Captain Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe (10 June 1893 – 13 March 1928), also known as Hinch (the surname is often incorrectly given as Hinchcliffe) was a distinguished

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 ...

and

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 ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

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 ...

who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. A pioneering military and civilian flying career was cut short when he attempted a treacherous flight across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

with Elsie Mackay in a single engined Stinson Detroiter.

Private life

Hinchliffe was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1893 to Richard George Hinchliffe (1868 - circa 1942) and Florence Williams. His younger sister Gladys was born in 1897 in Liverpool. He was educated at Liverpool College, where he was a member of the

Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

, then attended

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

, training as a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

. He spoke four languages (including German), was an avid reader, a skilled artist, an accomplished sportsman and a skilled mechanic. He met his Dutch wife Emilie Gallizien when he was Chief Pilot of the

Royal Dutch Airlines KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

(KLM) and she was assistant to the company's General Manager. His brother in law F. C. Lay was the first Pupil to become head master at the

City of Oxford High School for Boys The City of Oxford High School for Boys (a.k.a. Oxford High School for Boys and City of Oxford School) was founded in 1881 by Thomas Hill Green to provide Oxford boys with an education which would enable them to prepare for University. History ...

Military career

Hinchliffe 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 North Lancashire Brigade Company, West Lancashire Divisional Transport and Supply Column ( Territorial Army) of the British Army Service Corps on 20 March 1912, and promoted

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 17 September 1914. He is then believed to have served in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

from 1914–16 before joining the

where he underwent training at

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

Cranwell Cranwell is a village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap and is situated approximately north-west from Sleaford and south-east from the city and county town o ...

and

Frieston Frieston is a village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated just west of the A607 road, and north from the market town of Grantham. Frieston is conjoined to the southern part of the village of Caythorpe. Fr ...

. Gaining his Royal Aero Club Certificate in September 1916 as Flight

Sub-Lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

, he served as an Instructor at Cranwell before joining 10 Squadron RNAS in January 1918 to commence active service. During February and March his successful sorties in a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

named ''Allo Lil Bird'' included

bombing raids Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...

and downing two enemy aircraft in dogfights at Rumbeke and

Roulers Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

. When the

was formed on 1 April 1918, he was appointed Lieutenant (

Honorary Captain Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) is a term used for a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar (non commissioned officer) and lower than lieutenant (commissioned officer). The term is only used by Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Seni ...

) RAF in the (renamed) No. 210 Squadron RAF. Within three months he had shot down a further five enemy aircraft, at

, Bailleul,

Neuve-Église Neuve-Église (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The communes c ...

Armentières Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud). Geogra ...

and

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1 ...

. During the Hazebrouck night encounter he was shot through the forehead and crashed at

Nieppe Nieppe (; nl, Niepkerke) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is in the Lys Plain and a portion of it is in the Lys Valley (Leiedal in Dutch). Population Geography It is situated by the Belgian border. It is located clo ...

Forest (Dickebusch Lake). He suffered severe facial injuries and lost the sight in his left eye for which he wore a patch for the rest of his life. For his exploits he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was transferred to the RAF unemployed list on 21 August 1919. He was initially hospitalised on 23 June 1918 and then invalided home on 27 June and treated at a hospital in central

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

Post war

After the War he became a widely experienced pilot, pioneering, opening and flying many civilian routes for both KLM and Imperial Airways. In 1920 he made the first airmail flight from the Netherlands to England. In 1921 he made the first civilian passenger night-flights from

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, and Amsterdam to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. His new routes included Amsterdam-

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

-London-Amsterdam in 11 hours flying time and Berlin-Amsterdam-London-Lowestoft-Lympne in just over 12 hours flying time. During 1922-1923 he was Chief Pilot of KLM. In 1923 he joined

Instone Air Line Instone Air Line was an early British airline from 1919 to 1924. Along with other private airlines of the time, it was absorbed into Imperial Airways. This airline is not to be confused with Instone Air Line (1981) of Stansted, which operated ...

covering Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, London and Paris, and after the merger into Imperial Airways he flew a

De Havilland Hercules The de Havilland DH.66 Hercules was a 1920s British seven-passenger, three-engined airliner built by de Havilland Aircraft Company at Stag Lane Aerodrome. As a more modern replacement for the Airco DH.10 Amiens used on the RAF's airmail se ...

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 ...

and opened up the Imperial Airways Eastern route. His flying experience included over 40 types of aircraft including;

Avro AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...

, British Aerial Transport, Bleriot,

Bristol F2b The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

, Curtis,

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

Grahame-White Grahame-White was an early British aircraft manufacturer, flying school and later manufacturer of cyclecars. The company was established as ''Grahame-White Aviation Company'' by Claude Grahame-White at Hendon in 1911. The firm built mostly aircra ...

