On Wednesday March 9th Angela Bailey gave a copiously illustrated
talk
on the life of her father, famous Hawker test pilot and executive,
Frank Murphy. There was so much information in Angela’s talk that it
really is impossible to do it full justice in a space-constrained
Newsletter report, but only to give a taste of its scope. To get a
better understanding please visit the HA online video library.
As a child Angela grew up at Dunsfold Aerodrome and
was great
friends with Bill Bedford’s son, Peter, and John Gale’s daughter Diana,
now our Association membership secretary, both present at the talk.
Angela is a “forensic” researcher and set out to produce a
photo-biography of Frank for his grandchildren. Fortunately her mother,
Gloria “kept everything” so that made a good starting point for photos,
letters, cuttings and souvenirs. The internet, specialist archives
including newspapers, magazines, organisations, museums, armed forces
records, log books and so on were important sources and gave clues for
further searching. The talk drew on all the information Angela had in
her book and was illustrated with the visual artefacts she had
collected.
Frank was born in Lancashire in 1917 but moved to
New Zealand when his parents emigrated in 1922 and at 18 months he
contracted polio from which he recovered, and throughout his childhood
spent some time under traction. He had already started working in the
NZ Civil Service before volunteering for the Royal New Zealand Air
Force (RNZAF) when war was declared. Frank trained on Harvards, Miles
Master IIs and Spitfires. In England he initially flew Hurricanes at
Wittering, then from August 1942 Typhoons with 486 Squadron at
Tangmere. This squadron’s main purpose was in defending the south coast
and they also provided bomber escorts, carried out ship strikes and
spotted downed airmen for rescue,
For all of his service career Frank was with 486
Squadron RNZAF which Roland Beamont described as “an exuberant band of
New Zealanders with a brilliant record on Typhoons and a rather casual
approach to King’s Regulations and Air Council Instructions - and to
‘Pommy Bastard’ Wing Leaders.” During the war 486 flew 11,619 sorties,
destroyed 81 aircraft with 5 probables and 22 damaged, accounted for
233 flying bombs and sank 16 ships, as well as destroying a large
number of surface targets.
In 1943 Frank became the first 486 Sqn pilot to be
decorated receiving a DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) in December and
he was appointed Flight Commander ‘A’ Flight. In January 1944 he was
seconded to Hawker Aircraft Ltd at Langley as a production test pilot
and in April 1945 Frank married Gloria Higgs in Windsor.
In 1945 486 Sqn moved to continental Europe
supporting the post-invasion advance towards Germany. After the war
Frank joined Hawker as a test pilot under Hubert Broad flying alongside
Phillip Lucas, Chips Carpenter, Frank Silk and Dicky Muspratt. In
December 1945 Frank went to India to oversee the delivery of 180
Tempest IIs to India. Len Hearsey supervised the assembly of the
aircraft and Frank oversaw flight testing and aircrew training, also
demonstrating the aircraft’s capabilities on visits to Indian Air Force
stations. By hitching many flights Frank found his way to Ceylon where
he met up with Gloria who had arrived by sea, to go on to New Zealand.
Back at Hawker Frank hit the headlines when he
successfully force landed a Sea Fury on the Long Walk in Windsor Great
Park. Around this time Hawker’s first jet, the P.1040, was being flown
by Chief Test Pilot Bill Humble from Langley but this grass airfield
was not really suitable for jets so the aircraft was soon based at
Farnborough. With Hawker on a high this was a time of record breaking,
demonstrations, air displays and races. .
After questions the vote of thanks for this
absorbing talk was given by Frank Rainsborough who told us that Angela
would be returning to deliver part two of her father’s life.