Alderson, Mark Flying Boat Pilot in War and Peace. Disaster and Survival. The Extraordinary Life of Captain M.J.R. "Roly" Alderson

When Roly Alderson heard at the age of twelve that Sir Ross Smith had broken the England-Australia aero record in a Vickers Vimy, he decided that he wanted to fly. The orphan Roly was denied a secondary education and by the time he arrived at Cambridge in his self-built car, he was already an accomplished engineer. He left university with a degree, a racing Bentley and a pilot's licence. Alderson had already completed several hundred flying hours when he was taken on by Imperial Airways in 1933. His skills were quickly recognised and he was chosen to fly Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy and Governor General of India, on his farewell tour of India. However, Alderson's personal Holy Grail was 'flying boats' and it wasn't long before Roly joined those honourable ranks on the new route to South Africa. While serving as captain on Imperial Airways' prestigious New York-Bermuda route, Alderson reported a number of serious concerns about carburettor icing on his Short Empire flying boat, the Cavalier. His warning was ignored, and on 21 January 1939, one day after issuing a final warning, the Cavalier was forced to make an emergency landing in the deserted expanse of the Atlantic. Thanks to Alderson's excellent flying skills and the bravery of the heroic passenger Edna Watson, ten of the thirteen people on board survived. Their miraculous rescue by the tanker Esso Baytown, part of a huge international search and rescue operation, after eleven gruelling hours in cold, shark-infested waters, dominated the world's headlines. Alderson returned to the long-range flying boat routes to Singapore and Durban, but was transferred to the dangerous West Africa route after the German invasion of France in 1940. After an encounter with a U-boat off Sierra Leone, he was tasked with bringing General de Gaulle back to the UK from Nigeria. After escaping a suspected poisoning attempt in Freetown and interception by the Luftwaffe over the Bay of Biscay, the General thanked Alderson personally for his safe return. Later, in 1940, the British government purchased three giant Boeing flying boats to maintain transatlantic communications during the war, and Alderson was put on the operational list for them. Flights in these behemoths took an incredibly long time, travelling over Portugal, West Africa and Brazil, with the fear of enemy attack a constant and very real threat. Only V.I.P.s and vital mail were carried, although Alderson once delivered President Roosevelt's personal gift to Winston Churchill: an important shipment of Havana cigars! This remarkable story of a flying boat pilot and captain in wartime and peacetime is full of adventure: racing Bentleys, landing on beaches, dinner with the Luftwaffe in evening dress, landings on the Nile, flights over India and espionage and intrigue in Lisbon.