Over Empires and Oceans by Robert Bluffield

Author:Robert Bluffield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9780957689268
Publisher: Tattered Flag
Published: 2014-11-19T05:00:00+00:00

An Imperial Airways leaflet from around 1930 to promote flights between London and Switzerland.

An Imperial Airways London to Paris ticket from 1927.

While the Empire surveys were under way, IAL’s European services were hampered by bad weather and mechanical problems. ‘Incidents’ began occurring with astonishing regularity and the vulnerability of the aircraft was demonstrated when a Vickers Vimy Commercial carrying gold from Basle to London was forced down by snow-related engine failure. After gliding from 500 feet (152 m), Gordon Olley hit a tree stump while landing which required the aircraft to be dismantled and transported to a nearby town for repairs. Capt. Rogers was thrown from his seat in turbulence in another incident but managed to maintain control of the aircraft. Seat belts were introduced in 1928, but only mandatorily fitted to seats in open cockpits. Had they been installed in 1923 it was believed that the six occupants who died when a Daimler Hire DH34 crashed at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire might have been saved.

Cobham’s next survey was to Australia. He left on 30 June 1926 flying a DH50J seaplane from the River Medway at Rochester. At Darwin a wheeled undercarriage was fitted for the final leg across Australia to Melbourne’s Mascot Aerodrome. Cobham was unwell, not helped by sandstorms and monsoons that battered the aircraft in the Middle East, forcing him to fly dangerously low for extended periods and further draining his energy. For most of the way he had suffered from exhaustion, but this was a minor inconvenience considering what happened next. While cruising low near Basra his engineer, Arthur B. Elliott, was shot. Cobham heard what he thought was an explosion in the cabin. Turning to Elliott he realised his colleague was badly injured. Elliott thought a fuel line had ruptured but after landing and being transferred to Basra hospital an examination revealed a gaping hole in Elliott’s side that was causing air to escape from his lungs. His condition was critical and it took time to discover that a bullet was lodged in his body. An inspection of the plane revealed a hole through both the cabin floor and a fuel line caused by a bullet. After retracing his route, Cobham located where the incident had occurred. Police interviewed local tribesmen and a wandering nomad admitted firing at the aeroplane and was charged. Elliott’s condition meanwhile weakened and during the night he died. Cobham, totally distraught, needed to muster extraordinary willpower to regain the strength to continue and eventually reached Melbourne on 15 August. He returned to England and landed on the River Thames alongside the Houses of Parliament on 1 October after 78 days, having travelled 28,000 miles (45062 km) and spending 320 hours in the air. Shortly after, Cobham was knighted by King George V.

Carrying mail between Cairo and Basra had been the responsibility of the RAF’s No 6 Squadron which navigated across the desert by following a furrow ploughed into the sand using tractors. On 7 January 1927 the first sector of the

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