ltd eventually bought it, but Ethel flew a 'Cadet' in Midland Aero Club's 1935 "At Home", so presumably it was after that.

... and she then sold her own Moth the following year.

She married German-born Ronald Erwin Ottmar Velten in 1936 (they were still flying in 1952) and died aged 96 in January 2004 in Bournemouth.

1916, when a 2nd Lieutenant, London Regiment, aged 20

in 1954, elected vice-President of the Society of British Aircraft Manufacturers

The "rather withdrawn", chief test pilot for Bristol Aircraft, and their Assistant Managing Director after 1947; President of SBAC in 1956; died 1972

was, in fact, "very good at high-flying" and broke the world's height record by climbing to 43,976ft in 1932

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

   RAeC 1922

   Ancestry

b. 3 Oct 1902 in Oudtshoorn, S Africa

Father: Charles Henry Vintcent, a South African cricketing all-rounder who played in 3 Test matches beween 1889 and 1892. Mother: Lilian [Jackson]

Nevill was commissioned in the RAF in 1922, and served in Kurdistan, Transjordania, Egypt, and Iraq, where he won the DFC in 1924 in unusual circumstances when he had to make a forced landing in the Arabian desert after engine trouble. As soon as the aircraft landed, the local tribespeople came on horses and began to attack. The aircraft had a machine gun at the front of the fuselage. Nevill jumped out of the aircraft, lifted the tail of the aircraft on his shoulders and turned the plane in circles, allowing his co-pilot to fire at the tribespeople and scare them away.

He was also a boxing champion in the RAF, and came first in the Cranfield Sports Day "Putting the Weight" competition in 1921 (J. S. Newall, see later, came third). He left in 1926 "for more thrilling opportunities"; air survey work in India, Burma, the Federated Malay States and Borneo. He flew the first air mail from Borneo to the Straits Settlements.

 He worked as a pilot for the Air Survey Company. Here, from March 1927, is a photo of one of the DH9s owned by the company:

"The party is under the charge of Captain Durward, with Mr. Nevill Vintcent as pilot and Mr. C. R. Thorne as photographer. The scene depicted is the company’s temporary slipway and hangar at Chittagong, Bengal."

In Burma, he flew the mail from Rangoon to Tavoy and Mergui, 245 miles, in 34 hrs. "The sea passage takes 48 hrs."

And here they are in Port Swettenham, Malaya, in about June 1927:

 "Flight"

 In 1927 he entered the King's Cup Air Race, flying G-EBDK, a Martinsyde F6 belonging to Leslie Hamilton. However, a new formula to calculate handicap speeds was tried that year, with disastrous results; his aircraft was given 157 mph as a handicap speed, which was completely unrealistic, so he withdrew before the race.

 In December 1927, he and F/O J S Newall prepared to fly two DH9s from Stag Lane to Singapore:

   5 Jan 1928

(l to r) W S King (mechanic), Nevill, Mrs Wise Parker (passenger to Cairo), F/O J S Newall, and W A Charles (photographer).

"The two machines will make a survey tour to Singapore, with the object of discovering and operating air routes of medium range between inaccessible but busy centres. Mrs. Wise Parker, seen in the centre of the group, has booked a trip as far as Cairo".

Delayed by snow, they finally left on 9 Jan 1928 and duly delivered Mrs Wise Parker to Cairo on February 17, but only after they had been caught in a violent sandstorm in the desert the day before, forced to land and wait for three hours until it cleared. They reached Karachi on 26 April, and that seems to be as far as they got.

 Nevertheless, it was one of the longest flights of the time.

They spent the next two years on holidays, giving joyrides, aerial photography and surveys, and became convinced that there was scope for commercial aviation in India.  Nevill was "very enterprising and methodical. He would plan his next stop by sending his bearers ahead by train to check a suitable landing field and the passenger potential, having given the bearer sufficient money to telegraph back the details."

He transferred to the RAFVR in December 1928. 

He owned G-AAXJ, a 1930 DH80a Puss Moth, which became VT-ACZ in India from Jul 1931 (and was written off in July 1935)

m. 21 Jul 1931 in Richmond, Surrey, Pamela [Johnson]:
[Pamela was the elder sister of Celia Johnson, the actress: "Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson, DBE (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films In Which We Serve (1942), This Happy Breed (1944), Brief Encounter (1945) and The Captain's Paradise (1953). For Brief Encounter, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. A six-time BAFTA Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)." - Wikipedia]

By 1932, Nevill was Deputy Director of Civil Aviation in the Public Works Branch of the India Office, based in Bombay.

