Imperial Airways research.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Imperial Airways research.
Hi all,
I'm a History undergraduate at the University of Exeter and I'm conducting a primary source based investigation into Imperial Airways in the 1930s, focussing particularly on its political and cultural significance to the British perception of the late - Empire.
One thing I'd love to examine is an Imperial Airways pilots memoir or autobiography - however, I have so far been unsuccessful in tracking one down. So I thought it might be worth asking if anyone here knew of any material of that sort, that I may have overlooked in my initial sweep.
Many thanks,
Joe
I'm a History undergraduate at the University of Exeter and I'm conducting a primary source based investigation into Imperial Airways in the 1930s, focussing particularly on its political and cultural significance to the British perception of the late - Empire.
One thing I'd love to examine is an Imperial Airways pilots memoir or autobiography - however, I have so far been unsuccessful in tracking one down. So I thought it might be worth asking if anyone here knew of any material of that sort, that I may have overlooked in my initial sweep.
Many thanks,
Joe
Have you seen?------
The Log of a Merchant Airman by John Lock
Britain's Imperial Air Routes by Robin Higham
Tales from the Golden Age of Air Travel by Tom Quinn
Adventurous Empires by Phillip Sims.
The Seven Skies by John Pudney.
The Log of a Merchant Airman by John Lock
Britain's Imperial Air Routes by Robin Higham
Tales from the Golden Age of Air Travel by Tom Quinn
Adventurous Empires by Phillip Sims.
The Seven Skies by John Pudney.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,593
Received 274 Likes
on
152 Posts
"Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Alexander Frater is his account of recreating Imperial's route to Australia by modern airlines in 1978. He quotes contemporary accounts by crew and passengers throughout the book which may be of interest.
It's a good read, too!
It's a good read, too!
Highways to the Empire .... Colin Cruddas.
British Airways An Airline and it's Aircraft Volume 1 : 1919 -1939 The Imperial Years .... R E G Davies.
Merchant Airmen The Air Ministry Account of British Civil Aviation : 1939 - 1944.
Just had a look at Ron Davies's book, it contains an extensive bibliography and index which will supply you with many leads to information.
Agree with fltplanner. A trip to BA Museum/Heritage centre would be very worthwhile. Contains a mountain a fascinating information.
Should have said......"Welcome to the Forum" Joe !!!....
British Airways An Airline and it's Aircraft Volume 1 : 1919 -1939 The Imperial Years .... R E G Davies.
Merchant Airmen The Air Ministry Account of British Civil Aviation : 1939 - 1944.
Just had a look at Ron Davies's book, it contains an extensive bibliography and index which will supply you with many leads to information.
Agree with fltplanner. A trip to BA Museum/Heritage centre would be very worthwhile. Contains a mountain a fascinating information.
Should have said......"Welcome to the Forum" Joe !!!....
Last edited by Planemike; 2nd Mar 2017 at 12:43.
wc_taylor
There's a fascinating thread here on PPRuNe about a trip to the Far East that started from Poole Harbour in May 1940 shortly after Imperial Airways had become BOAC. See here: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...caledonia.html
There's a fascinating thread here on PPRuNe about a trip to the Far East that started from Poole Harbour in May 1940 shortly after Imperial Airways had become BOAC. See here: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...caledonia.html
The political and cultural aspects of the operation were probably a little remote from the pilots of the day, who would concern themselves more with the actual operation, the different weather conditions encountered, and such like. It would be the management and, behind the scenes, the sponsoring government, who would be more into these aspects.
One thing to bear in mind is that the intercontinental flights to the Empire (Africa/Asia/Australia) were just as concerned, if not more so, with air mail as much as passenger transport. Mails were given priority and passengers could actually be offloaded if the mail load was heavier than anticipated. Very few people actually travelled by these aircraft, but a significant proportion of the population had relatives overseas in the Empire, and maintained contact by letter in those days. the Christmas air mail flights and last posting dates for these were significant points all across the country. Payment by the Post Office made the operations commercially possible.
Descriptions of such flights by passengers (there are a fair number around) often include mentions of their handful of fellows, typically a mix of senior government officials, the wealthier expats (which included the few women passengers) and a notable proportion of those from the aviation industry itself involved in aspects of the operation. Commercial sales people, visiting friends/family, holidaymakers, and children, such a high proportion of passengers today, are generally notable by their absence.
Without a doubt the best book ever produced for "general" (ie non-technobuff unlike us lot) readers on the pre-war operation. It may get you hooked on old aircraft history for life 
One thing to bear in mind is that the intercontinental flights to the Empire (Africa/Asia/Australia) were just as concerned, if not more so, with air mail as much as passenger transport. Mails were given priority and passengers could actually be offloaded if the mail load was heavier than anticipated. Very few people actually travelled by these aircraft, but a significant proportion of the population had relatives overseas in the Empire, and maintained contact by letter in those days. the Christmas air mail flights and last posting dates for these were significant points all across the country. Payment by the Post Office made the operations commercially possible.
