''For the businessman, see Alec Ogilvie (businessman).''

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Alexander "Alec" Ogilvie

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(8 June 1882 – 18 June 1962) was an early British aviation pioneer, a friend of the Wright Brothers and only the seventh British person to qualify as a pilot. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Ogilvie served with the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

before transferring to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

on its creation in 1918. During the War he was chiefly employed in technical posts and after the War he worked as a consulting aeronautical engineer.

Early life

Alexander Ogilivie was born in 1882 in the

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

district of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Early aviator

In 1908 Ogilvie watched Wilbur Wright carry out a demonstration flight in France and within two months he had ordered a Wright Biplane for himself. Before the biplane was delivered in 1909 he practised flying at Friston, Sussex using a glider. Ogilvie established a flying base on Camber Sands near Rye, Sussex and took part in a number of aviation meetings around the country. He joined the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

on 11 May 1909 and gained only the seventh Royal Aero Club aviator's certificate on 24 May 1910.''Flight'' 28 May 1910
/ref> In 1910 using a Wright racing biplane he entered the Gordon Bennett competition at Belmont Park in New York, he was placed third in the competition (for which he was awarded the Silver medal of the Royal Aero Club) and brought the aircraft back to England. The following year he had more success in that race, coming in fourth in his Wright at an average 55 mph. In 1912, Ogilvie invented an

airspeed indicator The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km/h, ...

which was later adopted by the

(RNAS). In 1911 he joined Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, United States during Wright's experiments with soaring making several flights. He continued to use a Wright aircraft up to 1914 including in 1913 flying H.G. Wells as a passenger.

First World War

On 19 February 1915 Ogilvie was commissioned as an RNAS officer in the rank of

squadron commander Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

. Ogilvie initially was given responsibility for overseeing flying training at the Naval Flying School, Eastchurch. On 5 April 1916 he took command of the aircraft repair depot at Dunkirk, and was promoted acting

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

on 31 December 1916. On 5 March 1917 he became a member of the Air Board, eventually serving as controller of the technical department. The rank of wing commander was confirmed on 30 June 1917. In early 1918, Ogilvie reported on flight tests of the

Sopwith Snipe The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of th ...

, stating that "its flying qualities are bad"; however, he was overruled by Trenchard and Brooke-Popham and orders were placed. On 1 April 1918, along with all other RNAS personnel, Ogilvie transferred to the newly established

in the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(temporary

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

). A note in his new RAF service record states, "

e has E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

flown most types of aircraft except single seaters." He was injured in a flying accident on 8 June 1918.

Post-war

Ogilvie resigned from the Air Board in 1919, being placed on the RAF unemployed list on 10 March. He then worked as a consulting aeronautical engineer under the name "Ogilvie and Partners", which in 1919 became the

Limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

"Ogilvie and Partners Ltd.", of which he was "Permanent governing director and chairman". He subsequently moved to Australia for some years.

Personal life

In September 1934 he married Angela Le Cren, née Newbold (1886–1958) in

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. Her sister was the statistician and epidemiologist

Ethel Newbold Ethel May Newbold (28 August 1882 – 25 March 1933) was an English epidemiologist and statistician. She was the first woman awarded the Guy Medal in Silver in 1928. Early life Ethel May Newbold was born in Tunbridge Wells. One of eleven chil ...

and her brother was rugby player and chemist

Charles Joseph Newbold Lt. Colonel Charles Joseph Newbold DSO (12 January 1881 – 26 October 1946) was an English rugby union international who played club rugby for Cambridge University and Blackheath. He played six international games for England between 1904 and ...

. Ogilvie died, aged 80, on 18 June 1962 at his home in

Ringwood, Hampshire Ringwood is a market town in south-west Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest, northeast of Bournemouth and southwest of Southampton. It was founded by the Anglo-Saxons, and has held a weekly market since ...

Honours and awards

*12 May 1917 - Acting Wing-Commander Alec Ogilvie RNAS was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. *1 January 1918 - Wing-Commander Alec Ogilvie, RNAS, head of aeroplane design section, Air Board technical section, is appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. *1 January 1919 - Lieut-Col Alec Ogilvie, OBE is appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in recognition for valuable service rendered in connection with the war.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogilvie, Alec People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English aviators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British World War I pilots Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Navy officers Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I 1882 births 1962 deaths People from Marylebone