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Cecil Arthur Lewis (29 March 1898 – 27 January 1997) was a British fighter ace who flew with No. 56 Squadron RAF in the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, and was credited with destroying eight enemy aircraft. He went on to be a founding executive of the British Broadcasting Company and to enjoy a long career as a writer, notably of the aviation classic ''Sagittarius Rising'', some scenes from which were represented in the film ''
Aces High Aces High may refer to: *Aces High (comics), ''Aces High'' (comics), a comic book series by EC Comics *Aces High (video game), ''Aces High'' (video game), a combat flight simulator/massively multiplayer online game *Aces High (film), ''Aces High'' ...
''.


Biography


Early life

Lewis was born on 29 March 1898 at 11, Radnor Place,
Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...
, then in Cheshire, the only child of Edward Williams Lewis, a Congregational minister, by his marriage to Alice Rigby.James Owen, "Lewis, Cecil Arthur (1898–1997), airman and radio and television broadcaster", in ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'' (2004)
His parents had been married at
Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
in 1896. After a short time at
Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...
, the young Lewis was educated at University College School and Oundle,"Lewis, Cecil Arthur", in '' Who Was Who 1996–2000'' (London: A. & C. Black, 2001, ), p. 347T. H. Bridgewater
Obituary: Cecil Lewis
in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' dated 29 January 1997, accessed 6 March 2019
leaving school at the age of seventeen.


First World War

Lewis joined the
Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...
in 1915 after lying about his age, and learned to fly at Brooklands in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. In 1916, he flew the Morane Parasol on operations with No. 3 Squadron and was awarded the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...
for his actions during the Battle of the Somme. Flying over the battlefield on the First day on the Somme (1 July 1916) to report on British troop movements, Lewis witnessed the blowing of the mines at La Boiselle. He later described the early morning scene in his book ''Sagittarius Rising''. It had been arranged that continuous overlapping patrols would fly throughout the day. Lewis's patrol was ordered "to keep clear of La Boiselle" because of the mines that were to be blown. As he watched from above the village of Thiepval, almost two miles from where the mines exploded, Lewis saw a remarkable sight, Lewis's aircraft was hit by lumps of mud thrown out by the explosion. During May and June 1917, when he was flying the
S.E.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...
with the elite 56 Squadron, Lewis was credited with eight victories. Back in England, Lewis served with 44 and 61 Squadrons on Home Defence before returning to France in late 1918 with 152 (Night-Fighter) Squadron, flying the Sopwith Camel, as a flight commander with the rank of captain.
A forty-minute interview with Lewis, describing his experiences as a First World War pilot, was recorded by the BBC in 1963–64 and later made available online as part of the centenary commemorations of the war. In it, Lewis describes how on his first flight he had the most unusual experience of seeing 9-inch howitzer shells turning over in flight at 8,000 feet before descending to the target. He also described his most frightening experience of the war: a reconnaissance flight at 1,000 feet during the initial bombardment before the battle of the Somme. This entailed flying along the line of fire of shells. Close passing shells caused severe turbulence to his aircraft and a number of his friends were killed.


Flying instructor, journalist, broadcaster

After the war, Lewis was hired by the
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
company to teach Chinese pilots to fly and to establish a Peking–Shanghai air service using Vickers Commercials, the civilian version of the Vickers Vimy bomber. In Peking in 1921 Lewis married Evdekia Dmitrievna Horvath, known as Doushka (1902–2005), the daughter of a Russian general. He returned to England when the air service project was abandoned by Vickers after a couple of years. With his first wife, he had one son and one daughter. Through a friend, the Russian singer Vladimir Rosing, Lewis met the artist Charles Ricketts, who became his artistic mentor and sponsor. After Ricketts's death in 1931, Lewis edited his letters and journals for publication. Some of Ricketts' ashes were buried in the park of Lewis's villa at on Lake Maggiore, which Ricketts had given him £300 to buy. In 1922 Lewis was one of the five young founding executives of the British Broadcasting Company, precursor of the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
, where he was a writer, producer and director. The other four were John Reith, Arthur Burrows, Stanton Jefferies and Peter Eckersley. In 1927 he participated in the BBC's first sports broadcasts, assisting commentator Teddy Wakelam. In 1931, he co-wrote and directed a short film adaptation of the
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
play '' How He Lied to Her Husband''. In late 1936 – early 1937 he was a producer and presenter for the infant BBC Television Service at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
. At the 1938 Academy Awards ceremony, Lewis, Shaw,
Ian Dalrymple Ian Dalrymple (26 August 190328 March 1989) was a British screenwriter, film director, film editor and film producer. Early life Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he was educated at Rugby School, Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge. Career ...
and W. P. Lipscomb were awarded Oscars for their screen adaptation of '' Pygmalion''.


Second World War

Lewis joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in early 1939 as a pilot officer and served in the
Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II The Mediterranean and Middle East theatre was a major Theater (warfare)#Theater of operations, theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected land, naval, and air ...
, rising to the rank of squadron leader. Bernard Shaw wrote of Lewis: "This prince of pilots has had a charmed life in every sense of the word. He is a thinker, a master of words and a bit of a poet.".