He discovered that Imperial Airways was planning to extend its existing service to Karachi, to reach Calcutta and beyond. So, before Imperial started its service, Nevill put forward the idea of a plane service linking Karachi with Bombay, south India and Colombo, and approached many prominent people, including Russa Mehta, son of textile magnate, Sir Homi Mehta, for backing.

The initial plan was to fly the airmail from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmadabad, fly southeast from Bombay to Madras via Bellary and Bangalore, and then return mails back to Karachi. Thereafter, Imperial would fly the mail east across India to Calcutta and then eventually to Australia.

Nevill and Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (J.R.D.) Tata came to an agreement to launch Tata Airlines to serve the new routes and Nevill became the chief pilot and manager of the new airline, and started preparations. In April 1932, he flew his Puss Moth G-AAXJ via Mandapam to a landing strip at the racecourse in Colombo. This was a historic day for Ceylon as it was the first time an aeroplane had landed there; up to this point the people of Ceylon had only seen seaplanes. Nevill gave joy rides for 10 days and then, on the 7 May, started for Bombay at 6.00 am carrying a bundle of 'Times of Ceylon' newspapers, arriving in Bombay at 4.30 pm.

  Sir Fredrick Tymms

The following month, Nevill flew his boss Sir Fredrick Tymms, the Director of Civil Aviation in India, to Ceylon to check the route and the landing area of the racecourse. After this visit, it was decided to construct a more suitable aerodrome, with a hard surface, at Ratmalana.

Finally, on 8 October 1932, an Imperial Airways aircraft flew from London to Karachi. J R D Tata, in a de Havilland Puss Moth, took the mail on to Bombay, where Nevill then took over for the leg to Madras via Bellary (an outpost of the British Army, which had a small garrison), and Bangalore, arriving on 16 October. The first westbound flight left Madras the following day. 

The new runway at Ratmalana was ready by 1935, and a TATA Puss Moth flown by Lt Tyndale-Biscoe, with a Ceylonese passenger on board, landed there in February. On the return journey they carried air mail to Madras, to connect with the Madras-Karachi TATA service.

  Harold l'Estrange Tyndale-Biscoe MBE

Tata Airlines grew steadily before WWII, acquiring these aircraft:

His wife Pamela and their 1-year-old son Charles travelled (first class) back to England from Bombay in April 1934 on P&O's SS Rajputana and then, in December 1934, they flew back to India with Nevill in Avro 642/4m VT-AFM, the 'Star of India', first registered 13 Sep 1934, built for the personal use of the Viceroy.

They arrived in Delhi on December 8. After being overhauled, the aircraft was flown to Calcutta where the Viceroy was staying. 

"Flight" reported the progress of the airline: "The Tata Air Lines are a branch of the activities of the great steel concern, Tata Sons, Ltd. The director in charge of their flying interests is Mr. Jehangir R. D. Tata, a member of the Bombay Flying Club, and the detailed management of the service is in the hands of Mr. N. Vintcent. "

By May 1934, the Tata service from Karachi to Bombay and Madras had been running for nearly 18 months, and it had "achieved the wonderful record of 100 per cent efficiency in running to schedule."

In August 1934, "Lord Willingdon, Viceroy of India, and the Countess of Willingdon left Croydon for India by Imperial Airways, Ltd., after two months in England, and a day or so previously Mr. Nevill Vintcent, the Viceroy’s personal pilot, arrived from India by K.L.M."

In the following October, 'Flight' reported that "Mr. Nevill Vintcent, D.F.C., manager of the Tata Air Line, is now on a visit to this country, and is able to report all well with the weekly service Karachi-Bombay-Madras. Though the service is unsubsidised it is now showing a profit, and the weekly loads of mails are growing too big for the capacity of the "Puss Moth” with which the line is operated.

Mr. Vintcent is on the look-out for a type which has greater capacity and which will be suitable in other respects. He has no objection to wooden construction. It may not last quite so long as metal will do but then, he says, a wooden machine will probably last until the weekly weight of mails has outgrown its capacity and the line has to seek a still more capacious machine.
The policy of the firm is unchanged in preferring mails to passengers as cargo.
As for the projected Bombay-Calcutta daily service, which H.E. the Viceroy recently said he hoped to see soon in operation, nothing can be said except that negotiations between the firm and the Government of India are still proceeding. It was gratifying to hear the high opinion expressed by Mr. Vintcent of Capt. Tymms as Director of Civil Aviation in India, even though it is sometimes the duty (and probably the unpleasant duty) of the D.C.A. to turn down proposals put up by the enterprising firm of Tata Sons, Ltd."

