William Arthur Waterton, AFC &

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, GM (18 March 1916 – 17 April 2006) was a Canadian and British

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

and correspondent for the ''

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

''. He was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

for saving the flight data when he landed at great risk the prototype

Gloster Javelin The Gloster Javelin is a twin-engined all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the Gloster Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force from the mid-1950s until the late 1960s and was the final aircraft design to b ...

after it lost its controls during a test flight.

Early years

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada in 1916, W. A. Waterton was brought up in

Camrose, Alberta Camrose ( ) is a city in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Camrose County. Located along Alberta Highway 13, Highway 13 it had its beginnings as a railroad hub. History The area around Camrose was first settled by Europeans around ...

, where his father was chief of police. His family originally came from north Sydenham Township and settled in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The seat of government of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist ...

. He was interested in flying from an early age.Armitage, Andrew
"Ace test pilot was once a British celebrity and household name."
''Owen Sound Library,'' (article first appeared in the ''(Owen Sound) The Sun Times,'' 11 February 2011). Retrieved 12 March 2011. Like many aviators of his generation, he made his first flight when a barnstormer visited Camrose in 1931.

Aviation career

Second World War

Entering the Royal Military College of Canada in 1935, after two years at the school, where he was a champion middleweight boxer, Waterton had applied without success to the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) and Canadian Army in 1938. Ultimately, he was accepted on a short service commission for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF) which was expanding rapidly in expectation of war. In Britain, he took flying lessons and joined the RAF on 10 June 1939. He was first posted to

No. 242 Squadron RAF No. 242 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron. It flew in many roles during the First World War, Second World War and Cold War. During the Second World War, the squadron was notable for (firstly) having many pilots who were either ...

and flew

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s from Biggin Hill and Manston during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. In operations over

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

on 25 May 1940, he crashed near Dover and suffered severe head injuries. When Waterton returned to flying duties, he was sent to No. 6 Operational Training Unit. His skills as an instructor were recognised and he was made a flying instructor, training hundreds of pilots for over two years in both the UK and Canada.

Test flying

After a stint with Transatlantic Ferry Command in 1943, and initially posted to No. 124 Squadron in September 1943, he was transferred to 1409 (Meteorological) Flight. In 1944, Waterton applied to the

Air Fighting Development Unit The Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) was an air technical intelligence part of the Royal Air Force which developed tactics and tested captured enemy aircraft. It was based at Royal Air Force Stations Northolt, Duxford and Wittering. The AF ...

based at Wittering in Lincolnshire which assessed captured enemy aircraft by flying them in mock combat against the greatest variety of Allied aircraft. During this period, he amassed a great deal of test flying in devising tactics for

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

based on the actual performance of aircraft in "real life" conditions. Along with other colleagues, Waterton was sent to No. 5

Empire Test Pilots' School The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS) is a British training school for test pilots and flight test engineers of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft at MoD Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, England. It was established in 1943, the first of its type. ...

(ETPS) at Hanworth, Middlesex.

Postwar

After the war when Waterton was at the

Central Fighter Establishment The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development of fighter aircraft tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 as a nucleus at RAF Tangmere. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, a ...

, he was selected for the

High Speed Flight In high-speed flight, the assumptions of incompressibility of the air used in low-speed aerodynamics no longer apply. In subsonic aerodynamics, the theory of lift is based upon the forces generated on a body and a moving gas (air) in which it ...

, preparing for an attempt at the world airspeed record with the RAF's first jet fighter, the

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

. He achieved an average speed of 614 mph with Meteor IV EE550, only two mph less than that of the team leader E. M. Donaldson who established a new record with EE549 on 7 September 1946. Javelin Gyron Junior testbed XA552

Gloster Aircraft Company

Following the high speed flights, Waterton joined the

Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H.H. Martyn & Co. of Chelte ...

in September 1946 as a development test pilot.James 1987, p. 423. He became the company's Chief Test Pilot, primarily in charge of experimental flight testing their new designs, the Meteor family, the experimental Gloster E.1/44, and the delta-wing Gloster GA.5 which entered service as the

. He also was involved in acceptance test flying on production aircraft. On 6 February 1948, Waterton set the world 100 kilometres closed circuit air speed record flying a Gloster Meteor IV at 524.95 mph, although his record was broken a few weeks later by

Mike Lithgow Michael John Lithgow, OBE (30 August 1920 – 22 October 1963) was a British aviator and chief test pilot for Vickers Supermarine who became the holder of the World Absolute Air Speed Record in 1953 flying a Supermarine Swift. He died when th ...

in a

Supermarine Attacker The Supermarine Attacker is a British single-seat naval jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Supermarine for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the FAA.Bing ...