Boxkite,

Handley-Page Handley Page Limited was a British aerospace manufacturer. Founded by Frederick Handley Page (later Sir Frederick) in 1909, it was the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It went into voluntary liquidation a ...

, Nieuport, Pemberton-Billing Scout,

Sopwith Dolphin The Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin was a British fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It was used by the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, during the World War I, First World War. The Dolphin entered se ...

Sopwith 1½ Strutter The Sopwith Strutter was a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War.Lake 2002, p. 40. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised ...

Sopwith Pup The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristi ...

, Vickers Vimy and

Vickers Vulcan The Vickers Vulcan was a British single-engine biplane airliner of the 1920s built by Vickers Limited at Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey. It carried eight passengers and a pilot. Development The Vickers Vulcan was designed by Rex Pierson of ...

. In September 1927, Hinchliffe flew

Charles A. Levine Charles Albert Levine (March 17, 1897 – December 6, 1991) was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed C ...

back to the US, replacing Clarence Chamberlin who had flown Levine from the U.S. to Germany. Hinchliffe and Levine were filmed at the

Clapham Studios The Clapham Studios were a British film studios of the silent and early sound eras, located in Clapham in London. The studios were built at Cranmer Court under some railway arches, opening in 1913. Several companies used the studios during their ...

in London for a short film made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process before their departure.

Transatlantic Flight

Hinchliffe's peerless reputation made him the natural choice for pilot when Elsie Mackay attempted to achieve her ambition to be the first woman to fly across the

. The daughter of P & O chairman

James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape James Lyle Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, (11 September 1852 – 23 May 1932), known as Sir James Mackay from 1894 to 1911, was a British businessman and colonial administrator in India who became Chairman of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navig ...

had bought a Stinson Detroiter, and had it shipped from the USA to England and delivered to the

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, ...

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

track, which at the time was also used as an airfield. Named ''Endeavour'', it was a

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with gold tipped wings and a black

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, powered by a 9 cylinder, 300 h.p. Wright Whirlwind J-6-9 (R-975) engine, with a cruising speed of 84 mph. In early March 1928 the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' discovered that Captain Hinchliffe and Elsie were preparing for a transatlantic attempt by carrying out test flights at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

and were staying at The George Hotel in Leadenham, near

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

. The story was silenced by Elsie's threatened legal action as she intended to depart in secret while her father was in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, having promised her family she would not make the attempt. The ''Irish Times'' reported on 14 March 1928 "Captain Hinchcliffe and Captain Joynson-Wreford were at

Baldonnel Aerodrome Casement Aerodrome ( ga, Aeradróm Mhic Easmainn) or Baldonnel Aerodrome is a military airbase to the southwest of Dublin, Ireland situated off the N7 main road route to the south and south west. It is the headquarters and the sole airfield of ...

about a fortnight ago, and, although no absolute definite arrangements were made, it was understood that he would make the aerodrome the headquarters for his Transatlantic attempt." At 08:35am on 13 March 1928 ''Endeavour'' took off from

, Lincolnshire, with minimal fuss as Walter had told only two friends and Elsie had registered under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of 'Gordon Sinclair'. Approximately five hours later, at 13.30pm the Chief lighthouse keeper at

Mizen Head Mizen Head ( ga, Carn Uí Néid) is traditionally regarded as the most southerly point of mainland Ireland. It is at the end of the Mizen Peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork. Geography Mizen Head is one of the extreme points ...

on the south west coast of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

saw the monoplane over the village of

Crookhaven Crookhaven () is a village in County Cork, Ireland, on the most southwestern tip of the island of Ireland. With an out-of-season population of about sixty, it swells in the summer season to about four hundred, when the occupants of the seasonal ...

, on the

great circle In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spherical geomet ...

course for

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. A French steamer later reported seeing them still on course, but nothing else is known. A crowd of 5,000 is reputed to have waited at

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territory ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. In December 1928, eight months later, a single piece of identifiable undercarriage washed ashore in North West Ireland.

References

Bibliography

Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (born 1940) is an English militaria writer who specialises in aviation topics. He focuses on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography He published his first book in 1976. He was an Organisation a ...

, ''Sopwith Camel Aces of World War I'' *

John G. Fuller John Grant Fuller, Jr. (November 30, 1913 – November 7, 1990) was a New England-based American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extraterrestrials and the supernatural. For many years ...

, ''The Airmen Who Would Not Die''

External links

West over the Waves - Elsie Mackay tribute site

Composite image of Captain W G. R. Hinchliffe, Elsie Mackay and a misleading Fokker aircraft at Jamd.com

Images and Info of Stinson Detroiter SM-1 at Airliners.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinchliffe, Walter G. R. 1890s births 1920s missing person cases 1928 deaths Aviation pioneers British Army personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces English aviators Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Missing aviators People educated at Liverpool College People lost at sea Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Army Service Corps officers Royal Artillery officers Shot-down aviators Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters German emigrants to the United Kingdom