Descriptions of such flights by passengers (there are a fair number around) often include mentions of their handful of fellows, typically a mix of senior government officials, the wealthier expats (which included the few women passengers) and a notable proportion of those from the aviation industry itself involved in aspects of the operation. Commercial sales people, visiting friends/family, holidaymakers, and children, such a high proportion of passengers today, are generally notable by their absence.
"Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Alexander Frater is his account of recreating Imperial's route to Australia by modern airlines in 1984. He quotes contemporary accounts by crew and passengers throughout the book which may be of interest.
It's a good read, too!
It's a good read, too!
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Chester UK
Age: 84
Posts: 939
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The political and cultural aspects of the operation were probably a little remote from the pilots of the day, who would concern themselves more with the actual operation, the different weather conditions encountered, and such like. It would be the management and, behind the scenes, the sponsoring government, who would be more into these aspects
I agree with WHBM that there may be a mis-match between your objectives and the belief that pilot biographies would be a good source. I also support all those recommending the Frater book. The social history of air travel is remarkably undocumented relative to the hardware and commercial and military aspects. I am only aware of two books, which are themselves closely connected. They are Air Travel - A Social History by Kenneth Hudson (Adams & Dart 1972) and Diamonds in the Sky by the same author & Julian Pettifer (Bodley Head 1979 ISBN 0-370-30162-5) The latter was an updated version of the former made in conjunction with a BBC TV series of the same name. Pettifer was the presenter.
Concerning the comments on the make - up of the passenger lists, I think it may be in one of these books that there is a comparison of the Far East services of Imperial and the competing Dutch KLM service to their then East Indies colony. This noted that the Imperial service was aimed primarily at Government related traffic to various British or British dominated territories on the way to India and beyond. Consequently , having many stops was not seen as a disadvantage. KLM on the other hand needed to get its passengers to their territories as fast as possible. This had the unintended consequence that business traffic from Britain to Singapore in particular always flew KLM with the result that Dutch passengers had difficulty in finding space.
For good coverage of the KLM v Imperial competition to the far east there is a another pilot biography, that of Ivan Smirnoff, Russian born KLM captain - The Smirnoff Story by Anne Robertson Coupar Jarrold 1960.
Last edited by one11; 3rd Mar 2017 at 18:33. Reason: Spelling
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Cornwall UK
Age: 79
Posts: 507
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This seems relevant and much of it online https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...mphrey&f=false
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks all for a fantastic response - there are some great leads here and I shall enjoy investigating them all.
WHBM and JENKINS - Thanks for some really interesting thoughts. In principle I support what you're pointing out in that a pilot's memoir won't have much to do with the social and cultural aspects of the Empire. What I'm more interested in is whether from analysis of the writing we can conclude anything on how the pilots themselves considered their position - can we identity any subtextual references to some sense of Imperial duty? Can we deride what their attitudes towards the people and places they were flying to were, and if so what does that tell us about the men of the operation? Conversely, if we can't find this does that tell us that by the time period the collective Imperial sense was found lacking, even amongst the men most intimately involved in connecting the Empire?
I may very well be on a wild goose chase here, but I'm rather keen, after reading endless histories that never seem to escape government records and reports, to attempt to add a human factor to my research. We shall see what turns up!
I agree that passenger lists and the relationship between passenger and cargo payload is interesting. Indeed, the fact that IA was mainly used by government officials to travel between the dominions, and not run as a commercially viable passenger service, tells us something of its perceived importance to the 1930s Empire and its Government.
On post, its significance is undeniable - one only has to look at the BA fleet today and still see the RM crest flying! The Empire Air Mail Scheme has featured rather heavily in my work thus far.
Many thanks to all the kind people with suggestions and comments, you are a testament to your community!
WHBM and JENKINS - Thanks for some really interesting thoughts. In principle I support what you're pointing out in that a pilot's memoir won't have much to do with the social and cultural aspects of the Empire. What I'm more interested in is whether from analysis of the writing we can conclude anything on how the pilots themselves considered their position - can we identity any subtextual references to some sense of Imperial duty? Can we deride what their attitudes towards the people and places they were flying to were, and if so what does that tell us about the men of the operation? Conversely, if we can't find this does that tell us that by the time period the collective Imperial sense was found lacking, even amongst the men most intimately involved in connecting the Empire?
I may very well be on a wild goose chase here, but I'm rather keen, after reading endless histories that never seem to escape government records and reports, to attempt to add a human factor to my research. We shall see what turns up!
