Neville Frederick Duke, (11 January 1922 – 7 April 2007) was a 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 ...
and
fighter ace of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He was credited with the destruction of 27 enemy aircraft. After the war, Duke was acknowledged as one of the world's foremost test pilots. In 1953, he became holder of the world
air speed record when he flew a
Hawker Hunter at over
Littlehampton.
Early life
Duke was born in
Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
,
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, and educated at the Convent of
St Mary and
The Judd School in Tonbridge. One of the four houses at Judd was named after him, following the reinstating of a house system to the school in 2008, until the changing of the House system in 2017, with the New Headmaster Jon Wood.
Duke started working as an auctioneer and estate agent before attempting to join the
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...
on his 18th birthday. He was rejected but in June 1940 he joined the RAF as a cadet.
Second World War
Initial combat
Duke underwent pilot training and was commissioned at No. 58 Operational Training Unit,
Grangemouth
Grangemouth (; , ) is a town in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area in the central belt of Scotland. Historically part of the Counties of Scotland, county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firt ...
in February 1941, before being posted to
No. 92 Squadron at
Biggin Hill in April, flying
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
Mk Vs. Operating over occupied Europe, Duke's obvious talents as a fighter pilot meant he often flew as wingman to Biggin Hill's
wing leader, Wing Commander
Adolph "Sailor" Malan. By August 1941, Duke had claimed two
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...
s shot down. When the unit was withdrawn for a rest in October 1941, Duke was posted to North Africa to fly with
No. 112 Squadron on the
Curtiss Tomahawk.
Desert operations
Duke found flying the P-40 less agreeable than the Spitfire, and on a familiarisation flight crashed ''AM390''.
[Thomas 2005, p. 15.]
On 30 November 1941, Duke was shot down by the high scoring German ace ''
Oberfeldwebel''
Otto Schulz from
Jagdgeschwader 27. On 5 December, he was again shot down by a pilot from JG 27 and wounded by splinters in the leg. He managed to crash-land near Tobruk and was sent back to Cairo in a Blenheim for a rest. However, his own tally of victories continued to mount and, after the squadron was re-equipped with the more capable
Curtiss Kittyhawk, by February 1942, Duke had at least eight victories, resulting in the award of the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in March. These victories included a
Fiat CR.42 and a Bf 109 on 20 and 21 December.
He completed his first tour of operations the next month and then spent six months instructing at the fighter school in the
Canal Zone.
In November 1942, Duke rejoined 92 Squadron, which has been transferred to North Africa flying the tropicalised
Spitfire Mark V.
[For an explanation of different Spitfire marks, see Supermarine Spitfire variants] He became a flight commander in February 1943 and received a
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...
in March. By the end of his second tour in June, Duke had amassed a further 14 victories to his total and was awarded a
bar to his DFC.
Promoted to
squadron leader, Duke was posted to
No. 73 Operational Training Unit at
Abu Sueir as chief flying instructor before returning to operations in March 1944 for his third tour, as
commanding officer of
No. 145 Squadron in Italy, flying
Spitfire Mk VIIIs. He claimed five more aircraft shot down in May, gaining a second bar to his DFC. On 7 June, Duke was shot down by
flak and baled out into
Lake Bracciano, almost drowning when unable to release his parachute harness. He sheltered with
Italian partisans until U.S. troops arrived.
Downing two
Fw 190s of
Schlachtgeschwader 4 in May, Duke scored his final kills on 7 September 1944, becoming the Mediterranean Theatre's top Allied fighter ace at the age of 22. In 486 sorties and some 712 operational hours, he claimed 27 outright victories and two shared, one probable, six damaged and two shared destroyed on the ground.
Test pilot
Duke returned to the UK and took up a position as test pilot for
Hawker in January 1945. He attended No 4 Course at the
Empire Test Pilots' School at
Cranfield in 1946 and then joined the RAF's
High Speed Flight unit, commanded by
Teddy Donaldson. It was Donaldson who set a new official world air speed record on 7 September 1946, later being the first official man to break the 1,000 km/h barrier. After demonstrating a
Gloster Meteor at an air display in Prague, he was presented with the
Czech War Cross for his wartime service.
Duke was awarded the
Air Force Cross recognising his test flying from 1947 to 1948 at the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at
Boscombe Down, where he flew research flights to explore aircraft performance at high
Mach numbers and high altitudes. Duke resigned from the RAF in August 1948, joining the
Royal Auxiliary Air Force, flying Spitfires and Meteors from Biggin Hill. He was CO of
No. 615 Squadron in 1950 and 1951, whose honorary
air commodore
Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
was
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
.
