Edward Cyril Powles (1921–2008) was an English

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 ...

pilot who set two notable records while flying

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

photo-reconnaissance (PR) aeroplanes over the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Early life

Edward ''Ted'' C. Powles was born in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 19 April 1921, to George and Louise Tillam Powles. Despite his height of 6 feet, 4 inches (1.93 m), Powles joined the Royal Air Force as an apprentice during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and trained as a photo-reconnaissance pilot, remaining in service after the cessation of hostilities. On 21 October 1945, he was confirmed in his appointments and promoted from the rank of

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

(probationary) to flying officer (war substantive rank), which was gazetted on 7 December. He was gazetted on 11 February 1949, as a flight lieutenant, short service (A.M.O. A899/47) with effect from the 13th October 1948 (and with seniority from the 21st October 1948). Having previously flown twin-engined aircraft, Flight Lieutenant Powles was ordered to

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...

in January 1950, to complete a refresher course on the Supermarine Spitfire PR14, then to

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspac ...

for familiarisation training on the Spitfire PR19. Following this, he was posted in August to

RAF Tengah ''Tengah'' is an Indonesian and Malay word meaning "Central". It can be found in topography, e.g. *Kalimantan Tengah *Tengah Islands or Central Archipelago. *Tengah, Singapore *Tengah Air Base The Tengah Air Base is a military airbase of th ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

during the

Malayan emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

, carrying out photo-reconnaissance and ground attack missions in the Spitfire FR18 in

Operation Firedog The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces ...

. He transferred to 81 (PR) Squadron at

RAF Seletar Seletar Airport is a civilian international airport serving the north-east region of Singapore. It is located approximately northwest from Changi Airport, the country's main airport, and about north from the main commercial city-centre. ...

in 1950, and continued to fly operationally over Malaya until he was detached as part of a two Spitfire PR.XIX flight (Spitfires PS852 and PS854) deployed to

RAF Kai Tak RAF Kai Tak was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Hong Kong, based at Kai Tak Airport. It was opened in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units. History ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on 1 January 1951. The other pilot was Flight Sergeant Padden. The two flew photo-reconnaissance flights over Communist China beginning on 16 January, when Powles overflew nearby islands in PS852. Powles flew 63 sorties over China in 1951. Padden was replaced in turn by Flight Sergeants Mutch, Hood, and Walker. By September 1952, the flight had photographed sites along the Chinese coastline up to 400 nautical miles (740 km) to the south-west of Hong Kong, and up to 160 nautical miles (296 km) to the north-east, as well as sites up to 100 nautical miles (185 km) from the coast. During these flights, Powles set two notable records. During a meteorological test flight on 5 February 1952, Powles reached 51,550 feet (15,697m) in PS852, the highest altitude ever recorded for a non-purpose built piston-engined aircraft. During the descent, the aircraft dived uncontrollably and reached a speed of 690 mph (1110 km/h, Mach 0.96) before he regained control, the highest speed ever recorded for a piston-engined aircraft. Edward Powles was awarded the Air Force Cross in June 1952. Part of his citation read: ''This officer, even when flying at altitude, often over the sea, alone in a single-seater aircraft, has always shown the greatest determination to complete his mission although this entailed returning to base with his fuel almost exhausted; he has repeatedly earned high praise for his skill, courage and high standard of airmanship.''

Family

Powles married in 1947 to Dr. Marie Antoinette Powles, and the couple lived in

Arden Arden may refer to: Places ;Australia *Arden, an area in North Melbourne, Victoria near the Arden Street Oval ;Canada * Arden, Ontario ;Denmark * Arden, Denmark, a town **Arden Municipality, a former municipality, including the town of Arden ; ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Their son, David E. Powles, is also a doctor.

Death

Powles died in Arden on 23 February 2008.''Obituary of Edward Cyril Powles''. Groce Funeral Home
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powles, Edward Royal Air Force officers Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Malayan Emergency Royal Air Force personnel of the Malayan Emergency 1921 births 2008 deaths People from Hereford People from Arden, North Carolina British expatriates in the United States Military personnel from Herefordshire Royal Air Force personnel of World War II