Hereward de Havilland (2 December 1894 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire – 12 September 1976 in Australia) was a pioneer British aviator, test pilot and member of the de Havilland company. One of the three sons of Rev. Charles de Havilland, he was the younger brother of

Geoffrey de Havilland Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. The aircraft company he founded produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built, ...

. Actresses

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

and

Joan Fontaine Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland (October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013), known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was a British-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the "Golden Age". Fontaine appeared ...

were his cousins. He had a son Peter Adam de Havilland (m. Barabara Bolt) and grandchildren John and Joanna de Havilland. Hereward and his brothers Geoffrey and Ivon had a mechanical workshop at their home at the rectory in

Crux Easton Crux Easton is a hamlet in the Ashmansworth civil parish of Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, Berkshire. History The Church of England parish church of St Michael and All Angels was built in 1775, restored in 1894 and is a Grade II* ...

near Newbury. Geoffrey's first flight took place with Frank Hearle and Hereward in 1909 at Seven Barrows in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. They practised at their grandfather's farm Medley Manor near

Port Meadow Port Meadow is a large meadow of open common land beside the River Thames to the north and west of Oxford, England. Overview The meadow is an ancient area of grazing land, still used for horses and cattle, and according to legend has never bee ...

just outside Oxford. De Havilland flew in various air campaigns in Europe and the Middle East in World War I and reached the rank of Major. On 10 March 1917, he was awarded a DSO for distinguished service in the field in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, the youngest airman at that time to receive the DSO. He was awarded a bar to his DSO later that same year. In March 1927, he established

de Havilland Australia de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd (DHA) was part of de Havilland, then became a separate company. It acquired the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in 1985 and was purchased by Boeing in 2000 and merged with the Boeing owned AeroSpace Technologie ...

, the first overseas subsidiary of the de Havilland company. He flew solo in the 1929

Western Australian Centenary Air Race __NOTOC__ The Western Australian Centenary Air Race (also known as the East-West Air Race) was a air race held in 1929 from Sydney to Perth to commemorate the centenary of Western Australia. The £1000 handicap winner was Horrie Miller and ...

in a modified

de Havilland DH.60 Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane ...

, named "Black Hawk", coming second on handicap and winning the £300 fastest overall time prize in 22 hours 50 minutes 23 seconds and averaging . The same year he joined the board of Airspeed Ltd. at

Christchurch Airfield : ''For the World War II use of this facility, see RAF Christchurch'' Christchurch Airfield was located southeast of the A337/B3059 intersection in Somerford, Christchurch, Dorset, England. It was a civil airfield starting from 1926, then it wa ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and was appointed Joint Managing Director. He went on to manage and develop de Havilland's in various other parts of the world including South America. He retired as Managing Director of de Havilland's Airspeed Division in 1959, joined the board and became Deputy Chairman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Havilland, Hereward 1894 births 1976 deaths De Havilland

Hereward Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resist ...

English aviators Royal Flying Corps officers British aviation record holders 20th-century English businesspeople