Aviator

 1915, when a Lieutenant in the 10th Royal Hussars, aged 30

 1930, aged 45

born in Manchester; listed 'racing, travelling and yachting' as his recreations; High Sherriff of Norfolk in 1942; died 1957

  1930, aged 43

a 'merchant' from London, born in Darlington; died 1957

  1936, aged 28

"Tough, broken-nosed" Hugh "transferred to the RAF Reserve in 1934 after serving with shore-based boats and float-planes and with the school of Naval Co-operation at Lee-on-the-Solent.

Later chief flying instructor to the York County Aviation Club at Sherburn-in-Elmet, and flying instructor to the Blackburn RAF Civil FTS at Hanworth and demonstrating B.2 Trainer and Cirrus-Minor-in-B.A. Swallow alternately."

  1936

  1935 - both 'Flight'

 b. 14 Jan 1901 - Strood, Kent

Father: John Gilchrist Wilson (1867-1915) from Lanark, Scotland, Mother: Bine [Ball] (1867-1936) from Strood.

He was the eldest of 4: Dorothy Sabina Catherine (1902-1980), James William Gilchrist (1903-1983) and William Ball (1905-1978).

Ed. Kings' School, Rochester, Herne Bay College

TA from 9th Jan 1915 (age 14)

m. 1922 in Thanet, Kent, Agnes Blanche [Newell]. 2 sons, (Peter, d. 1924), John Alexander Borthwick (d. 1953 in India, age 25)

RAFVR (General Duties Branch) from 1 Oct 1922; F/O from 1923, Flt-Lt from 1 Apr 1929

"Gained a certain wisdom when in the RAF by ascending to 20,000 feet daily on meteorological duties, weather or no. Thereafter took Desoutters through anything on taxi and charter work. Chief Instructor at Hanworth until acquired by British Aircraft Manufacturing Co Ltd for test pilotage. One of nature's quietest birdmen." - Flight

Pilot for National Air Services 1929-31; Gibraltar Airways 1931-32

Competed in the King's Cup Air Race in 1934 (eliminated in 2nd Round), 1935 (coming 14th / 29) and 1936 (placed 3rd / 26)

For his efforts in 1934, he was presented with a commemorative silver travel clock by the Royal Aero Club:

    With thanks to Gary Wright

Runner-up (Medal and £25, presented by the Cinque Ports Club) in the Folkestone Aero Trophy in September 1935, flying a BA Eagle

Spent 1939 to 1953 in the Royal Navy/Fleet Air Arm, ending as Commander.

d. 8 Feb 1973 - Birchington, Kent

Buried All Saints, Birchington:

Based on research by Alexandra Gilbert

 Mary Stewart Dashwood Wilson

Royal Aero Club Certificate 8583 (13 May 1929)

  1929, aged 43

b. 28 April 1886, from London.

Bought a 1927 DH.60 Moth, (G-EBRY) which she later sold to the Isle of Wight Flying Club.

1931

b. 1896; RNAS in WWI, then went out to East Africa for 3 years to make his fortune growing coffee, but as the fortune did not materialise came back and joined the RAF. Pilot at Martlesham Heath (in 1931 he was Flight Commander, 22 Squadron),

later Air Commodore, Ministry of Aircraft Production during WWII, Officer 'in charge of the West Coast, USA' in 1943 (sounds like a nice job) and Air Attache to Moscow (sounds like a horrid job) after WWII; died 1972

One of the original 16 pilots of Imperial Airways in 1924

b. 25 Aug 1892 in Bengal, India

Sir Alan Cobham had some harsh words to say, when he sold his well-travelled 'Youth of Britain' aircraft to Imperial Airways; "I arrived at Salisbury [Rhodesia] on January 7 1930, and handed the aircraft over to Wolley Dod. I found him to be an unbelievably tiresome man. He spoke to me as though I were a pupil pilot of no experience at all; he went over the aircraft in detail, and managed to find something wrong with every aspect of it - the fuel system, the propeller, the rigging, the lot. I controlled myself with difficulty. I was fortunate indeed to have escaped being teamed up with such a fuss-pot".

Wolley Dod promptly crashed the aircraft at Broken Hill, much to Sir Alan's fury; "I had carried some 40,000 passengers in this perfectly good aircraft, making perhaps 5,000 landings. Then Big Brother took it over, and had to go and break it straight away."

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS LINER (ACCIDENT).

RFC in WWI - he was responsible for Baron von Richthofen's head wound in 1917.

After WWI he left the RAF, but rejoined and was drafted 'out East'. With Imperial Airways, he spent about six months piloting the cross-Channel service, then transferred to the Cairo- Karachi section.

