Archibald Stuart Charles Stuart-MacLaren was an early British aviator who led the British attempt to win the race between nations to make the

first aerial circumnavigation The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 175-day journey covered over . The team general ...

of the globe in 1924. Stuart-MacLaren received his Aviator’s Certificate (No. 1310) from The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom on 4 June 1915. He received training in a Caudron biplane at the British Flying School, Le Crotoy, France. From December 1918 to January 1919, then Major Stuart-MacLaren was 2nd air mechanic on a flight from Suffolk, England, to Karachi, India, in a

Handley Page V/1500 The Handley Page V/1500 was a British night-flying heavy bomber built by Handley Page towards the end of the First World War. It was a large four-engined biplane, which resembled a larger version of Handley Page's earlier O/100 and O/400 bombers ...

heavy bomber, registration J1936, HMA ''Old Carthusian'', the aircraft later used to bomb the royal palace of Amanullah Khan in Kabul, a mission thought to have precipitated the end of the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

First aerial circumnavigation attempt of 1924

On 24 March 1924, then Squadron Leader Stuart-MacLaren began the first of six attempts that year by teams vying to achieve the first aerial circumnavigation. From April to July of that year, teams from the US, Portugal, France, Italy and Argentina, in that order, set off in concurrent attempts to secure the honour but only the Americans were to succeed in completing the journey. Together with Stuart-MacLaren on board their

Vickers Vulture The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture and Vickers Vanellus. Design and development Researc ...

II Mark VI amphibious biplane G-EBHO were flying officer William Noble Plenderleith and flight engineer Sergeant W H Andrews. After a mishap-fraught journey in which their engine was twice replaced, the airframe was destroyed on take-off at Akyab Island, Burma. The American competing flight, then in Tokyo progressing well in its attempt to be first to circumnavigate, learned of the disaster on 25 May, receiving a telegram stating "MacLaren crashed at Akyab. Plane completely wrecked. Continuance of flight doubtful." They responded by arranging delivery of a spare plane from Tokyo to Akyab on the ''USS John Paul Jones'', transshipped in Hong Kong onto the ''USS William B Preston''. MacLaren received the plane (registered G-EBGO) at Akyab on 11 June and they were able to resume, thanks entirely to the Americans, on 24 June. At 1712 on 30 June, they reached Hong Kong. The attempt came to an end on 4 August 1924, at the

Commander Islands The Commander Islands, Komandorski Islands, or Komandorskie Islands (russian: Командо́рские острова́, ''Komandorskiye ostrova'') are a series of treeless, sparsely populated Russian islands in the Bering Sea located about ea ...

in the Bering Sea, when heavy fog forced pilot Plenderleith to make a forced sea landing in which the aircraft was badly damaged. They managed to beach at Nikolskoye on

Bering Island Bering Island (russian: о́стров Бе́ринга, ''ostrov Beringa'') is located off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Bering Sea. Description At long by wide, it is the largest and westernmost of the Commander Islands, with an area of . ...

where they were rescued by HMCS ''Thiepval''. Stuart-MacLaren was married and had two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart-MacLaren, Archibald British aviators 20th-century British people Year of birth missing Year of death missing British Army officers Aviation pioneers Royal Air Force squadron leaders Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Officers of the Order of the British Empire