Roy Brooks - The Dawn of Aviation: The Pivotal Role of Sussex People and Places in the Development of Flight

THE

OF

Cover image: Pilots Travers and Noel with their Farman at Eastbourne in 1912.

THE

OF

THE PIVOTAL ROLE OF SUSSEX, PEOPLE AND PLACES

IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLIGHT

JOSH SPOOR

With compliments to Roy Brooks

THE DAWN OF AVIATION

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by

Air World

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Josh Spoor, 2021

ISBN 978 1 52678 634 0

eISBN 978 1 52678 635 7

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52678 636 4

The right of Josh Spoor to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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I had the privilege over twenty-five years ago of meeting, and becoming friends with, one of this countrys unknown aviation authors.

Roy Brooks would always have time (and patience) with me in my endeavours to learn about the history of aviation in Sussex.

The first part of this story of Sussex aviation was researched and written by Roy at a time when the internet had not been born. Thus, this story was conceived and executed by hand. His tenacity and determination with local libraries and historical sources was a remarkable and unmatched feat, to his external credit.

Why it was never published in anything other than microfiche form Im not sure, but it is possible that Roy did not have access to supporting material such as postcards and pictures etc. This story has now been enhanced to show the history of aviation in Sussex.

My wish that this book will stand as a tribute to Roy and all his hard work.

I wish to thank Roys widow Betty and her family for allowing me to have this published and never losing faith.

Josh Spoor,

Southwick, 2020

Here is a story to be read, enjoyed and cherished. It recounts, in vivid style, the way in which successive generations of Sussex men and women carved out, within this ancient and delightful county, a memorable place in the history of British aviation.

Through long, patient and perceptive research, Roy Brooks has vividly brought to life much of the remarkable, but largely forgotten, story of Sussex flights and flyers. From Roman times onwards, Sussex has been immersed in British history. But what has not been properly understood nor previously recorded in any depth has been the way in which Sussex responded to mankinds restless quest to fly.

The story goes back to 1785 when one of the first cross-country flights in Britain alighted at Horsham by balloon.

There followed a steady stream of Sussex adventures into aeronautics from cross-Channel balloon flights to early aircraft manufacture at Shoreham, through flying instruction there, and the operation of coastal patrol airships from Polegate, to the founding of two of the most historic and one of them now, the busiest airports in Britain: Shoreham and Gatwick.

Shoreham Airport indeed with Brooklands and Farnborough ranks among the earliest of airfields in the United Kingdom. All three have been continuously in use for more than eighty years, in peace and throughout the two world wars.

Alongside came the busy Sussex airship station at Polegate, the aerodromes at Eastbourne and at Ladies Mile, Brighton, the seaplane station at Newhaven and from the 1920s onwards, Tangmere, near Chichester, which became one of the front-line fighter stations during the Battle of Britain.

The pleasant Sussex countryside, especially along the Channel coast, is full of the sometimes brief, but always gallant, history of Royal Air Force fighter stations. Some of them were set up during the 1920s but all have historic links with the Second World War. A few of them such as Bognor and Goodwood usefully remain for civil use today.

Those wartime airfields have names that are redolent of Sussex lore many of them close around Chichester. Lest they should be forgotten, let us place on record Apuldram, Chailey, Coolham, Deanland, Funtingdon, Merston, Selsey, Westhampnett and Wilmington.

And then there are also those dedicated men and women whose names will be remembered with pride and affection wherever flying is enjoyed.

Roy Brooks has assembled, with skill, devotion and understanding, the story of Sussex Flights and Flyers, and, with it, he recalls those Sussex places where doughty aeronautical deeds were done. Now thanks to his industrious efforts, they will not be forgotten.

At about 5pm on Wednesday, 23 March 1785 the first aerial passengers descended by balloon in Sussex at Kingsfold near Horsham, having left London one hour earlier. Two hundred years later on a Saturday, some 8 miles away, 48,000 passengers passed through Gatwick Airport (transferred from Surrey to West Sussex under the 1974 County Boundary changes), and 434 aircraft took off or landed on its runway that day. The first successful hot air balloon flights had taken place in France some three years earlier than the one that ended in Sussex as a result of experiments by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne. As an aviation historian put it, the balloon was born and most unexpectedly born, so to say out of a clear blue sky; and born without any prophecy or preamble.

The news of the first manned flight by balloon appeared in the Sussex Weekly Advertiser for Wednesday, 15 December 1783 and gave the following details of this momentous occasion:

The following account of the late remarkable experiment made by Monsieur Montgolfier, is taken from a Verbal Process, that is, an Affidavit of several persons of distinction November 21 1783.