Lived in Westcliffe-on-Sea

Died September 1929: "Three people were killed and two passengers burned when an Imperial Airways air mail liner crashed in flames while attempting to land last night at Jask Airdrome, in Persia, on the route to India from Croydon.

The dead are Mr. A. E. Woodbridge, the pilot; a passenger, Mr. G. Bell; and a mechanic, Mr. J. Court, says British United Press. The airplane and the mail were destroyed. Two members of the crew of the machine, Mr. H. Bourne, wireless operator, and Mr. H. C. Amor, flight engineer, were burnt, but not seriously, and are progressing favourably.

From reports reaching Karachi it appears that the air liner was making a landing by the light of flares set on the tips of the wings when the disaster occurred. Suddenly the wings were seen to burst into flames, and the flames spread rapidly, rendering the escape of the occupants of the machine impossible. The injured pilot of the air liner was rushed to a house two miles from the airdrome, but he died there soon after arrival.

When the news was received at Karachi, Capt. Attwood, pilot of the air mail liner which leaves there for England to-morrow, set out in his machine with a doctor and nursing orderlies to bring the injured pilot to Karachi, but returned when wireless news received reporting the death of the pilot of the burned air liner.

FAMOUS PILOT. Mr. A. E. Woodbridge was a very distinguished air-fighter during the war. He brought down the famous German, Baron Richthofen, in June, 1917."

Actually, 2nd Lt Woodbridge had managed to wound von Richthofen in the head. When the Red Baron returned to duty, he was still unfit to fly - his head wound had not healed - and this is thought to have been a contributory factor when he was shot down nine months later by an Australian gunner.

  1930, aged 42

from Devon; pre-WWI, a well-known car and motor-cycle racer. A member of No. 4 Squadron in WWI, he was the first pilot to land a spy successfully behind the German lines, and was also lost over the North Sea for several hours after having attacked and driven off a Zeppelin.

In 1931, he was in command of No. 207 (Bombing) Squadron at Bircham Newton.

 b. 13 Nov 1893 in Udny, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

"JIMMIE WOODS is reluctant to talk about himself, and cannot believe that anyone is interested in such personal matters as his age and birthplace. He was born "in Scotland about thirty-nine years ago," served with R.F.C. and R.A.F., and has flown some 11,000 hours."

He spent eleven years a pilot with West Australian Airways, Ltd., flying up and down the 2,035-mile coastal route from Perth to Wyndham, and across the 1,453-mile transcontinental route from Perth to Adelaide; in 1933 he flew a Gipsy Moth from Australia to England.

Woods spent some time at the Lockheed plant in Burbank, flew across America in a Boeing 247, (which he described as "a very clean job"), then flew to England and collected the late Lt.-Com. Glen Kidston's Vega at Hanworth.

Died 9^th May, 1979, aged 85

 b. 8 November 1894 in Clark Mills, N.Y

d. 1 May 1979, aged 84

 b. 21 Jul 1895 in London, the son of Harry Oswald Yeatman, a wine shipper (the Yeatman Family were partners in Taylor's Port) and Benedicta

Wiltshire Regiment in WWI; then RFC/RAF 34, 9, 48 and 52 squadrons

21.12.16: wounded [7100 BE2e] Hit hangar and nosedived to ground landing at 4Sq after observer inj in eye on artly obs.

11.07.17: Ok [A4610 RE8] Run into by machine of 7Sq after landing from special duty. Lt HM Yeatman Ok/Maj Mitchell Ok

Transferred to the unemployed list as Captain, 24 Feb 1919.

m. 1929 Sylvia Marguerite [Giraud Wright]; profession: "Aeronaut"

Elected member of RAeC, 1929

d. 30 May 1968; buried All Souls Churchyard, Harfordbridge, Hants

One of the original 16 pilots of Imperial Airways in 1924

b. 10 Feb 1900 in Portsea Island, Hants.

RAeC certificate 4909 (1917).

Awarded Master Pilot's Certificate

March 1926: "Like the Swallow.—Captain B. Yulle, the Imperial Airways pilot, set a record on Thursday when he flew from London to Amsterdam, a distance of 267 miles, in 100 minutes.

"October 13, 1947 – A helicopter flies in Switzerland for the first time. It is the Bell 47B G-AKCX of the Irvin-Bell Helicopters Sales presented near the Allmend in Zürich-Wollishofen by the British pilot Alan Bruce Hamilton 'Jimmy' Youell."

With Imperial Airways pre-war and Railway Air Services post-war.

d. 19 April 1961 'in or near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia'