Robert Benedict Bourdillon

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 ...

MC AFC DM (8 September 1889 – 3 March 1971) was a British

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 ...

pilot and medical researcher.

Early life

Born in

Easebourne Easebourne () is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is half a mile (0.8 km) north of Midhurst, across the River Rother on the A272 and A286 roads. The parish includes the ham ...

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...

, Sussex, southern England, Robert Benedict Bourdillon was the younger son of the poet and translator

Francis William Bourdillon Francis William Bourdillon (22 March 1852 at Runcorn, Cheshire, England – 13 January 1921 at Buddington, Midhurst) was a British poet and translator. He is known also as a bibliophile. Life Born at Trinity Parsonage, Halton Road, Runcorn, Ches ...

. He attended the Hazelwood School in Surrey until 1901 and was then privately educated. He went on to the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1908 where he studied at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

. At Oxford, he was a founder member of the Oxford University Mountaineering Club in 1909. He was also in the Oxford University Officers' Training Corps. In 1912, he graduated from Oxford University with a

BA degree Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Natural Science. He then went to St Mary's Hospital,

London 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 ...

, for further study. After this, he returned to Oxford and became a tutor at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

World War I

Robert Bourdillon left

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

on 2 August 1914. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps on 6 August 1914. On 8 September 1914, he was attached to the Headquarters of III Corps, where he served as an interpreter since he was fluent in French. On 10 December 1914, he returned to

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 ...

and went to the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

Upavon Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...

. Here, on 12 February 1915, he applied to transfer to the Royal Flying Corps Special Reserve of Officers and was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant. On 29 October 1915, Bourdillon received an Aero Certificate, flying a Maurice Farman Shorthorn biplane. With Louis Strange he developed a simple but effective new bombsight. It was adopted by the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. He also helped in developing a phosphorus bomb. In early 1917, Bourdillon trained further as a pilot and gained his "

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

". On 11 April 1917, he joined 27 Squadron, which used Martinsyde Elephants. On 2 May 1917, he was hospitalised. On his return, he was promoted from Flying Officer to Flight Commander. On 27 July 1917, Bourdillon led five aircraft from 27 Squadron to attack the German

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

sheds located at Berchem-Sainte-Agathe. He left the squadron on 28 August 1917 and joined the RFC Home Establishment. On 26 September 1917, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

. On 21 September 1917, he was promoted to

Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

, 2nd Grade. Then on 1 February 1918, he was appointed Chief Experimental Officer. By the end of World War I, Bourdillon was a Captain and was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1 January 1918 King's

Birthday Honours List The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

for his work on bombsight development.

Later career

After

, Bourdillon returned to New College, Oxford, where he was awarded an MA degree in 1919. During 1919–1921, he was

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and

Praelector A praelector is a traditional role at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs somewhat between the two ancient universities. University of Cambridge At Cambridge, a praelector is the fellow of a college who forma ...

in Chemistry at University College, Oxford, and was succeeded by E. J. Bowen. During 1919–1921, he was also

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the College. He transferred his field from chemistry to medicine and in 1925 he received MB and BCh degrees. During 1925–1926, he was House Physician and then Assistant at the St Mary's Hospital Medical Unit in

. During 1925–1946, he was based at the

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR b ...

, Hampstead, north London. In 1935, he became a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

. During 1946–1954, he was Director of the Stoke Mandeville Electro-Medical Research Unit. Bourdillon was a member the Eugenics Society and produced several papers on

Vitamin D Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, and phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D3 (c ...

research.

Selected publications

* * *

Personal life

Robert Bourdillon married Harriett Ada (née Barnes) on 18 July 1922 at St Mary's Church,

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

in Sussex. They had two sons. One son,

Tom Bourdillon Thomas Duncan Bourdillon ( ; 16 March 1924 – 29 July 1956) was an English mountaineer and member of the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition which made the first ascent of Mount Everest. He died in the Valais, Switzerland, on 29 July 1956 age ...

, was a

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

. Robert and Tom Bourdillon, together with

Griffith Pugh Lewis Griffith Cresswell Evans Pugh (29 October 1909 – 22 December 1994), generally known as Griffith Pugh, was a British physiologist and mountaineer. He was the expedition physiologist on the 1953 British expedition that made the first asce ...

, developed the oxygen equipment used for the

1953 British Mount Everest expedition The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition was the ninth mountaineering expedition to attempt the first ascent of Mount Everest, and the first confirmed to have succeeded when Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit on 29 May 1953. ...

, of which Tom Bourdillon was a member. On 13 June 1946, Robert Bourdillon was made a

in the King's

. He died in 1971 at

Ganges, British Columbia Ganges, British Columbia is an unincorporated community on Salt Spring Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. History Ganges Harbour, from which Ganges takes its name, was originally called Admiralty Bay but was renamed by Captain Ri ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

References