Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company. Born at Marsh Hall Farm,

Farnworth, Widnes Farnworth is part of the town of Widnes which is in the Borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire and historic county of Lancashire, England. A village between Prescot and Penketh, its name is now that of an electoral ward in the B ...

, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief designer for Avro and was responsible for practically all of their aeroplane designs. He is famous in particular for designing the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the S ...

bomber, its follow-up

Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which maiden flight, first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed L ...

and preliminary designs of the

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe an ...

V-bomber. He also converted the Lincoln into the Shackleton. His

Avro York The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of L ...

s carried one-third of the entire British tonnage during the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

. Chadwick married Mary Gomersall in 1921 and had two daughters.

Early life

Chadwick attended St Clements Church School in

Urmston Urmston is a town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, which had a population of 41,825 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is the ...

, then studied at night school from 1907 to 1911 at the Manchester Municipal College of Technology whilst training as a draughtsman at the British Westinghouse Electrical Company in

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Trafford, Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Unt ...

under

George Edwin Bailey Sir George Edwin Bailey CBE MIMechE MIEE (19 October 1879 – 14 October 1965) was a British electrical engineer and industrialist. He was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, the tenth child of master tailor Thomas W. Bailey, and educate ...

Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...

Avro years

At age 18 in September 1911, he began work as Alliott Verdon-Roe's (later Sir Alliott) personal assistant and the firm's draughtsman at A.V. Roe and Company, Avro, based at Brownsfield Mill, Manchester. Under the direction of A.V. Roe, Chadwick drafted the

Avro D The Avro Type D was an aircraft built in 1911 by the pioneer British aircraft designer A.V. Roe. Roe had previously built and flown several aircraft at Brooklands, most being tractor layout triplanes. The Type D was his first biplane. Design ...

, a two-seater tractor biplane, the

Avro E The Avro Type E, Type 500, and Type 502 made up a family of early British military aircraft, regarded by Alliott Verdon Roe as his firm's first truly successful design. It was a forerunner of the Avro 504, one of the outstanding aircraft of the ...

, which was converted to a floatplane, and in 1912, the Avro F, the world's first monoplane and enclosed-cabin machine. He then worked on the draughtsmanship for the

Avro 500 The Avro Type E, Type 500, and Type 502 made up a family of early British military aircraft, regarded by Alliott Verdon Roe as his firm's first truly successful design. It was a forerunner of the Avro 504, one of the outstanding aircraft of th ...

, 501 and

503 __NOTOC__ Year 503 ( DIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Volusianus and Dixicrates (or, less frequently, year 125 ...

, which led to Avro's

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

light bomber and trainer, the

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

. In 1915 at age 22, Chadwick designed the

Avro Pike The Avro 523 Pike (the first Avro aircraft to receive a name) was a British multi-role combat aircraft of the World War I, First World War that did not progress past the prototype stage. It was intended to provide the Royal Naval Air Service wi ...

, a twin-engined pusher biplane bomber. That year, when starting to design entire aircraft, he was based at Hamble, near

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

. In 1918 he was appointed Avro's Chief Designer when Avro had about 40 employees. He designed the

Avro Baby The Avro 534 Baby (originally named the "Popular") was a British single-seat light sporting biplane built shortly after the First World War. Development The Avro Baby was a single-bay biplane of conventional configuration with a wire-braced wo ...

and in 1920, the Avro Aldershot, the world's largest single-engined bomber and variants of the Aldershot, the Avro Ava and the

Avro Andover The Avro Andover was a 1920s British military transport aircraft built by Avro for the Royal Air Force. Four aircraft were built, in two versions. Three aircraft, the Type 561, were used as flying ambulances. The sole example of the Type 563 w ...

. In 1925 he designed an all-metal plane, the single-seater fighter Avro Avenger and in 1926, the

Avro Avian The Avro Avian was a series of British light aircraft designed and built by Avro in the 1920s and 1930s. While the various versions of the Avian were sound aircraft, they were comprehensively outsold by the de Havilland Moth and its descenda ...

in which

Bert Hinkler Herbert John Louis Hinkler (8 December 1892 – 7 January 1933), better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator (dubbed "Australian Lone Eagle") and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person ...

flew the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928. In 1928, he moved back to the Avro factory in Woodford, Greater Manchester, used by BAE Systems until its closure in 2012. That year, he designed an eight-passenger high wing plane, the Avro 10 and a four-passenger version, the Avro 4. In 1929, he designed the RAF trainer, the

Avro Tutor The Avro Type 621 Tutor is a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the interwar period. It was a simple but rugged basic trainer that was used by the Royal Air Force as well as many other air arms worldwide. Design and development The ...

