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 ...

Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

and on

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son,

Donald Campbell Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.

Early life and family

Campbell was born on 11 March 1885 in

Chislehurst Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...

, Kent, the only son of William Campbell, a

Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden, abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts the City of London. It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, a favourit ...

diamond seller. He attended the independent

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...

. In Germany, learning the diamond trade, he gained an interest in motorbikes and races. Returning to Britain, he worked for two years at

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...

for no pay, then for another year at £1 a week. Between 1906 and 1908, he won all three

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 ...

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

Trials motorcycle races. In 1910, he began racing cars at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

. He christened his car ''Blue Bird'', painting it blue, after seeing the play '' The Blue Bird'' by

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

. Campbell married Marjorie Dagmar Knott in 1913, but they divorced two years later. Campbell then married Dorothy Evelyn Whittall in 1920; their son

Donald Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

was born in 1921, and their daughter, Jean, in 1923. Dorothy was known as Lady Campbell and later described him as "quite unfitted for the role of husband and family man". They divorced in 1940. Campbell married Betty Nicory in 1945 in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Campbell wrote a number of "motoring mystery"

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

including ''Salute to the Gods'' which was the source material for the 1939

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Burn 'Em Up O'Connor ''Burn 'Em Up O'Connor'' is a 1939 race car film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Dennis O'Keefe, Cecilia Parker, Nat Pendleton and Harry Carey. The screenplay was written by Milton Merlin and Byron Morgan from the novel ''Salute to the ...

''.

Military service

At the outbreak of the

First World War 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 ...

, Campbell initially enlisted as a motorcycle dispatch rider and fought at the

Battle of Mons A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in August 1914. Shortly afterwards he was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the 5th Battalion,

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

, a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

unit, on 2 September 1914. He was soon drafted into the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, where he served as a ferry pilot, for his instructors believed he was too clumsy to make the grade as a fighter pilot. During the late 1930s he commanded the provost company of the

56th (London) Division The 56th (London) Infantry Division was a Territorial Army infantry division of the British Army, which served under several different titles and designations. The division served in the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War. ...

of the Territorial Army. From 1940 to 1942 he commanded the military police contingent of the

Coats Mission The Coats Mission was a special British army unit established in England in 1940 for the purpose of evacuating King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and their immediate family in the event of a German invasion of Britain during the Second World War. I ...

tasked with evacuating King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

, Queen Elizabeth and their immediate family from London in the event of German invasion. On 23 January 1943 he was transferred from the Corps of Military Police to the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

. On 16 December 1945, having attained the age limit of 60, Campbell relinquished his commission and was granted the honorary 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 ...

Grand Prix career

Campbell competed in

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...

, winning the 1927 and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

Grand Prix de Boulogne in France driving a Bugatti T37A.

Land speed record

Campbell broke the land speed record for the first time in 1924 at at

Pendine Sands Pendine Sands ( cy, Traeth Pentywyn) is a beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches west to east from Gilman Point to Laugharne Sands. The village of Pendine ( cy, Pentywyn, link=no) is close to the wester ...

near

Carmarthen Bay Carmarthen Bay ( cy, Bae Caerfyrddin) is an inlet of the South Wales coast, including notable beaches such as Pendine Sands and Cefn Sidan sands. Carmarthen Bay is partially within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Joint Nature Conserva ...

in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam, now on display at the

National Motor Museum, Beaulieu The National Motor Museum (originally the Montagu Motor Museum) is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire. History The museum was founded in 1952 by Edward Douglas-Scott- ...

. He broke nine

land speed record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

s between 1924 and 1935, with three at

and five at

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

. His first two records were accomplished whilst driving a racing car built by Sunbeam. In 1925 Campbell set a new lap record of at

in a streamlined

Chrysler Six The Chrysler Six was a series of cars that were all installed with the Chrysler Straight Six when the company assumed operations of the Maxwell Automobile Company in 1924, and Chalmers Automobile Company in 1926. The Chrysler Six initially cons ...

