Reginald Archibald Cammell (10 January 1886 – 17 September 1911) was an early British military aviator
Early Aviators website and the first to be killed on active service.

Early life

Cammell was born in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in Scotland in 1886, the oldest of three children of Katherine Marion ''née'' Orr (1860–1947) and Archibald Allan Cammell (1856–1911), an old Etonian formerly of the 21st Foot but serving as a lieutenant in the 14th Hussars when the couple married in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

in India in 1880. Reginald Cammell's grandfather was the industrialist Charles Cammell (1810–1879) of Brookfield Manor in

Hathersage Hathersage ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England. It lies slightly to the north of the River Derwent, approximately south-west of Sheffield. Toponymy The origin of its name is disputed, although it is ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, whose company later became

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

.CAMMELL, Reginald Archibald
Hathersage Royal British Legion: 1914-19 World War – The Hathersage Connections In 1891 aged 5 'Reggie' Cammell was living with his parents and younger siblings in

Merrow Merrow (from Irish language, Irish ', Middle Irish ' or ') is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is anglicised from the Irish word murúch. The merrows supposedly require a magical cap (; anglicised: #Cohuleen druith, cohuleen dr ...

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 ...

. The family had a governess, a nursery nurse, a cook and a parlour maid. His parents divorced in early 1911 as a result of his father's adultery with various women. Reginald Cammell joined the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and was appointed second lieutenant on 25 July 1906, and promoted lieutenant on 22 November 1908. After gaining experience with the Army dirigibles he took up the new heavier-than air type of machines, joining No.2 Company of the newly formed

Air Battalion Royal Engineers The Air Battalion Royal Engineers (ABRE) was the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces to make use of heavier-than-air craft. Founded in 1911, the battalion in 1912 became part of the Royal Flying Corps, which in turn evolved into the Ro ...

Farnborough Airfield Farnborough Airport (previously called: TAG Farnborough Airport, RAE Farnborough, ICAO Code EGLF) is an operational business/executive general aviation airport in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England. The airport covers about 8% of Ru ...

in 1908. He was one of only three officers in the Air Battalion who qualified in all forms of aircraft:

balloons A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

man-lifting kite A man-lifting kite is a kite designed to lift a person from the ground. Historically, man-lifting kites have been used chiefly for reconnaissance. Interest in their development declined with the advent of powered flight at the beginning of the 20 ...

s and aeroplanes. In December 1910 he took his

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

aviator's test flying a

Bristol Biplane Type 'T' The Bristol Biplane Type 'T', sometimes called the Challenger-Dickson Biplane, was a derivative of the Bristol Boxkite. It was built in 1911 by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company and was designed as a cross-country racing aircraft for ...

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, but st ...

. The test required that he make three separate flights of three miles around a circular course without the aircraft touching the ground. At the end of each flight the engine had to be stopped in the air and the aircraft glided in to land within 150 yards of a location previously decided by the pilot and indicated to the officials. He gained his

certificate on 7 January 1911 with the low number of 45 (making him the 45th man in Great Britain to qualify for his pilot licence). Cammell inherited Brookfield Manor on the death of his father in March 1911, and it is inscribed as his home on his headstone, but he could not have lived there for any length of time as he died six months later while the 1911 census lists him as living in Gibraltar Barracks in

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

with his regiment. In April 1911 he became involved in test flying early aircraft and went to the Bleriot school at

Étampes Étampes () is a Communes of France, commune in the functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a Subprefectures in ...

where he met "with commendable success" flying the

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. ...

