A FAILED ENDEAVOUR: AN AEROPLANE CRASH IN SURBITON, 1919

On 13 November 1919, an aeroplane named Endeavour took off from Hounslow aerodrome [TW4 5AF] on the first leg of a journey to Australia.  Sadly, it crashed just over five miles away, in Lower Marsh Lane, Surbiton [KT1 3BN] and both occupants, Lieutenants James Ross and Roger Douglas, of the Australian Flying Corps, were killed.  They were in pursuit of a prize of £10,000 offered by the Australian Government for the first aeroplane to fly from England to Australia within 30 days.  According to newspapers, which varied in detail,  the inquest’s verdict was that the deaths were due to accidental causes and no specific person was to blame.  However, questions posed by interested parties remained unanswered.  The report of the Air Council’s inquiry was not available,  but The Times reported an official conclusion that the pilot, flying low because of thick mist,  had stalled the aeroplane and thereafter it went into a spin before it crashed.  Endeavour was designed for  high flying and, as the pilot, Roger Douglas, sat behind the navigator, he had limited forward vision.  After the disaster, James Peters, Endeavour’s  designer, left the aircraft industry and The Alliance Company withdrew from the market.