On 18 Jan 1937, Nevill flew Mr. Walters (the Postmaster General of India), Mr. Bewoor (from the postal department) and Sir Frederick Tymms to Ratmalana using one of Tata's Miles Merlins. This was a fact-finding mission to extend the airmail service from Madras. The same year, he flew Sir Victor Sassoon, President of the Federation Aeronautique International, and his assistant Captain Freeman-Thomas, to the Ratmalana aerodrome.

He sailed from Southampton to New York on the 4 April 1937, in 'SS Europa', and then again from Southampton to the USA on the Queen Mary, arriving on 17 Jul 1939.

After war was declared, Nevill proposed to build an aircraft factory in India. He flew to Hawaii with his colleague from Tata Chemical Ltd, Mr Kapilram Vakil, 11 to 13 Aug 1940.

He sailed to the USA again, this time from Glasgow, arriving 27 December 1940, giving his cousin, J E Davis, as his contact in the USA. He flew from San Francisco to Hawaii on the 15 Jan 1941, and was then in Canada until 9 Jul 1941.

During this time, he was in regular discussions with the minister of aircraft production, Lord Beaverbrook, and eventually secured a licence to build an aircraft factory in Pune for war purposes. On 29 Jan 1942, he boarded an RAF transit flight in RAF Portreath in Cornwall heading initially to Gibraltar, but the aircraft was not seen again.

Another RAF aircraft had come under attack on the same day, and investigators eventually reached the conclusion that the aircraft must have been shot down and had crashed into the sea. 

d. 29 Jan 1942 in Hudson AM946

"Flying Officer D J R Gee, Sergeant D J C Pitcher, Sergeant J Cadden, Sergeant J A Bolle, Mr N Vincent (Tata Air Lines): missing believed killed; Hudson AM946, Overseas Aircraft Delivery Unit; aircraft crashed at sea during a transit flight between Portreath and Gibraltar, 29 January 1942."

His daughter later said that “Pamela was not willing to believe that Nevill had been killed. Her belief was that he was in detention in some country, and he would return one day. But, even two years after the incident, there was no news of him,”

Probate was finally granted in 1944: "Nevill Vintcent, of Lyndewode House, Bomanji Petit-Road Bombay India died on or since 29 January 1942 at sea. Probate Llandudno 8 November to Pamela Vintcent widow. Effects £10215 6s 9d"

Pamela, with her 3 children, left Mumbai and flew to England in 1944 and subsequently lived with her sister, Celia Johnson.

Tata Airlines became a public company and later changed its name to Air India. 

Pamela m. 1950 in Chelsea, Ralph Wesley Dennis; they lived in London. Nevill's grandson Henry became a glider pilot, but died in a skiing accident.

Ralph d. in 1990, Pamela 1993 in Reading.

Alexander George Vlasto

Amazingly, there are two different Alexander George Vlastoes... (now what are the chances of that?) Take your pick:

b. 12 Sep 1887 in Calcutta, d. 1935

photo: 1917, when a 2nd Lieutenant in the RFA, aged 20

 - or -

a Merchant from Henley-on-Thames, b. 27 Feb 1904 in Bombay

photo: 1930, aged 26

 1929, aged 25

A member of the Schneider Cup winning team in 1929, also a member of the GB skiing team in 1930, and a burly rugby-player to boot.

d. 1931 after bailing out of a Hawker Horsley from Farnborough and hitting a building.

  1932, aged 23

Joined de Havilland at Hatfield in 1928 and was their chief test pilot from 1935; killed flying the TK4 at Hatfield in October 1937.

Hatfield later turned into an industrial estate (sigh) and Waight Close is named after him.

  1930, aged 20

  Walker and Macgregor

https://natlib.govt.nz/

 b. 15^th March, 1908, in Edinburgh, but moved to New Zealand when 8 years old, so  really.

Got his aviator's certificate in 1930 but had only flown about 250 hours, none of it outside NZ, at the time of the MacRobertson Race.

Joined Union Airways, then Squadron Leader in the RNZAF during WWII; awarded Air Force Cross in January 1943.

Post-war with New Zealand Airways - did the delivery flight of their first Viscount in 1957, and was still around when it was replaced by the Boeing 737.

d. c. 11^th Nov 1991, in Wellington, N.Z., aged 83