, afterwards making numerous cross-country flights in England, first on single-seater, and later a two-seater, his aggregate mileage on the Bleriots approximating 2,000. In July 1911 he took part in the

Daily Mail Circuit of Britain air race The ''Daily Mail'' Circuit of Britain air race was a British cross-country air race that took place from 1911 until 1914, with prizes donated by the ''Daily Mail'' newspaper on the initiative of its proprietor, Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount N ...

but only completed the first stage, retiring after a forced landing east of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

Flying career and fatal accident

A skilful and experienced flier, on 17 September 1911, aged 25, Lieutenant Cammell was killed in the crash of a Valkyrie monoplane at

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

. Cammell was testing the new 50 hp Gnome engine that had been fitted to the monoplane intending to after fly it over to his headquarters at Farnborough. When the breeze that had prevailed all day died down, Cammell took off to make a preliminary circuit. After his first circuit, Cammell took the aircraft up to about and attempted a spiral vol plane (a gliding spiral). Being unfamiliar with the controls, he turned the machine too sharply and losing control of the aircraft it plummeted to the ground. Cammell was thrown clear of the wreckage, but hitting the ground with his head, he suffered a severe concussion of the brain. The first to reach Cammell discovered that he was still alive but dead by the time he reached the Central London Sick Asylum, which adjoined the aviation grounds. A 1922 account of the formation of 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 ...

states this was the only fatal accident in the Air Battalion.

Inquest

An inquest into his death held at

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

gave a verdict of "death by misadventure". Cammell's commanding officer at the Air Battalion, Major Sir

Alexander Bannerman Sir Alexander Bannerman (7 October 1788 – 30 December 1864) was a Scottish merchant, vintner, politician and British colonial governor. Early life Known as "Sandy", he was born on 7 October 1788 in Scotland. He was the eldest son of merchant ...

, stated that Cammell was "a bold yet careful flyer. He was not reckless, but was a man prepared to take risks if the necessity arose." Knowing that Cammell was going to fly a machine new to him, the Coroner, Dr. George Cohen, asked Bannerman whether Cammell minded flying it. Bannerman replied that "he had not in the least, but that as it was a strange machine to him he would not fly it in a wind, as he would his own machine — a Bleriot". Bannerman added that Cammell "was very fond of trying sharp turns on his own machine" and he conjectured that Cammell "might have tried to do too much." Dr. Cohen stated that there was no evidence that the aircraft was defective and that he believed that Lieutenant Cammell must have had "some temporary loss of knowledge or control of the machine and mistaken it for another".

Burial at Aldershot

Reginald Archibald Cammell was buried with full military honours in

Aldershot Military Cemetery Aldershot Military Cemetery is a burial ground for military personnel, or ex-military personnel and their families, located in Aldershot Military Town, Hampshire. The cemetery was created in 1850s by the Royal Engineers during the building of ...

, and today his grave is just a few feet from that of aviation pioneer

Samuel Franklin Cody Samuel Franklin Cowdery (later known as Samuel Franklin Cody; 6 March 1867 – 7 August 1913, born Davenport, Iowa, USA)) was a Wild West showman and early pioneer of manned flight. He is most famous for his work on the large kites kno ...

. His mother and sister were the chief mourners while practically all the officers of the Air Battalion followed in the funeral procession. The coffin was carried to the graveside by non-commissioned men of the deceased's own battalion, and his brother officers acted as pallbearers. Cammell was unmarried and left his estate valued at £3,412 2s 8d to his recently widowed mother.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Reginald Archibald Cammell (1911): Ancestry.com
/ref> Unusually, he and his father (who had died in March 1911) have adjoining entries in the Probate Register. His obelisk memorial opposite the Cathedral of St Michael and St George on Queen's Avenue in

has been a Grade II listed memorial on the Register of

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

since 2010 owing to its historic significance "as commemorating a pioneer of military aviation, and marking the esteem in which he was held by fellow aviators.MEMORIAL TO LIEUTENANT REGINALD ARCHIBALD CAMMELL, AIR BATTALION ROYAL ENGINEERS

Listed Building Database The monument is one of the oldest to commemorate the death of a pilot.Memorial to Lieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell, Air Battalion Royal Engineers, Aldershot, Hampshire: Grade II listed

Heritage Calling Official Blog

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cammell, Reginald Archibald 1886 births 1911 deaths Military personnel from Inverness Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England Burials at Aldershot Military Cemetery Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1911 British aviation pioneers Royal Engineers officers