Walter G. R. Hinchcliffe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter George Raymond Hinchcliffe
Born 10 June 1894
Liverpool, England, or Germany (?)
Died 13 March 1928

Captain Walter George Raymond Hinchcliffe DFC, aka Hinch, (10 June 1894 - 13 March 1928) was a distinguished Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force flying ace in World War I who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.[1] [2][3] A pioneering military and civilian flying career was cut short when he attempted a treacherous flight across the Atlantic Ocean with Elsie Mackay[4] in a single engined Stinson Detroiter.[5][6]

Contents

[edit] Private Life

Hinchcliffe was born in Liverpool (or possibly Germany) in 1894 to Richard George Hinchliffe (1868 - circa 1942) and Florence Williams. His younger sister Gladys was born in 1897 in Germany.[7] He was educated at Liverpool College, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps,[8] then attended medical school, training as a Dentist. He spoke four languages, was an avid reader, a skilled artist, an accomplished sportsman and was a skilled mechanic. He met his Dutch wife Emilie Gallizien[9] when he was Chief Pilot of the Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) and she was assistant to the company's General Manager.[2]

[edit] Military Career

Hinchcliffe was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the North Lancashire Brigade Company, West Lancashire Divisional Transport and Supply Column (Territorial Army) of the British Army Service Corps on 20 March 1912,[8] and promoted Lieutenant on 17 September 1914. He is then believed to have served in the Royal Artillery from 1914-1916 before joining the Royal Naval Air Service where he underwent training at Redcar[10], Cranwell and Frieston.[2][3][11]

Gaining his Royal Aero Club Certificate in September 1916 as Flight Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Air Service. He served as an Instructor at the Cranwell before joining 10 Squadron RNAS in January 1918 to commence active service. During February and March his successful sorties in a Sopwith Camel named Allo Lil Bird included bombing raids and downing 2 enemy aircraft in dogfights at Rumbeke and Roulers.[2][3][11]

When the Royal Air Force was formed on April 1, 1918, he was appointed Lieutenant (Honorary Captain) RAF in the (renamed) No. 210 Squadron RAF.[3] Within three months he had downed a further 5 enemy planes at Roulers, Bailleul, Neuve-Église, Armentieres and Hazebrouck. During the Hazebrouk night encounter he was shot through the forehead and crashed at Nieppe Forest (Dickebusch Lake). He suffered severe facial injuries and lost the sight in his left eye for which he wore a patch for the rest of his life. For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.[11][12] He was transferred to the RAF unemployed list on 21 August 1919.[13]

[edit] Post War

After the War he became a widely experienced pilot, pioneering, opening and flying many civilian routes for both KLM and Imperial Airways. In 1920 he made the first airmail flight from Holland to England[14]. In 1921 he made the first civilian passenger night-flights from Lympne to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Berlin. His new routes included Amsterdam-Gelsenkirchen-Dortmund-London-Amsterdam in 11 hours flying time and Berlin-Amsterdam-London-Lowestoft-Lympne in just over 12 hours flying time. During 1922-1923 he was Chief Pilot of KLM. [2][3] [15]

In 1923 he joined Instone Air Line covering Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, London and Paris, and after the merger into Imperial Airways he flew a De Havilland Hercules to Cairo and opened up the Imperial Airways Eastern route.[2]

His flying experience included over 40 types of aircraft including; Avro, British Aerial Transport, Bleriot, Bristol F2b, Caudron, Curtis, De Havilland, Fokker, Grahame-White Boxkite, Handley-Page, Nieuport, Pemberton-Billing Scout, Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Dolphin, Sopwith 1½ Strutter, Sopwith Pup, Vickers Vimy and Vickers Vulcan.[2]

[edit] Transatlantic Flight

Hinchcliffe's peerless reputation made him the natural choice for pilot when Elsie Mackay attempted to achieve her ambition to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The daughter of P & O chairman James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape had bought a Stinson Detroiter, and had it shipped from the USA to England and delivered to the Brooklands motor racing track, which at the time was also used as an airfield. Named Endeavour,[16] it was a monoplane with gold tipped wings and a black fuselage, powered by a 9 cylinder, 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind J-6-9 (R-975) engine, with a cruising speed of 84 mph.[2]

In early March 1928 the Daily Express discovered that Captain Hinchcliffe and Elsie were preparing for a transatlantic attempt by carrying out test flights at RAF Cranwell and were staying at The George Hotel in Leadenham.[17] near Grantham. The story was silenced by Elsie's threatened legal action as she intended to depart in secret while her father was in Egypt, having promised her family she would not make the attempt.[5]

At 08:35am on March 13th 1928 Endeavour took off from Cranwell Airdrome, Lincolnshire[2], with minimal fuss as Walter had told only two friends and Elsie had registered under the pseudonym of 'Gordon Sinclair'.[18] Approximately 5 hours later, at 13.30pm the Chief Lighthouse keeper at Mizen Head on the south west coast of Cork Ireland saw the monoplane over the village of Crookhaven[2], on the great circle course for Newfoundland. A French steamer later reported seeing them still on course,[18] but nothing else is known. A crowd of 5,000 is reputed to have waited at Mitchell Field, Long Island.[19] In December 1928, 8 months later, a single piece of identifiable undercarriage washed ashore in North West Ireland.[5]

[edit] Notes

  • Sopwith Camel Aces of World War I, Denes Bernad, Norman Franks
  • The Airmen Who Would Not Die, John G. Fuller
  • Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom year book 1918, chapter on Aviators Certificates dated 30 September 1918

[edit] References

  1. ^ World War 1 Air Aces Homepage
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j World War I Modeling Page -Hinchcliffe forum
  3. ^ a b c d e Sopwith Camel Aces of World War 1 by By Denes Bernad, Norman Franks
  4. ^ Time.com
  5. ^ a b c BBC Radio 4 Making History - Elsie Mackay - article and downloadable broadcast
  6. ^ Aviation Enthusiast Corner
  7. ^ Rootsweb
  8. ^ a b London Gazette: no. 28602, page 2991, 26 April 1912. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  9. ^ Rootsweb - GENBRIT-L Archives
  10. ^ Redcar RNAS
  11. ^ a b c Royal Aero Club year book 1918, chapter on Aviators Certificates dated 30 September 1918
  12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31098, page 96, 31 December 1918. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  13. ^ London Gazette: no. 31751, page 984, 23 January 1920. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  14. ^ European Airlines
  15. ^ Dutch Aviation
  16. ^ Aviation Enthusiast Corner
  17. ^ History of the The George Hotel at Leadenham
  18. ^ a b Old News of Newfoundland
  19. ^ Time.com

[edit] External Links