. On 4 February 1927, Campbell set the land speed record at

, covering the Flying Kilometre (in an average of two runs) at and the Flying Mile in , in the Napier-Campbell ''Blue Bird''. He set his final land speed record at the

Bonneville Salt Flats The Bonneville Salt Flats are a densely packed salt pan in Tooele County in northwestern Utah. A remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, it is the largest of many salt flats west of the Great Salt Lake. It is public land managed by the Bur ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

on 3 September 1935, and was the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph, averaging in two passes.

Water speed records

Campbell developed and flotation-tested ''Blue Bird'' on Tilgate Lake, in

Tilgate Park Tilgate Park is a large recreational park situated south of Tilgate, South-East Crawley. It is the largest and most popular park in the area. Originally a part of the ancient Worth Forest, the park and adjacent areas (including the modern-day ...

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

. He set the water speed record four times, his highest speed being in the ''

Blue Bird K4 ''Blue Bird K4'' was a powerboat commissioned in 1939 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, to rival the Americans' efforts in the fight for the world water speed record. The name "K4" was derived from its Lloyd's unlimited rating#K4, Lloyd's unlimited rating ...

''. He set the record on 19 August 1939 on

Coniston Water Coniston Water in the English county of Cumbria is the third-largest lake in the Lake District by volume (after Windermere and Ullswater), and the fifth-largest by area. It is five miles long by half a mile wide (8 km by 800 m), has ...

, Lancashire (now in Cumbria).

Politics

Campbell stood for Parliament without success at the 1935 general election in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, despite his links to the

British Union of Fascists The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a British fascist political party formed in 1932 by Oswald Mosley. Mosley changed its name to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936 and, in 1937, to the British Union. In 1939, fo ...

. Reportedly, he once adorned his car with a Fascist pennant of the

London Volunteer Transport Service London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, though there has been no photographic evidence to support this claim.Zander, Patrick Glenn.
Right Modern: Technology, Nation, and Britain's Extreme Right in the Interwar Period
'.

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. May 2009. Page 99.

Death

Campbell died after a series of strokes in 1948 in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, Surrey, aged 63. He was one of the few land speed record holders of his era to die of natural causes, for so many had died in crashes.

Honours and awards

*In recognition of his service during the First World War, Campbell was appointed a Member of the Military Division 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 ...

on 3 June 1919. *In 1931, on his return from Daytona Beach where he set a land speed record of , he was given a civic welcome and a Mansion House banquet in London, and was knighted at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

on 21 February 1931. *He was awarded the

Segrave Trophy The Segrave Trophy is awarded to the British national who demonstrates "Outstanding Skill, Courage and Initiative on Land, Water and in the Air". The trophy is named in honour of Sir Henry Segrave, the first person to hold both the land and wat ...

in 1933 and 1939. *He was inducted into the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, east central Alabama. It enshrines those who have c ...

in 1990. *He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...

in 1994. *In 2010, an

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

commemorating Campbell and his son was installed at

Canbury School Canbury School is a small, independent day school in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London with a maximum of 75 pupils on roll. History Canbury School was founded by John Wyatt in 1982. He had previously taught in several large schools with h ...

, Kingston Hill,

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, where Donald was born in March 1921 and the Campbell family lived until late 1922.

References

External links

www.SirMalcolmCampbell.com

www.racingcampbells.com – dedicated to the memory of Campbell and his son Donald

Leather Cap and Goggles
a
A History of Central Florida Podcast
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Malcolm Land speed record people Water speed records People in sports awarded knighthoods International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees English people of Scottish descent Brooklands people Brighton Speed Trials people English racing drivers Grand Prix drivers Bugatti People educated at Uppingham School Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Segrave Trophy recipients British motorboat racers 1885 births 1948 deaths BRDC Gold Star winners Bonneville 300 MPH Club members People from Chislehurst Knights Bachelor English fascists British Army personnel of World War I Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment officers Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Military Police officers British Army General List officers