Duke joined Hawker as an assistant chief test pilot in 1948, and became Hawker's chief test pilot in 1951, following the death of
"Wimpy" Wade, his predecessor. He was particularly involved in the development of the highly successful
Hawker Hunter, flying the
Hawker P1067 in its trials in July 1951. He gave a display in the new fighter at the
Farnborough Airshow on 6 September 1952, shortly after
a prototype de Havilland DH 110, piloted by his friend
John Derry, had broken up in flight, killing Derry and his observer Tony Richards, along with 28 spectators. "My dear Duke", the Prime Minister wrote to him the next day, "it was characteristic of you to go up yesterday after the shocking accident. Accept my salute. Yours, in grief, Winston Churchill."
Duke was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in January 1953 for his contribution to supersonic flight and ground breaking achievements at Hawker. On 7 September 1953, Duke set a new
world air speed record of , flying Hunter ''WB188''. (With this world record Neville Duke exceeded the unofficial world record set by Heini Dittmar with the
Me 163 BV18), also gaining for himself the Gold Medal of th
Royal Aero Club He was awarded the
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air for saving his aircraft after an engine failure in August 1955. Two days later, Duke fractured his spine following a forced landing in a Hunter at
Thorney Island. Another heavy landing in May 1956 caused further spinal injuries; he was forced to resign in October 1956 after being immobilised for several months.
Later life
Duke married Gwendoline Fellows in 1947.
Duke took up freelance aviation consultancy work until 1960, when he formed Duke Aviation Limited. He was Sir
George Dowty's personal pilot for most of the 1960s and 1970s. He sold the company in 1982. He also became a test pilot for Edgley Aircraft and later Brooklands Aircraft on the
Edgley Optica and Brooklands Firemaster 65.
Duke wrote several books based on his experiences. His autobiography, ''Test Pilot'', was published in 1953 and reprinted in 1992. His other books include ''The Sound Barrier'' (1953), ''The Crowded Sky'' (1959) and ''The War Diaries of Neville Duke'' (1995). He was awarded the
Royal Aero Club's gold medal and was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Aeronautical Society in 1993. In 2002, he received the
Air League's
Jeffrey Quill Medal and the Award of Honour from the
Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators for "his unique and incomparable record".
Duke became one of the vice presidents of the
Eagle Club, formed by the ''
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
'' magazine, in 1950, and many schoolboys from that era came to know of Duke through this association. It is speculated that "
Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future" may have been inspired by Duke's achievements.
[ ''Guardian News & Media 2008'' via ''Buzzle.com'', 13 April 2007. Retrieved: 6 September 2009.]
Duke was honorary president of
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, where his record-breaking Hunter is displayed.
After three burglaries, Duke sold his war medals in 2006 when the costs of insuring them became prohibitive. He denied press reports that he needed the money to pay for a hip operation for his wife Gwen. On 7 April 2007, the couple were flying their private aircraft when Duke became ill. He landed safely at
Popham Airfield, but collapsed as he left the aircraft. He was taken by ambulance to hospital in
Basingstoke where he was diagnosed as suffering from an
aneurysm. He was transferred to
St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Surrey, and died later that same evening after an operation, at the age of 85.
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Duke, Neville. ''Test Pilot''. London: Grub Street, 2003. .
* Fountain, Nigel
"Obituary: Squadron Leader Neville Duke".''
Guardian Unlimited'', 14 April 2007. Retrieved: 17 April 2007.
* Käsmann, Ferdinand C.W. ''Die schnellsten Jets der Welt (The Fastest Jets in the World)'' (in German). Berlin: Aviatic-Verlag GmbH, 1999. .
"Obituary".''
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 ...
'', 18 May 2007.
* "Obituary: Neville Duke". ''Pilot'', June 2007, p. 75.
"Obituary: Squadron Leader Neville Duke."''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', 13 April 2007. Retrieved: 13 April 2007.
"Obituary: Squadron Leader Neville Duke".''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 16 April 2007. Retrieved: 16 April 2007.
* Shores, Christopher and Clive Williams. ''Aces High''. London: Grub Street, 1994. .
* Stüwe, Botho. ''Peenemünde West'' (in German). Augsburg, Germany: Bechtermünz Verlag, 1999. .
* Thomas, Andrew. ''Tomahawk and Kittyhawk Aces of the RAF and Commonwealth''. Oxford, England: Osprey Publications, 2005. .
* Thomas, Nick. ''RAF Top Gun: Teddy Donaldson CB, DSO, AFC and Bar, Battle of Britain Ace and World Air Speed Record Holder''. London: Pen & Sword, 2008. .
External links
Hawker Hunter history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Neville
1922 births
2007 deaths
British World War II flying aces
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
English test pilots
Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at The Judd School
People from Tonbridge
Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air
Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross 1939–1945
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Air Force squadron leaders
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Segrave Trophy recipients
British aviation record holders