|
Alan Cobham was born south of the River Thames in the London
suburb of Camberwell. His father was a draper and, when Alan first
left school aged 15, he was apprenticed to a clothing wholesaler in
the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral.
Building and flying kites on Streatham Common gave young Cobham
his first taste of 'the air'. Following a visit to Brooklands to
see an air display, and bitten by the aviation bug then sweeping
the country, he ambitiously attempted to construct a prize-winning
man-powered 'aviette'. The prize eluded him, but Cobham's bicycle
with wings was a well intentioned first attempt to get off the
ground.
The outbreak of war in August 1914 saw Cobham, along with
seemingly half the nation's young men, eager to enlist in the
British Army. A teenage summer spent working with horses on an
uncle's farm led to an immediate transfer to France as a veterinary
assistant. As the war dragged on, Cobham became aware of the
greater dependence being placed on motorised transport - and on
aeroplanes. Despite his lack of formal education, he successfully
transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, applied for pilot training,
and ended the war as a flying instructor in the fledgling Royal Air
Force.
The end of hostilities saw the demobilisation of some 22,000
pilots, many of whom, untrained for anything but flying, hoped to
find employment in civil aviation. Cobham determined to forge a
career in the air via a different route. In 1919, along with two
ex-Service colleagues, he bought a war-surplus Avro 504K training
machine, had it converted into a three-seater, then embarked on a
tour of southern England towns and villages, giving joyrides to
those willing to risk life and limb in return for a small payment.
Initially, profits were healthy and the Berkshire Aviation Company
grew into Britain's first aerial touring joyriding company,
gradually extending its operations as far north as Scotland.
The following year, continual periods of bad weather, which took
their toll on passenger flying, forced Cobham to join the Aircraft
Manufacturing Co (Airco). As photographic pilot, his task was to
position an aircraft so that a cameraman could take commissioned
aerial views of towns and sporting events. Airco, however, became
another casualty of the post-war cancellation of military equipment
contracts and was soon forced into liquidation, leaving the
aspiring young aviator facing the bleak prospect of
unemployment.
|
The Camberwell (South London) of Alan Cobham's
childhood was one of hand carts and horse drawn double-decker
buses. Victoria Street was home to the family's nearest shops, and
was only a stone's throw from their modest brick-built terraced
house on Denman Road, where today a blue heritage plaque marks his
birthplace.
By 1917, when Veterinary Staff Sergeant Cobham
applied to join the Royal Flying Corps, the war on the Western
Front had reached deadlock. Casualties were enormous. On the
ground, the allies and Germans faced one another from lines of
trenches.
|