."News in Brief: Air Speed Record." ''The Times,'' 12 March 1948, Issue 51018, p. 2, Column B. In 1950, Waterton was loaned to

Avro Canada Avro Canada was a Canadian aircraft manufacturing company. It was founded in 1945 as an aircraft plant and within 13 years became the third-largest company in Canada, one of the largest 100 companies in the world, and directly employing over 50 ...

for the test flights of the

Avro CF-100 Canuck The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to en ...

because as a Canadian by birth, and as an experienced test pilot, it was considered a public relations triumph for the parent

Hawker Siddeley Group Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

. On 19 January 1950, he piloted the CF-100 prototype on its maiden flight, and stayed on as the aircraft proceeded through its company development trials and throughout a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

"fly-off" competition in May 1950. On his return to Gloster in 1951, Waterton found that he was continually at odds with management and even though he continued test flying, gave his superiors an ultimatum to address deficiencies in the Javelin fighter, that ended with his discharge in 1954.

Aviation correspondent

Following his dismissal from Gloster, Waterton became an aviation correspondent for the ''Daily Express''; his columns fearlessly criticising British aviation and its aircraft. In 1955, he collaborated with ''Daily Express'' sub-editor Timothy Hewat on ''The Comet Riddle,'' a book covering the

de Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH.106 Comet is the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It features an aerodynamically clean design with four ...

crashes. The following year, Waterton published his autobiography ''The Quick and the Dead'' in which he accused the British aviation industry of being badly run, aiming for a quick profit and lagging behind the Soviet and US industry. Due to advertiser pressure, Waterton was fired by the ''Daily Express'', and his departure was covered on their own front page: "We Sacked Waterton – and Why".

Later years

Thereafter, Waterton moved back to Canada to his hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario and largely led a life out of the public eye. During his later years, he continued to fly as an instructor and taught

Eddie Sargent Edward Carson Sargent (April 11, 1915 – January 28, 1998) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1987 who represented the central Ontario riding of Grey North and Grey ...

, the colourful and popular Owen Sound mayor, member of provincial parliament, newspaper publisher, promoter and record-holding swimmer, to fly.Dunn, Scott
"Sargent bay swim set for Sunday."
''(Owen Sound) The Sun Times,'' 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2011. Waterton died in 2006, and was buried in Oxenden cemetery; his final wish was to be buried with water close by, and even closer is the end of the runway of the nearby Wiarton Airport,

Wiarton Wiarton () is a community in the town of South Bruce Peninsula, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the western end of Colpoys Bay, an inlet off Georgian Bay, on the Bruce Peninsula. Wiarton is notable for the Wiarton Willie Festiva ...

, Ontario.

Honours and awards

*1 January 1943 – Flight Lieutenant William Arthur Waterton (RAF 42288), Royal Air Force is awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) *12 June 1947 – Acting Squadron Leader William Arthur Waterton AFC (42288) RAFO is awarded a bar to his Air Force Cross (AFC) * 25 July 1952 – William Arthur Waterton AFC, Chief Test Pilot, Gloster Aircraft Company is awarded the George Medal: In 2003, Waterton was made an associate member of the Empire Test Pilots' School Association. Although covering a broad overview of the aerospace industry in the 1950s and 1960s, James Hamilton-Paterson exhaustively profiled Waterton's career in the recent, ''Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World'' (2010).

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * Halliday, Hugh. ''The Tumbling Sky''. Stittsville, Ontario, Canada: Canada's Wings, 1978. . * Hamilton-Paterson, James. ''Empire of the Clouds: When Britain's Aircraft Ruled the World.'' London: Faber & Faber, 2010. . * Hamilton-Paterson, James. ''Empire of the Clouds: The Golden Era of Britain's Aircraft.'' London: Faber & Faber, 2018. . * James, Derek N. ''Gloster Aircraft since 1917''. London: Putnam, 1987. . * Jones, Barry. ''Gloster Meteor''. Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, United Kingdom: The Crowood Press Ltd., 1998. . * Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter Since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. 1992. . * Ralph, Wayne. ''Aces, Warriors and Wingmen: The Firsthand Accounts of Canada's Fighter Pilots in the Second World War.'' Toronto: Wiley, 2005. . * Rossiter, Sean. ''The Chosen Ones: Canada's Test Pilots in Action.'' Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2002. . * Shacklady, Edward. ''The Gloster Meteor''. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1962. * Waterton, Bill. ''The Quick and the Dead.'' London: Frederick Mueller, 1958. * Waterton, Bill and Tim Hewat. ''The Comet Riddle.'' London: Frederick Mueller, 1955. * Zuk, Bill. ''The Avro Arrow Story: The Revolutionary Airplane and its Courageous Test Pilots.'' Calgary: Altitude Publishing, 2005. .

External links

Around the sticks: article on participation in record speed attempt
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081214115603/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865476,00.html Time magazine reporting his autobiography {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterton, Bill 1916 births 2006 deaths Canadian aviation record holders Canadian test pilots People from Edmonton Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the George Medal Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force personnel of World War II