Leslie Robert Colquhoun, (15 March 1921 – 2001) was a

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 ...

photographic reconnaissance pilot 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 ...

, test pilot and

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

pioneer.

Early life

Colquhoun was born on 15 March 1921 at

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and was educated at

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

Royal Air Force

He joined the Royal Air Force in August 1940 and trained as a pilot. His first posting was to 603 Squadron where he flew the

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 ...

on operations over France and convoy protection patrols. Later in 1941 Colquhoun was delivering a photographic reconnaissance Spitfire to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

but during a stop at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

he was ordered to join 69 Squadron when it was decided that their need for a PR Spitfire was more important. For nine months in 1941 and 1942, Colquhoun flew operational sorties in his unarmed and pale blue painted Spitfire over Italy. By the time more aircraft arrived in May 1942 aboard HMS ''Eagle'' Colquhoun had carried out 154 operational

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...

s. For his work with 69 Squadron Sergeant Colquhoun was awarded the

Distinguished Flying Medal The Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and other British Armed Forces, and formerly to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "exceptional va ...

and commissioned as a Pilot Officer. Colquhoun returned to the United Kingdom where he trained to fly the photographic reconnaissance variant of

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

at 2 OTU in Scotland. In 1943 he joined 682 Squadron based in Algeria and later moved to Italy. He stayed with the squadron until October 1944 and carried out 262 operational sorties. For his work with 682 Squadron he was awarded the DFC. After a short period as an instructor at 2 OTU he was posted to Vickers Supermarine as a production test pilot. He was part of a team that test flew Spitfires as they left the production lines.

Test pilot

In 1946 when he left the RAF he was invited to remain at Vickers as part of the test flying team. He soon showed an aptitude for testing new types and was soon involved in the testing of new naval fighters the jet-powered

Attacker In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attackers are, usually, placed up front: their goal is to score the most possible points for the team. In association football, attackers a ...

and

Scimitar A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

. In May 1950 Colquhoun was flying an Attacker to test the effectiveness of the air brakes. On the third of two dives the outer portion of the starboard wing folded up and the ailerons became locked. Colquhoun decided not to eject and managed to do a high-speed landing at Chilbolton, he used all but the last 100 yards (90m) of the runway and burst a tyre. He had saved the aircraft so the cause could be discovered and was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

for his efforts.

Hovercraft

Colquhoun was soon testing the new hovercraft being produced by Vickers and went on to become operations manager of Vickers' Hovercraft division. In 1962 Colquhoun piloted a Vickers VA-3 on the first public hovercraft service which was between Wallasey and Rhyl. In 1966 he joined

Hoverlloyd Hoverlloyd operated a cross-Channel hovercraft service between Ramsgate, England and Calais, France. Originally registered as ''Cross-Channel Hover Services Ltd'' in 1965, the company was renamed Hoverlloyd the following year. It was initially ...

as operational manager for the cross channel hovercraft service, he later becoming managing director. When Hoverlloyd was taken over by

Seaspeed Seaspeed was a British hovercraft operator which ran services in the Solent and English Channel between 1965 and 1981, when it merged with a rival to form Hoverspeed. Seaspeed was a jointly owned subsidiary of railway companies British Rail ( ...

he then ran their jetfoil service to Dieppe.

Later life

Colquhoun became custodian of

Chiddingstone Castle Chiddingstone Castle is situated in the village of Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge, Kent, England, south-southeast of London and in the upper valley of the River Medway. The castle was built by the Streatfeild family and served as their seat fro ...

before he retired to live at Broadstairs in Kent. He died in 2001 leaving a wife and four daughters.

Honours and awards

* 1 August 1950 – Leslie Robert Colquhoun, DFC, DFM, Civil Test Pilot, Vickers Armstrongs Ltd., Supermarine Works. (Chilbolton, Hampshire) is awarded the

References

Bibliography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquhoun, Les 1921 births 2001 deaths Recipients of the George Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) English test pilots English aviators Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force airmen Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British World War II pilots