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James Allan "Jim"
Mollison MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish
pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson,
set many records during the rapid development of aviation in
the 1930s. Born on 19 April 1905 in Glasgow, Scotland, he was
educated at The Glasgow Academy. Mollison was attracted at an
early age to flying. Obtaining his Royal Air Force (RAF) Short
Service Commission at 18, he was the youngest officer in the
service, and upon completion of training, was posted to Waziristan.
At the age of 22, Mollison became a flying instructor at Central
Flying School (CFS), again setting the record for being the youngest
in this role. Shortly after, he transferred to the RAF Reserve
and devoted his time to civil aviation. In 1928–29, he served
as an instructor with the South Australian Aero Club in Adelaide,
leaving that position to become a pilot with Eyre Peninsular
Airways and Australian National Airways.
Whilst gaining a reputation
as a playboy, Mollison was a highly skilled pilot who, like many
others, took to record breaking as a means of "making his
name." In July–August 1931, Mollison set a record time
of eight days, 19 hours for a flight from Australia to England,
and in March 1932, a record for flying from England to South
Africa in 4 days, 17 hours.
Mollison had flown commercially
for Charles Kingsford Smith's ill-fated Australian National Airways.
During one of his commercial flights, he met the equally famous
aviator Amy Johnson, whom he proposed to only eight hours after
meeting her, and while still in the air. Johnson accepted; they
married on July 1932, and she went off to break her husband's
England to South Africa record. They were dubbed The Flying Sweethearts
by the press and public.
Mollison continued his record-breaking
attempts and on 18 August 1932 was the first pilot to perform
an East-to-West solo trans-Atlantic flight from Portmarnock in
Ireland to Pennfield, New Brunswick, Canada. In February 1933
Mollison flew from England to Brazil in 3 days, 13 hours, using
Africa as a stop-over continent, a record time and the first
solo crossing. By then, he and his wife began to plan a record
breaking flight across the world. On 22 July 1933, they took
off from Pendine Sands in Wales on a non-stop flight to New York,
but were forced to crash land in Bridgeport, Connecticut, just
short of their target, after running out of fuel. He and his
wife were both injured, and the plane broken apart by souvenir
seekers.
In October 1934 the Mollisons
took part in MacRobertson Air Race. Their de Havilland DH.88
Comet Black Magic led the competitors off the line and was leading
at Baghdad, but they were forced to retire at Allahabad after
having to use non-aviation fuel, which damaged their engines.
The Mollisons' marriage became
strained; they were rivals for the same aviation records and
Mollison was at times a heavy drinker. They were divorced in
1938. She resumed her maiden name. Both Amy Johnson and Mollison
eventually served in the ATA Air Transport Auxiliary in the Second
World War. Johnson was killed while ferrying an aircraft in 1941.
A notable incident occurred when Mollison flew as a co-pilot
with Diana Barnato Walker. Their Anson was intercepted and shot
up by Luftwaffe fighters. Although the aircraft was hit, the
12 passengers and crew were unhurt. On landing, Jim's only concern
was "how to get a cup of tea!"
In June 1941 Mollison and an
ATA crew delivered Cunliffe-Owen OA-1 G-AFMB to Fort Lamy, Chad.
The aircraft was fitted out as a personal transport for General
De Gaulle. Jim Mollison was made a Member of the Order of the
British Empire (MBE) for his services with the ATA. Mollison
later settled in London and ran a public house. He married Maria
Clasina E Kamphuis on 26 September 1949 at the Maidenhead Register
Office.
His drinking was a problem.
In 1953, the Civil Aviation Authority Medical Board revoked his
pilot's licence. The couple separated but Maria bought the Carisbrooke
Hotel in Surbiton for him – a temperance hotel. He died
on 30 October 1959, aged 54. |
