On a cold 28 November 1912, the celebrated aviator Gustav Hamel arrived in Leicester to put on a personal air display for the townspeople. He was welcomed to the Old County Cricket Ground in Aylestone by Mayor McCall and the Lady Mayoress, as well as a great number of deeply interested spectators.

 

He has flown across the English Channel a total of eleven times, and, at twenty-three years of age, he held the world altitude record to a height of 13,000 feet.

 

The first flight of the day was scheduled for 2.37 pm. His monoplane, which was being displayed in front of the pavilion for public view, was wheeled across to the west side of the ground. Gustav was well wrapped in an overcoat and a muffler. He took his seat, and as the engine was started, the propellor whirled rapidly and created a deafening noise. The plane barely grazed the ground for fifty yards, before soaring effortlessly into the air.

Over and over again, Gustav circled around, showing off an impressive variety of tricks. He occasionally acknowledged the crowd by waving his hand, who would return the gesture with a salute. After four minutes of flying, he glided down with ease and landed perfectly in the centre of the ground. He reached a maximum height of six-hundred to seven-hundred feet.  Gustav made two more flights after that, both of which were successful. The first lasted seven minutes, and the second lasted eight minutes. The last flight he headed off over the town, and was out of sight for some time before rising to a greater height.

To most spectators, who had only previously had a vague understanding of what was possible with monoplanes, his daring flights, swoops, dives and other feats must have been a startling revelation of what these aircraft were capable of. Although a few people were not surprised by his accomplishments, given the limitations of telegraph wires and trees, his performance still evoked loud cheers and amazed the delighted spectators.

 

On the following Saturday, 30 November 1912 at 10am, Gustav took off from the Old County Cricket Ground in Aylestone, Leicester in a Bleriot monoplane, and distributed copies of the Leicester Daily Post to the villages of Birstall, Mountsorrel and Quorn before landing in Loughborough.

In 1910, Gustav carried parcels of the ‘Pall Mall Gazette' by air, but Saturday 30 November 1912 marks the first time an aeroplane had distributed newspapers in England.

Even though Gustav flew in the Circuit of Britain race and had to land once in Melton Mowbray for repairs, and further on in Harrogate he had to descend again, Gustav said his flight to Loughborough was one of the most difficult he had ever undergone. It was a cold, wintry day, with a biting wind and patches of fog, which made it difficult to locate topographical landmarks, and made travelling quite treacherous. His French mechanic M.Teullard tried to persuade Gustav to postpone his flight, but the airman had already decided to fly, and was not going to be stopped by "the mist or Winter's bitter pang".

By 11.10am, the monoplane was prepped and ready for its 12-mile journey through the frigid winter air. On each side of the plane, a Daily Post banner was securely tied down. Gustav sat down and was given a stack of the Leicester Daily Posts, each with the words "Ariel edition" printed on them. A group of men pushed the plane across the frost-bitten ground to the Hawksbury Roadside of the ground. The mechanic started the fifty horse power Gnome motor, while half a dozen men held the back of the monoplane with the steel apparatus attached. The mechanic twirled the propeller to set the engine going, and, as he did so, the motor let out a 'Pft-Pft-Pft' sound.

“I need you to be prepared to jump up as soon as I raise my arm,” said Gustav, as he made sure his hat and goggles were secure. The propellor started spinning rapidly, and the engine made a sputtering noise as it revolved at two thousand revolutions a minute. The distributed air cut the faces of the men like whips. Gustav's arm went up into the air, and the dozen men standing at the back leapt backwards with the speed and grace of young gazelles. The monoplane glided across the turf for approximately fifty yards, and then slowly and effortlessly rose into the air, as if it were a bird. The plane gradually climbed up to a height of two-hundred feet. The monoplane gracefully glided in a half circle around the ground, before setting a course for Old Aylestone en route to Loughborough. Gustav waved his arm, and the crowd cheered, and the aeroplane gradually diminished in size as it flew onwards, looking like a big gad-fly in the distance with the copper coloured wintry sun shining behind it, until it was just a small speck in the sky.

Gustav's secretary, Mr Guy Carey, was responsible for making all the arrangements for his arrival in Loughborough. The Excelsior Football Club enclosure on Ashby Road wasn't the perfect ground for the purpose, but it was the best that could be found on such short notice.

When M.Teullard visited the site last Friday, there was a strong northern wind blowing. Fortunately, by Saturday morning, the wind had moderated considerably from its earlier strength. White sheets were spread out on the ground to indicate the spot Gustav had selected for his landing, and by 10am everything was set up and ready for his arrival. The town clerk, Mr Perkins, and Councillor James Cartwright represented the Loughborough Civic Authority.

