Newspaper cuttings
Title
Newspaper cuttings
Description
Report on recruiting and reforming squadron including photograph of Flight Lieutenant Mellersh, Mr Proudlove, and Squadron Leader Norman Hayes. Photograph of Group Captain John Cunningham following record breaking flights.
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Type
Format
Four newspaper cuttings in an album
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
PCrossK22010014, PCrossK22010015
Transcription
[Photograph]
Flight-Lieut. Mellersh (left), Mr. Proudlove and Sqd.-Ldr. Norman Hayes (right) at Biggin Hill yesterday.
THEY REPLACE THE ‘FIRST OF THE FEW’
By Daily Graphic Reporter
AT Biggin Hill Aerodrome yesterday the “New Few” met on the runway of this most famous of all Battle of Britain fighter stations to plan the re-forming of the 600 City of London Auxiliary Air Force Squadron.
It was here that the “First of the Few” met to drive the Hun from the sky in the first summer of the war. And it was here that the Territorials of the air met again yesterday.
Their squadron, one of the 20 now being re-formed, needs 14 pilots and 113 aircrew.
“Recruiting has not yet got into its full stride, but already we have had hundreds of applications” said Flight-Lieut. Mellersh, the Adjutant.
Week-end Training
Flight-Lieut. Mellersh, night fighter ace, fought with the old City of London Squadron in North Africa and Sicily. Head of the Squadron is Sqd.-Leader Norman Hayes, a former station commander at Biggin Hill.
Sqd.-Leader Hayes, director of a furnishing firm, who has rejoined the squadron as an auxiliary, told me: “Our training is at the week-ends and recruits have to put in two week-ends a month. They have also to attend one night a week at Finsbury Barracks.”
[break]
GROUP CAPTAIN JOHN CUNNINGHAM, D.S.O. and two bars, O.B.E., D.F.C. and bar, earned the nickname of “Catseyes” for his skill as a war-time night-fighter pilot. Educated at Whitgift, he joined the De Havilland Aircraft Company on leaving school in 1935 and has been their chief test pilot since 1946. The testing of the Comet Airliners has kept his name in the world’s news. With the Comet II, in 1954, he set up a record of 481 m.p.h. for the 3,080 miles from London to Khartoum. In December 1955 he flew the Atlantic in the Comet III at 548 m.p.h. He enjoys country life and lives at Kinsbourne Green in Hertfordshire.
[break]
There’s no place like home for tea –
[Photograph]
The Comet landing back at London Airport yesterday – in time for tea.
– But It made a change to whip over to Tripoli for an early breakfast
“DAILY MIRROR” REPORTER
THE De Havilland Comet, the world’s first all-jet airliner, screamed down on to London Airport yesterday afternoon – in time for tea.
Out jumped Group Captain John Cunningham, the pilot, laughing and carrying his black brief case.
He had flown from London to Castel Benito, Tripoli, and back in 6h 38m. – 2,980 miles at an average speed of 450 m.p.h.
Men and women hurried from their offices as the jet liner roared overhead.
Airport police had to hold back a big crowd that ran on to the tarmac to greet Cunningham.
“I had a coffee just before I left London at 6.33 this morning,” he told me. “We landed at Castel Benito at 9.56 and there I had a breakfast of eggs and coffee.
“There was a big crowd to greet us. We refuelled and took off again at 12.04.
“Our route there and back was via Hastings, Dieppe, Marseilles and Sardinia.
[break]
[Photograph]
Group Captain John Cunningham (tweed suit) on the tarmac at London Airport yesterday. Three and a quarter hours before he had been standing on the airfield at Castel Benito, Tripoli, 1,490 miles away. He touched 525 m.p.h. at times
[second image to show otherwise hidden details]
Flight-Lieut. Mellersh (left), Mr. Proudlove and Sqd.-Ldr. Norman Hayes (right) at Biggin Hill yesterday.
THEY REPLACE THE ‘FIRST OF THE FEW’
By Daily Graphic Reporter
AT Biggin Hill Aerodrome yesterday the “New Few” met on the runway of this most famous of all Battle of Britain fighter stations to plan the re-forming of the 600 City of London Auxiliary Air Force Squadron.
It was here that the “First of the Few” met to drive the Hun from the sky in the first summer of the war. And it was here that the Territorials of the air met again yesterday.
Their squadron, one of the 20 now being re-formed, needs 14 pilots and 113 aircrew.
“Recruiting has not yet got into its full stride, but already we have had hundreds of applications” said Flight-Lieut. Mellersh, the Adjutant.
Week-end Training
Flight-Lieut. Mellersh, night fighter ace, fought with the old City of London Squadron in North Africa and Sicily. Head of the Squadron is Sqd.-Leader Norman Hayes, a former station commander at Biggin Hill.
Sqd.-Leader Hayes, director of a furnishing firm, who has rejoined the squadron as an auxiliary, told me: “Our training is at the week-ends and recruits have to put in two week-ends a month. They have also to attend one night a week at Finsbury Barracks.”
[break]
GROUP CAPTAIN JOHN CUNNINGHAM, D.S.O. and two bars, O.B.E., D.F.C. and bar, earned the nickname of “Catseyes” for his skill as a war-time night-fighter pilot. Educated at Whitgift, he joined the De Havilland Aircraft Company on leaving school in 1935 and has been their chief test pilot since 1946. The testing of the Comet Airliners has kept his name in the world’s news. With the Comet II, in 1954, he set up a record of 481 m.p.h. for the 3,080 miles from London to Khartoum. In December 1955 he flew the Atlantic in the Comet III at 548 m.p.h. He enjoys country life and lives at Kinsbourne Green in Hertfordshire.
[break]
There’s no place like home for tea –
[Photograph]
The Comet landing back at London Airport yesterday – in time for tea.
– But It made a change to whip over to Tripoli for an early breakfast
“DAILY MIRROR” REPORTER
THE De Havilland Comet, the world’s first all-jet airliner, screamed down on to London Airport yesterday afternoon – in time for tea.
Out jumped Group Captain John Cunningham, the pilot, laughing and carrying his black brief case.
He had flown from London to Castel Benito, Tripoli, and back in 6h 38m. – 2,980 miles at an average speed of 450 m.p.h.
Men and women hurried from their offices as the jet liner roared overhead.
Airport police had to hold back a big crowd that ran on to the tarmac to greet Cunningham.
“I had a coffee just before I left London at 6.33 this morning,” he told me. “We landed at Castel Benito at 9.56 and there I had a breakfast of eggs and coffee.
“There was a big crowd to greet us. We refuelled and took off again at 12.04.
“Our route there and back was via Hastings, Dieppe, Marseilles and Sardinia.
[break]
[Photograph]
Group Captain John Cunningham (tweed suit) on the tarmac at London Airport yesterday. Three and a quarter hours before he had been standing on the airfield at Castel Benito, Tripoli, 1,490 miles away. He touched 525 m.p.h. at times
[second image to show otherwise hidden details]
Collection
Citation
“Newspaper cuttings,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed January 21, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42225.