Souvenir postal cover issued during the Amy Johnson Festival held in Kingston Upon Hull from 3-24 May 1980

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnson was born in Hull in 1903 and lived there until she went to Sheffield University in 1923 to read for a B.A. After graduating she moved on to work as a secretary to a London solicitor where she also became interested in flying. Amy began to learn to fly at the London Aeroplane Club in the winter of 1928-29 and her hobby soon became an all-consuming determination not simply to make a career in aviation but to succeed in some project which would demonstrate to the world that women could be as competent as men in a hitherto male-dominated field.

Her first important achievement, after flying solo, was to qualify as the first British-trained woman ground engineer; for a while she was the only woman G.E. in the world. Her technical ability with aircraft soon proved to be a crucial asset.

Early in 1930 she chose her objective to fly solo to Australia and to beat Bert Hinkler's record of 16 days. At first her efforts to raise financial support failed but eventually Lord Wakefield agreed his oil company should help. Amy's father and Wakefields shared the £600 purchase price of a used DH Gypsy Moth (G-AAAH) and it was named 'Jason', after the family business trademark.

Amy set off from Croydon on 5 May, 1930 and after some dramatic experiences, reached India two days ahead of Hinkler's time. Her advantage disappeared however after a serious landing mishap in Burma. She landed in Darwin on 24 May, the first woman to fly alone to Australia and was given a delirious welcome by vast crowds there and later in Britain. King George V awarded her a CBE for her feat.

In subsequent years she made several more important flights:
July 1931 - England to Japan record in a Puss Moth, with Jack Humphreys.
July 1932 - England to Capetown, solo record in a Puss Moth.
May 1936 - England to Capetown, solo in a Percival Gull, a flight to retrieve her 1932 record.

With her husband, Jim Mollison, she also flew in a DH Dragon non-stop from Pendine Sands, South Wales, to the United States in 1933 and they also flew non-stop in record time to India in 1934 in a DH Comet in the England to Australia air race. The Mollisons were divorced, after an unhappy marriage, in 1938.

After her commercial flying ended with the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Amy joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, a pool of experienced pilots who were ineligible for R.A.F. service. Her flying duties consisted of ferrying aircraft from factory airstrips to R.A.F. bases. It was on one of these routine flights, on 5 January, 1941, that Amy crashed into the Thames estuary and was drowned. It was a tragic and early end to the life of Britain's most famous woman pilot.

Amy is commemorated in her native city in various ways there is an Amy Johnson High School, a statue in the city centre and the Amy Johnson Cup for Courage is presented to selected young people who perform an outstanding deed of bravery. Nationally, the British Women Pilots' Association award an annual Amy Johnson Memorial Trust Scholarship to help outstanding women pilots further their careers.

The City of Kingston upon Hull

Amy Johnson's birthplace, Kingston upon Hull, to use the city's official title, is perhaps best know [sic] as a port - a "Gateway to Europe" - and as the centre of Britain's deep sea fishing interests. But it is also one of the country's largest manufacturing and commercial centres and a thriving University city. It is proud of its history and royal recognition over the centuries, reflected by over 30 Charters and Letters Patent preserved in the Guildhall archives - the first granted by King Edward I in 1299. It is also one of the few cities in Britain entitled to appoint a Lord Mayor who also, uniquely, holds the ancient office of Admiral of the Humber, dating from the 15th Century.

Hull is situated on the east coast, about halfway between London and Edinburgh, and it takes its name from the river Hull which bisects the city on its eastern side. To the north and west lie hundreds of square miles of high quality agricultural land which is also a very attractive recreation environment. It's retail, entertainment and administrative services cater for a travel-to-work population of over 520,000 and the city's regional role will soon be extended to cover an area population of 850,000 when construction of the Humber Bridge - the longest single span suspension bridge in the world - is completed in 1980/81.

Although diversified the city council is working hard to broaden the local economy still further, so far with considerable success. About £100 million in industrial growth and commercial investment is helping to prepare the city for the challenge of the 1980s while the evolving pattern also includes Hull's emergent position as a conference and tourism centre, the latter linked to nightly car and passenger ferries serving the Netherlands and Belgium.

Enquiries about the city should be addressed to the Public Relations officer, Kingston upon Hull City Council, 77 Lowgate, KINGSTON UPON HULL.