Later life

During the late 1940s Lewis became enamoured with the teachings of the Greek-Armenian mystic Gurdjieff. In 1947 he flew a Miles Gemini to South Africa, where he spent the next three years on a farm he established, but the farm was not a success, and in 1950 he returned to England. He joined the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' in 1956 as a journalist, formally retiring in 1966. In 1963 he was interviewed by the BBC as part of ''The Great War'' TV series. In 2014 Lewis was among those included as the BBC broadcast full versions of some of the interviews on
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
. The selection had been curated by Max Hastings, formerly a young researcher for the original TV series. This was later made available on the iPlayer titled "The Great War Interviews". After his last job, Lewis moved to
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
, where he spent the rest of his life, continuing to write until well into his nineties. He became the last surviving British
flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...
of the Great War. On 12 May 1991, he appeared on '' Desert Island Discs'' with presenter Sue Lawley. His chosen discs were: #
Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
– The Light of Life. #
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...
– Au fond du temple saint (from The Pearl Fishers). # Greek Singers – A Sergeant Called Stamoulis. # Richard Strauss – Der Rosenkavalier Act 3. #
Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (September 5, 1929 – July 18, 2024) was an American comedian and actor. Newhart was known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style. Beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned his career to acting in ...
– The Driving Instructor. #
Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...
– Dodekka. #
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
– Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. # Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Liturgy of St John Chrysostom – The Lord's Prayer. His chosen book to take to the desert island was his own (then recently published) ''Sagittarius Surviving''. His chosen luxury was a fax machine, which was a debatable choice according to the rules of ''Desert Island Discs''.


Private life

In Peking in 1921 Lewis married Evdekia Dmitrievna Horvath, known as Doushka (1902–2005), the eighteen-year-old daughter of Dmitri Horvath, an Imperial Russian general, and brought her home to England the next year. On arrival in London, Doushka spoke little English, and the couple began by speaking to each other in French. They had a son, Ivor, in 1923, and a daughter, Celia, in 1924, and settled in Chelsea while Lewis was working for the BBC. Through Shaw, who became Lewis's mentor, the Lewises met T. E. Lawrence,
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
, Paul Robeson,
Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...
, and
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
. The marriage struggled, as, according to Doushka, Lewis was "a compulsive philanderer". On the strength of the success of ''Sagittarius Rising'' (1936), Lewis moved to Hollywood but Doushka returned to Peking, to stay with her mother. After Hollywood, Lewis went to Tahiti to find a simpler life, which he recorded in ''The Trumpet is Mine'' (1938), then to Italy to write ''Challenge of the Night'' (1938). In 1939 he came back to England to join the RAF as a flying instructor. Doushka stayed in Peking for almost three years. Lewis met her on her return to England but there was no reconciliation. They were divorced in 1940. Doushka married Cedric Williams and they had a daughter but later divorced. In 1942, at Holborn, London, Lewis married Olga H. Burnett but they had no children and were divorced in 1950.Marriages Dec 1942: "Burnett, Olga H and Lewis, Cecil A" in ''Register of Marriages for Holburn Registration District'', vol 1b (1942), p. 790 In 1960, he married Frances Lowe, known as Fanny. In 1970, they bought a 26-foot boat and together sailed it to Corfu, a story told in ''Turn Right for Corfu'' (1972). The couple settled there until Lewis's death in 1997. In 1996, when Lewis and Doushka were in their nineties, he published his last book, ''So Long Ago, So Far Away''.


Bibliography


Works by Lewis

* ''Broadcasting From Within'' (1924) * ''The Unknown Warrior'' (1928) (a translation of French playwright Paul Raynal's 1924 play ''Le tombeau sous l'arc de Triomphe'') * ''Sagittarius Rising'' (1936) * ''The Trumpet Is Mine'' (1938) * ''Challenge to the Night'' (1939) * ''Pathfinders'' (1944) * ''Yesterday's Evening'' (1946) * ''Farewell to Wings'' (1964) * ''Turn Right For Corfu'' (1972) * ''Never Look Back; an Attempt at Autobiography'' (1974) * ''A Way To Be'' (1977) * ''Gemini to Joburg'' (1984) * ''Five Conversations about Gurdjieff'' (1984) * ''Sagittarius Surviving'' (1991) * ''All My Yesterdays'' (1993) * ''A Wish to Be: A Voyage of Self-Discovery'' (1994) * ''So Long Ago, So Far Away: Memory of Old Peking'' (1996)


Notes


External links


1964 BBC Interview with Cecil Lewis
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Cecil Arthur 1898 births 1997 deaths Military personnel from Birkenhead People educated at Oundle School English aviators Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross British World War I flying aces Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Lewis, Cecil A. Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners BBC people Royal Air Force squadron leaders 20th-century British screenwriters British Army personnel of World War I People educated at University College School