, a smaller version, the Avro Cadet and an enclosed version, the Avro Commodore. This was followed by the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

, used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

for training crews and as transport aircraft. In the late 1930s work began on a long-range bomber, the

Avro Manchester The Avro 679 Manchester was a British twin-engine heavy bomber developed and manufactured by the Avro aircraft company in the United Kingdom. While not being built in great numbers, it was the forerunner of the famed and vastly more successfu ...

, followed by the

(Avro 683) of which 7,300 were built. In 1939, production of Avro aircraft was moved to a new factory at Greengate in

Chadderton Chadderton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk and Rochdale Canal. It is located in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Oldham, south of Rochdale and north-east of Manchester. His ...

, owned by BAE Systems until its closure in 2012. In 1941, he designed a long-range transport, the

and larger variants of the Lancaster, the

and the Avro Lancastrian. After the war, he designed Britain's first pressurised airliner, the

Avro Tudor The Avro Type 688 Tudor was a British piston-engined airliner based on Avro's four-engine Lincoln bomber, itself a descendant of the famous Lancaster heavy bomber, and was Britain's first pressurised airliner. Customers saw the aircraft as ...

, based around the Lancaster-derivative

, though few were built and also the Avro Shackleton in 1946. His final involvement with Avro was overseeing the initial designs of the

(Avro 698) from 1946. Author Harald Penrose describes Chadwick in "British Aviation" as "Artistic with unbounded enthusiasm and unsparing energy, Roy Chadwick was a great designer of intuitive diagnostic ability rather than a scientist, yet like all great masters was in step with the tide of knowledge and contemporary outlook." Chadwick was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the 1943 Birthday Honours for his contribution to the design of the Lancaster and in particular for the adaptations he made to it in preparation for the low-level attacks on the German dams, during the Dam Busters raid

Operation Chastise Operation Chastise or commonly known as the Dambusters Raid was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using special " bouncing bombs" developed b ...

. The same year he was granted the Honorary Freedom of the City of London.

Death

Chadwick died on 23 August 1947 in a crash during the takeoff of the prototype

2 ''G-AGSU'' from

Woodford Aerodrome Woodford Aerodrome is a former airfield and aircraft factory at Woodford, Greater Manchester, England, north of Macclesfield. It was opened by the Avro company after the First World War and became an important production centre for militar ...

, in the vicinity of Shirfold Farm. The accident was due to an error in an overnight servicing in which the

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement arou ...

cables were inadvertently crossed. His bust is displayed at the RAF Club in London, among other notable designers, and at the Chadwick Center at the International Bomber Command Center in Lincoln.

Legacy

The Chadwick Centre at the

International Bomber Command Centre The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) is a memorial and interpretation centre telling the story of Bomber Command overlooking the city of Lincoln, in England, the centre opened to the public at the end of January 2018. The official ope ...

in Lincolnshire is named in honour of Chadwick. He is commemorated by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

on the surviving office building of the Avro factory at Greengate. and a blue plaque at 38 Chessel Avenue in Bitterne, Hampshire, where he lived from 1922 to 29 when the AVRO design team was based nearby at Hamble. The Poynton Relief Road, which crosses the former Woodford Aerodrome runway, is due to be named Roy Chadwick Way in his honour.https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/council_information/media_hub/media_releases/new-53m-road-to-be-named-after-legendary-'dam-busters'-plane-designer.aspx

Chadwick’s private papers

Family correspondence with his daughter Rosemary Lapham, congratulations, personal documentation as well as photographs of family, acquaintances and aircraft, some conceptual engineering drawings and other mementos have been digitised and are available online.

References

External links

Biography and Avro history.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Roy 1893 births 1947 deaths Aircraft designers Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology Avro Lancaster Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English aerospace engineers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society People from Widnes People associated with the University of Manchester Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in England Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1947 Engineers from Lancashire