Johnson, Amy, 1903-1941

Amy Johnson CBE (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records during the 1930s. In 1933, Katharine Hepburn's character in the film Christopher Strong was inspired by Johnson. She flew in the Second World War as a part of the Air Transport Auxiliary and disappeared during a ferry flight. The cause of her death has been a subject of discussion over many years. Born in 1903 in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Johnson was educated at Boulevard Municipal Secondary School (later Kingston High School) and the University of Sheffield, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.[2] She then worked in London as secretary to a solicitor, William Charles Crocker. She was introduced to flying as a hobby, gaining an aviator's certificate, No. 8662,[3] on 28 January 1929, and a pilot's "A" licence, No. 1979, on 6 July 1929, both at the London Aeroplane Club under the tutelage of Captain Valentine Baker. In that same year, she became the first British woman to obtain a ground engineer's "C" licence.[4]

Johnson was a friend and collaborator of Fred Slingsby whose Yorkshire based company, Slingsby Aviation of Kirbymoorside, North Yorkshire, became the UK's most famous glider manufacturer. Slingsby helped found Yorkshire Gliding Club at Sutton Bank and during the 1930s she was an early member and trainee.[5][6] Johnson obtained the funds for her first aircraft from her father, who was always one of her strongest supporters, and Lord Wakefield.[2] She purchased a secondhand de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth G-AAAH and named it Jason after her father's business trade mark.[7][Note 1]

Johnson achieved worldwide recognition when, in 1930, she became the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Flying G-AAAH Jason, she left Croydon Airport, Surrey, on 5 May and landed at Darwin, Northern Territory on 24 May, 11,000 miles (18,000 km) later.[8] Six days after, she damaged her aircraft while landing downwind at Brisbane airport and flew to Sydney with Captain Frank Follett while her plane was repaired. Jason was later flown to Mascot, Sydney, by Captain Lester Brain.[9][10] Jason is now on permanent display in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum in London. In July 1931, she and co-pilot Jack Humphreys became the first people to fly from London to Moscow in one day, completing the 1,760 miles (2,830 km) journey in approximately 21 hours. From there, they continued across Siberia and on to Tokyo, setting a record time for Britain to Japan.[13]

In 1932, Johnson married Scottish pilot Jim Mollison, who had proposed to her during a flight together some eight hours after they had first met. In July 1932, Johnson set a solo record for the flight from London to Cape Town, South Africa in Puss Moth G-ACAB, named Desert Cloud, breaking her new husband's record.[13] De Havilland Co and Castrol Oil featured this flight in advertising campaigns.[14]


Amy Johnson and Jason in Jhansi, India in May 1930

On 29 July 1932, Amy Johnson and Jim Mollison married
In July 1933, Johnson together with Mollison flew the G-ACCV, named Seafarer, a de Havilland DH.84 Dragon I,[13] nonstop from Pendine Sands, South Wales, heading to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York.[ The Mollisons also flew, in record time, from Britain to India in 1934 in a G-ACSP, named Black Magic, a de Havilland DH.88 Comet, as part of the Britain to Australia MacRobertson Air Race, but were forced to retire from the race at Allahabad because of engine trouble.[13]

In September 1934, Johnson (under her married name of Mollison) became the youngest president of the Women's Engineering Society, having been vice-president since 1934.[17] Johnson succeeded Elizabeth M. Kennedy in the role[18] and was in turn succeeded as President by Edith Mary Douglas.[19] She was active in the society until her death.[20]

On 4 May 1936, Johnson made her last record-breaking flight, starting from Gravesend Airport and regaining her Britain to South Africa record in G-ADZO, a Percival Gull Six.[21] The same year she was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club.[4]

She further honed her gliding skills with the Midland Gliding Club, based in Shropshire, which she joined in October 1937, and remained an active flying member until gliding was suspended following the outbreak of the Second World War.[22 During the Second World War, Johnson's employing company’s aircraft were taken over by the Air Ministry in March 1940 and she was served notice of redundancy alongside all other pilots in the company as all the aircraft were requisitioned for the war effort. She received a week's pay and a further four weeks' pay of £40 as a redundancy package.[27]

Two months later, Johnson joined the newly formed Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), which transported Royal Air Force aircraft around the country. She rose to first officer under the command of her friend and fellow pilot Pauline Gower.[28] Her former husband also flew for the ATA throughout the war.[29] Johnson described a typical day in her life in the ATA in a humorous article (published posthumously in 1941) for The Woman Engineer journal.[20] In a last letter to her friend, Caroline Haslett, on New Year's Day 1941, Johnson wrote: "I hope the gods will watch over you this year, and I wish you the best of luck (the only useful thing not yet taxed!)"[20] On 5 January 1941, while flying an Airspeed Oxford for the ATA from Prestwick via RAF Squires Gate to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, Johnson went off course in adverse weather conditions. Reportedly out of fuel, she bailed out as her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary near Herne Bay.

A convoy of wartime vessels in the Thames Estuary spotted Johnson's parachute coming down and saw her alive in the water, calling for help.[30] Conditions were poor: there was a heavy sea and a strong tide, snow was falling and it was intensely cold.[31] Lt Cmdr Walter Fletcher, the Captain of HMS Haslemere,[Note 3] navigated his ship to attempt a rescue.[31] The crew of the vessel threw ropes out to Johnson but she was unable to reach them and was lost under the ship. A number of witnesses believed there was a second body in the water.[30] Fletcher dived in and swam out to this, rested on it for a few minutes and then let go. When the lifeboat reached him he was unconscious and as a result of the intense cold he died in hospital days later.[31][32] Johnson's watertight flying bag, her log book and cheque book later washed up and were recovered near the crash site.[33][25]

A memorial service was held for Johnson in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields on 14 January 1941. Lt Cmdr Walter Fletcher was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal in May 1941.[31]

Amy Johnson was born in 1903 in Hull, England, where her father was a fish merchant. She entered Sheffield University where she earned a B.S. in 1926. After working as a secretary for three years, she became a member of the London Aeroplane Club, located at Stag Lane. Not only did she obtain her pilot's license in 1928, but with the teaching of Jack Humphries, became the first woman in England to earn as aircraft engineer's license.

In 1929 she decided to make a reputation for herself by attempting a long distance flight no woman had ever tried before. She chose to fly to Australia so she would not have to pilot over a large expanse of ocean. She had trouble finding financial backing, but finally persuaded Lord Wakefield to front half of the expense for her craft, a DeHavilland Gipsy Moth named "Jason"; her father paid for the other half. After 85 hours of solo flight and a previous cross country flight record of 147 miles, she left for Australia in May 1930. Her trip took 19 ½ days and she became an instant celebrity. She continued making record flights, including a failed attempt to Peking in 1931, and with Jack Humphries as a co-pilot, set a speed record from London to Tokyo in ten days.

In 1932, she married Jim Mollison, who was a leading British Flyer and had set numerous records of his own. He flew England to Capetown, South Africa in 4 days and made the first solo Europe to America crossing a month after the wedding. Ironically, Amy then beat his Capetown record in '32. They decided to attempt a long distance around the world flight, but due to fuel loss, crashed in Connecticut. They later tried to win the Australia-England Trophy Race in 1934, but had to withdraw due to mechanical difficulty. By 1938, they were divorced; Amy began to write articles about flying and gave up the pursuit of long distance flights.

With the advent of World War II, Amy joined the British Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). While flying from Blackpool to Oxford, Amy Johnson overshot her destination by 100 miles. She ditched in the Thames Estuary after running out of fuel, and although a Convoy Thrawler tried to rescue her, she drowned on January 5, 1941.