John de Havilland (pilot)
{{short description|British test pilot}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John de Havilland
| image = John de Havilland 1943 IWM TR 928.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = John de Havilland (left) checking the flight log book with two fitters beside a Mosquito after a test flight, 1943
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|10|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Edgware, Middlesex, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|08|23|1918|10|17|df=yes}}
| death_place = Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Test pilot
| father = Geoffrey de Havilland
| nationality = British
}}
John de Havilland (17 October 1918 – 23 August 1943) was a British test pilot.{{r|Burke 1965 p. 196}}
John and his brothers, Geoffrey de Havilland Jr. and Peter, were sons of Geoffrey de Havilland, the famous designer and manufacturer.{{r|Society 2016 p. 52}} All three brothers were pilots and flew as test pilots for the de Havilland company. John had been a sergeant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) prior to the Second World War. Due to the demands for pilots in the de Havilland company, he was released from service and joined his father's firm.{{r|Aeronautics 1943 p. 16}}
Death
File:De Havilland Mosquito IV ExCC.jpg
During a test flight of a de Havilland Mosquito Mark VI, flying with flight test observer John H. F. Scrope, he collided in the vicinity of St Albans with another Mosquito Mark VI flown by pilot George Gibbins.{{r|Kingdom Club 1943 p. 249}} Both aircraft disintegrated in the air, killing all four occupants aboard. Godfrey J. Carter was flying as an observer in Gibbins's aircraft.{{r|Lawrence 2016 p. 62}}
His elder brother Geoffrey Jr also died in an aircraft accident three years later, whilst carrying out high-speed tests in the de Havilland DH 108 TG306 which broke up over the Thames Estuary, on 27 September 1946.
Legacy
The John de Havilland Scholarship Fund was set up by Geoffrey de Havilland after his son's death. The award is associated with the aviation industry and its purpose is to develop the industry by recognising exceptional young people who will enter the profession.{{r|Kingdom 1960 p. 135}}
{{chart top|de Havilland family tree}}
{{Tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | |F|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|7}}
{{Tree chart
| | |AJ|V|RCH| | | | | | | | | | | | | |P4|V|P5
|AJ=Alice Jeannette (née Saunders)
1854–1911
|P4=Walter de Havilland
1872-1968
|P5=Lilian Fontaine (Ruse)
1886-1975
|RCH=Rev. Charles de Havilland
1854-1920
|boxstyle_P4=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P5=background:pink;
|boxstyle_RCH=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_AJ=background:pink;
}}
{{Tree chart| |,|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|V|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | |)|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | }}
{{Tree chart
|P24| |P22|V|P21|-|P23| |P20| |P2|V|P1|V|P3| |P6|V|P9
|P1=Olivia Mary de Havilland
1916-2020
|P2=Marcus Goodrich
1897-1991
|P3=Pierre Galante
1909-1998
|P6=Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland
1917-2013
|P9=William McElroy Dozier
1908-1991
|P20=Hereward de Havilland
1894-1976
|P21=Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland
1882-1965
|P22=Louise Thomas
-1949
|P23=Joan Mary Frith
1900-1974
|P24=Ivon Molesworth Charles Jordan de Havilland
1879-1905
|boxstyle_P1=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P3=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P6=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P21=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P22=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P23=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P9=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P2=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P20=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P24=background:lightblue;
}}
{{Tree chart| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | |! | | | |!| | | | | | | |!}}
{{Tree chart
| | |P30| |P31| |P32| | | | | | | | | |P7 | |P8| | | | | |P10
|P7=Benjamin Goodrich
1949-1991
|P8=Gisèle Galante
1956-
|P10=Deborah Leslie
1949-
|P30=Peter Jason de Havilland
1913-1977
|P31=Geoffrey de Havilland Jr.
1910-1946
|P32=John de Havilland
1918-1943
|boxstyle_P7=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P8=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P10=background:pink;
|boxstyle_P30=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P31=background:lightblue;
|boxstyle_P32=color:yellow; background-color: green;
}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
{{chart bottom}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
| title = Aeronautics
| issue = v. 9-10
| year = 1943
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rITVAAAAMAAJ
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 16
| quote = John de Havilland was 25, single, and lived at Bushey Heath. As soon as he was old enough to do so he followed the examples of his father and two brothers, Geoffrey and Peter, and qualified as a pilot. He entered the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve some time before the outbreak of war, and was a sergeant-pilot. He was mobilised immediately hostilities opened, and joined his unit. Subsequently, when the de Havilland Company was in urgent need of test pilots, he was released ...
}}
| last = Burke
| first = B.
| title = Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry: Founded 1836 by John Burke and Sir Bernard Burke
| publisher = Burke's Peerage
| issue = v. 1
| year = 1965
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FGZmAAAAMAAJ
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 196
| isbn = 9780850110067
}}
| last = Kingdom
| first = Royal Aero Club of the United
| title = Flight International
| publisher = IPC Transport Press Limited
| issue = v. 77
| year = 1960
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EIk7AAAAMAAJ
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 135
| quote = The John de Havilland Scholarship Fund, in memory of Sir Geoffrey and Lady de Havilland's third son (killed in a flying accident in 1943), has been administered by the SBAC since 1948. Until last year, it was used to give financial help to boys wishing to take up an apprenticeship in the aircraft industry; but now this new form of award has been devised, emphasizing the spirit of adventure and use of initiative and resource. ...
}}
| last1 = Kingdom
| first1 = Royal Aero Club of the United
| last2 = Club
| first2 = United Service and Royal Aero
| title = Flight International
| publisher = IPC Transport Press Limited
| issue = v. 44
| year = 1943
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lmDmAAAAMAAJ
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 249
}}
| last = Lawrence
| first = B.G.
| title = Hatfield at War: The story of life in a small town in 1939–45
| publisher = Hatfield Local History Society
| year = 2016
| isbn = 978-0-9928416-6-9
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5ro2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 62
}}
| last = Society
| first = H.L.H.
| title = Taking Off: Memories of de Havilland at Hatfield
| publisher = Hatfield Local History Society
| year = 2016
| isbn = 978-0-9928416-5-2
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7ro2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA52
| access-date = 13 February 2018
| page = 52
}}
}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|John de Havilland (pilot)}}
- [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1943/1943%20-%202145.html "1943 | 2145 | Flight Archive."] flightglobal.com. Retrieved: 20 August 2009.
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040829061906/http://worldroots.com/brigitte/royal/plantagenet/charleshavillanddesc1823.htm |date=29 August 2004 |title="Genealogy of the de Havilland family" }}. worldroots.com. Retrieved: 20 August 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Havilland, John}}
Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England
Category:Royal Air Force airmen
Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943