I agree that passenger lists and the relationship between passenger and cargo payload is interesting. Indeed, the fact that IA was mainly used by government officials to travel between the dominions, and not run as a commercially viable passenger service, tells us something of its perceived importance to the 1930s Empire and its Government.
On post, its significance is undeniable - one only has to look at the BA fleet today and still see the RM crest flying! The Empire Air Mail Scheme has featured rather heavily in my work thus far.
Many thanks to all the kind people with suggestions and comments, you are a testament to your community!
Indeed, the fact that IA was mainly used by government officials to travel between the dominions, and not run as a commercially viable passenger service, tells us something of its perceived importance to the 1930s Empire and its Government.
It was true that in former times, with air services and even developments of aircraft types heavily supported by government, they tended to think they were the only people who justified travel by air. Some of the immediate post-WW2 British designs for long-haul aircraft had surprisingly low passenger capacity, down to a dozen or so, and reading the reports of the time it seems that only government officials were thought worthy of travelling on such services.
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: UK
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
On the political and cultural significance of Imperial Airways to the British perception of the late - Empire, you might like to rummage through Gordon Pirie's 2009 book Air Empire, and especially his 2012 book Cultures & Caricatures of British Imperial Aviation.
Another book you may try is "The Story of Trans Atlantic Flight" by David Beaty. Not an academic treatise by any stretch of the imagination, but gives an overview of the issues, finance, politics, technical etc. As a WWII pilot David joined BOAC at wars end and flew the UK - Dorval route in the airlines converted Liberator bombers, the same type he flew in Coastal Command.
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Dublin
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Joe:
FYI - have a huge amount of Imperial Airways source material relating to Capt Jack Sydney SHEPPARD (1900 - 1982) who was my father in law, and was one of the Senior Captains on the Cairo to Cape Route during the 1930's and early 40's, initially based in Cairo.
Jack is also a remarkable example of "SELF HELP" in the Edwardian era, who leaving school at 12 became a motor mechanic, WW1 fighter pilot, 'RAF Flying Officer', founder of QANTAS, and - of especial interest to you Joe an Imperial Airways Senior Captain flying Empire Flying Boats.
The basic details for Jack are in Graces Aviation Guide. Aftet a career in the RAF and as a founding pilot of QANTAS, he joined Imperial Airways in 1930. He flew H series e.g. 'Hanno', Hercules and from 1937 C series Empire Flying Boats. There were 42 of the latter in service and Jack flew at least 8.
I have photos and amateur film footage (including early colour).
Another member of the family had all his logbook. I have most of his final 'gear" (uniform / pilots flying kit / manuals).
Jack retired in the mid 1940's and became a horse trainer and farmer in Kildare in Ireland. He remained friendly with many Imperial Airways Pilots (such as Kingsford-Smith), continued to fly small aircraft in Ireland. He finally retired to South Africa in 1970, living for another 12 years.
IF THIS OF INTEREST call me or text me on 00 353 87 24 24 570
Best regards,
GARRETT JOHN HICKEY
(Son in law of Capt Jack Sydney SHEPPARD)
FYI - have a huge amount of Imperial Airways source material relating to Capt Jack Sydney SHEPPARD (1900 - 1982) who was my father in law, and was one of the Senior Captains on the Cairo to Cape Route during the 1930's and early 40's, initially based in Cairo.
Jack is also a remarkable example of "SELF HELP" in the Edwardian era, who leaving school at 12 became a motor mechanic, WW1 fighter pilot, 'RAF Flying Officer', founder of QANTAS, and - of especial interest to you Joe an Imperial Airways Senior Captain flying Empire Flying Boats.
The basic details for Jack are in Graces Aviation Guide. Aftet a career in the RAF and as a founding pilot of QANTAS, he joined Imperial Airways in 1930. He flew H series e.g. 'Hanno', Hercules and from 1937 C series Empire Flying Boats. There were 42 of the latter in service and Jack flew at least 8.
I have photos and amateur film footage (including early colour).
Another member of the family had all his logbook. I have most of his final 'gear" (uniform / pilots flying kit / manuals).
Jack retired in the mid 1940's and became a horse trainer and farmer in Kildare in Ireland. He remained friendly with many Imperial Airways Pilots (such as Kingsford-Smith), continued to fly small aircraft in Ireland. He finally retired to South Africa in 1970, living for another 12 years.
IF THIS OF INTEREST call me or text me on 00 353 87 24 24 570
Best regards,
GARRETT JOHN HICKEY
(Son in law of Capt Jack Sydney SHEPPARD)
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: The Deep South (Sussex)
Posts: 783
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I heard that the local pub, The Goddards Arms in Clyffe Pypard near Lyneham, had closed and become some sort of Museum to Imperial Airways.
Might be worth checking.
Might be worth checking.