It was a bitterly cold morning, and fog threatened to spread thickly and blanket the whole area. Given Gustav was planning to follow the main Leicester to Loughborough Road, there was good reason to be concerned that the fog would be even denser along that route. The public had lined the route, eager and excited to pick up the new modern day 'Daily Post Ariel Edition'.

The fog had given Gustav a lot of trouble, making it difficult for him to see where he was going. It had been very foggy over Leicester, and again halfway to Loughborough, the dense fog set in. The fog affected the engine's ability to run properly. After leaving Aylestone, Gustav became disoriented from the thick air. After take-off, he circled the area twice before he could get his bearings. Additionally, shortly after take-off, his engine began behaving badly and giving him trouble.  As he started the journey towards Loughborough, but before he had left Leicester, the engine had stopped altogether. Gustav turned the plane back towards the cricket ground, hoping to land back there or at a closer, more suitable location. However, after a few minutes, the engine started up again. Gustav, who had marked his course on a map for Belgrave Cemetery, picked up the main road. The fog was so thick he had to fly low to see the ground, and even then it was difficult to make out anything. At his lowest point, he was only 100 feet from the ground.

Once the skies had cleared, he found himself over the village of Birstall and threw out the Daily Posts as quickly as possible. The journey was significantly more difficult, as there was a strong 30-mile wind blowing against him the whole way. He was only doing 35 miles an hour when he should have been doing 60. The air was so cold and bitter that he was almost frozen.

 

 

 

As Gustav flew towards Loughborough, the little Bleriot plane appeared in the sky above Emmanuel Church. As Gustav approached, he could see the white sheet landmarks directly in front of him. He then took a terrific spiral, which caused the spectators to gasp in amazement. Gustav turned towards Burleigh Hall and then swooped around again before he landed beautifully in the field. 

 

 

 

Although Gustav said it was the worst flight he had ever experienced, he quickly recovered once the plane landed. He was seen walking through Loughborough, amusing himself and occasionally stopping passers-by to ask them “If the flying man had arrived yet!”

In the afternoon, Gustav gave two more flight exhibitions from the football ground to the delight of the gathered crowds. Although the wind was blowing from the north, it was very light. After the exhibition, Gustav left for Leicester by car to return to London. Once his aeroplane was dismantled, it was safely stored away in Loughborough.

 

Gustav Wilhelm Hamel was born on June 25, 1889, in Hamburg, Germany. He was the only son of Gustav Hugo Hamel, who served as the Royal Physician to King Edward VII, and Caroline Magdalena Elise Hamel. He had three younger sisters, Magdalena Augusta Hilda Hamel Dorothea Minna Hamel and Anna Elise Bertha Hamel. His family moved from their home country to England in or around 1899, settling in the town of Kingston-upon-Thames. In or around 1910, they went through the process of naturalisation and became British citizens. Gustav was educated at Westminster School in London, England between 1901 and 1907.

On 21 May 1914, Gustav announced his intentions to fly across the Atlantic that summer in a Martinsyde  monoplane The original plan was for the flight to take approximately twenty hours from Newfoundpool. The plane was supposed to have its first test flight at the end of June. but never happened. On May 23, 1914, just two days after an announcement, he vanished over the English Channel while flying back from Villacoublay in France in a new 80 hp Gnome Monosoupape engine Morane-Saulnier monoplane. He had just collected the plane and was supposed to compete with it in the Aerial Derby that same day.

On Sunday, June 7th, 1914, the crew of the General Steam Navigation Company's steamer Gannet observed a man's body floating on the surface of the water while passing the Prince's Channel light vessel off Margate. The body was found off the coast of Margate and reported to authorities upon the Gannet's arrival in Themes on Tuesday, June 12th. The body was clothed in a brown boiler suit and appeared to have something tied around the waist. Unfortunately, it did not even cross the look-out's mind that the body in the water could have been Gustav Hamel, so he was not recovered.

On 24 June, a memorial service was held at Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley Street in London in memory of Gustav. The service was attended by Winston Churchill, who was the First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, and his wife Clementine.

 

 

At a time when the world experienced unprecedented levels of international tension, there was widespread speculation that he might have been the victim of deliberate sabotage. However, as no wreckage or other trace of the aircraft was ever found, the story gradually faded along with his memory.

 

Even though he tragically passed away, his contributions to the field of aviation did not come to a complete halt. A book he co-authored, 'Flying; some practical experiences,' was published posthumously and is considered a highly influential work by many.

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