Autobiography eric winkle brown

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Winkle: The Extraordinary Life Of Britain's Greatest Pilot  

by Paul Beaver (Michael Joseph £25, 544 pp)

Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown may not be a household name, but he certainly should be, and this thumping great biography by Britain’s leading aviation historian deserves to put that right.

In an enthralling career, Brown, a naval test pilot of exceptional skill and dedication, flew more hours (well over 6,000) than anyone else in 487 different planes and helicopters, numbers which will never be beaten.

His nerves of steel and limitless bravery in World War II, and later as a senior test pilot, will never be forgotten. 

It was an amazingly varied and busy life. He had a seemingly insatiable appetite for risk and, as an indefatigable senior aviator with the Fleet Air Arm, he helped to develop planes and aircraft carriers that proved crucial to winning the war.

A superb pilot and a pioneer of highly hazardous landings on the narrow deck of aircraft carriers (he still holds the world record for the most landings), he was, if you like, Britain’s very own Top Gun. 

He was showered with awards and accolades — the King, George VI, groaned: ‘What, you again?’ as he handed him yet another gong.

A fluent German speaker as well as a huge admirer of the German people, Brown — the ‘Winkle’ was an affectionate nickname for anyone in the Royal Navy on the shortish side; Brown was 5ft 7in — played a significant role in the final moments of the war.

Brown was able to identify a disguised Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler’s SS, when he was taken prisoner in 1945. 

He was also called in

Review by Duncan Lunan

In ‘Space Notes’, ON April 9 2023, I wrote about the extraordinary life of the late Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, basing the article on his autobiography Wings on My Sleeve  (second edition, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006) and on his lectures at the annual Charterhouse Conferences of the British Rocketry Oral History Programme, in the 2000s.  Eric was the designated test pilot for Britain’s attempt to break the Sound Barrier with the Miles M.52, before the programme was cancelled by the Ministry of Supply in mysterious circumstances in 1946.  Last week, drawing on the book Miles M.52, Gateway to Supersonic Flight  (Spellmount, The History Press, 2012), by Eric Brown and Dennis Bancroft, I went into detail about that and quoted Wings on My Sleeve about his interest in the subsequent USAF and US Navy rocket aircraft programme at Edwards Air Force Base in California  (where I saw the Space Shuttle land in 1984 – ON July 31 2022). 

Over 40 years, up to his death in February 2016, Eric was a close friend of Paul Beaver’s and gave him full access to his archives, on condition that nothing would be published until after his death.  Although the book runs to 516 pages, 50,000 words had to be cut from it before publication, and it’s to be hoped that some of that will see the light of day in due course, because it contains a great deal of new information and already more facts are coming to light.

One revelation is that although Eric accepted the title ‘Scotsman of the Year’ before his death, strictly speaking he wasn’t one.  Born in Hackney and abandoned by his single mother, he was the only boy on a trainload of children sent to Scotland for adoption.  Although he chose to keep that secret, personally I regard that as irrelevant.  I was born in Edinburgh but have never li

On the occasion of the publication of his new biography of legendary test pilot and record holder, Captain Eric Melrose ‘Winkle’ Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, FRAeS, RN, author and historian PAUL BEAVER FRAeS gives an insight into the research of WINKLE – the Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot and separating fact from fiction.

Capt (then Lt Cdr) Eric 'Winkle' Brown (centre in dark overalls and lifejacket) after successfully landing a De Havilland Mosquito on the deck of HMS Indefatigable on 25 March 1944. (RAeS/NAL)

The biographer’s task is not always simple nor is it straightforward. The biographer should be prepared to write a narrative which is ‘warts and all’ of a famous person and sometimes one to whom that biographer has been close for decades. That can be tricky.

The Winkle biography has its gestation in 2009 at what we all thought was Captain Eric Brown’s 90th birthday. We discussed a biography, and I followed it up a little later to get a typical Eric response: ‘of course, dear boy but start work after I have passed on.’ By the way, he was only 89.

In the 40 years that I knew our greatest pilot, I always called him Eric, by the way, but of course the world knows him as Winkle, the shortest pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. When Eric was taken ill in 2016, I was the first outside the immediate family he called and so I feel the bond between us was strong.

Sadly, Eric did not leave the East Surrey Hospital after he was admitted and passed away on 21 February 2016. I spoke at his funeral and again at his memorial service. Crucially, I received his papers, notebooks, and the loan of family albums. His logbooks, however, went to the Fleet Air Arm Museum – but not before I had had a chance to read them.

Gathering the evidence

The author had exclusive access to Capt Brown's logbook, family photos and personal effects. (via Paul Beaver)

As a biography, rather like a Cold Case police investigator,

Royal Navy test pilot, author (1920–2016)

CaptainEric Melrose "Winkle" Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS (21 January 1920 – 21 February 2016) was a British Royal Navy officer and test pilot who flew 487 types of aircraft, more than anyone else in history.

Brown held the world record for the most aircraft carrier deck take-offs and landings performed (2,407 and 2,271 respectively) and achieved several "firsts" in naval aviation, including the first landings on an aircraft carrier of a twin-engined aircraft, an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, a jet aircraft, and a rotary-wing aircraft.

Brown flew almost every category of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force aircraft: glider, fighter, bomber, airliner, amphibian, flying boat and helicopter. During the Second World War, he flew many types of captured German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft, including new jet and rocket aircraft. He was a pioneer of jet technology into the postwar era.

Early life

Brown was born in Hackney, in the East End of London, but was put up for adoption. At this time there were few places for adoption in London but more in Scotland and he was adopted by Euphemia and Robert Brown in Edinburgh. Robert was a former balloon observer and pilot in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

Brown's adoptive father later took him to see the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hermann Göring had recently announced the existence of the Luftwaffe, and Brown and his father met and were invited to join social gatherings by members of the newly disclosed organisation. At one of these meetings, Ernst Udet, a former First World War fighter ace, was fascinated to make the acquaintance of Brown senior, a former RFC pilot, and offered to take his son Eric up flying with him. Eric eagerly accepted the German's offer and after his arrival at the appointed