Don Francis is an Exmouth man who started work in the aircraft industry in 1935 and remained there until retirement in 1981. He is also Founder of East Devon Branch of the Aircrew Association.
Don’s introduction to the world of aviation came in 1935 when he became a Junior Clerk in the Drawing Office of Handley Page … ‘Even going to the toilet meant clocking on and off with toilet paper rationed against wastage and ‘no smoking’ was a strictly enforced company rule’. The company were developing the Hampden and Harrow aircraft, the former being built to an Air Ministry specification which also saw Vickers competing with the Wellington. Despite the same specification, their appearance was totally different and although the Hampden was some 30mph faster than its competitor, it was the Wellington which eventually became the mainstay of Bomber Command during the early days of the war.
But Don was looking for further progression, and he took the opportunity of joining Scottish Aircraft & Engineering as a Junior Draughtsman. He purchased his first motorcycle for 40 shillings and the vendor threw in a gallon of petrol to get him to work - to Scottish Aircraft who commenced development of an unusual aircraft known as the Bernelli, designed as a twinengine commercial aircraft capable of carrying 15 passengers in an aerofoil-shaped cabin located between a twin-boom fuselage. In many respects, ahead of its time, the company ran into financial difficulties and although the unique design of the Bernelli was bought by the Cunliffe- Owen Company and eventually flew, it was not a commercial success.
For Don, it meant redundancy. However, he soon found employment with a Swiss company, Scintilla, which developed and manufactured parts, including magnetos for the motor industry.
Once again, a window of opportunity opened. Don returned to Handley Page to work on the development of the Halifax bomber, where his principle role was weight control and calculations in respect of the aircraft’s centre of gravity. It was in this period he decided to join the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and found himself mobilised during the 1938 crisis when he spent most of his time in North Weald … painting fighter aircraft in camouflage!
War clouds were gathering!
Handley Page petitioned the Air Ministry to release employees who, in their eyes, would be more useful building aircraft than flying them. If war broke out, Don had said he didn’t want to spend his time in a factory and on a subsequent business visit to London, in February 1939, his chance came. An RAF recruiting poster caught his eye. He was astonished to find that, within the space of a couple of hours, he was leaving the Recruiting Office having passed the Medical, the written exams, and been accepted as one of their own.
After training as a Navigator, he was posted to 23 Squadron, Little Snoring, engaged on low-level ‘Special Duties’. These included flying deep into Germany to attack special targets such as enemy airfields and communications networks. After 35 successful ops, he was posted as an Instructor on Night Fighter techniques. When war ended, he was given the opportunity to re-enlist, but decided instead to return to Handley Page where he was quickly promoted to head of a new section formed to deal with the logistics of converting the now redundant Halifax bombers into commercial aircraft.
Other aircraft projects followed, but these were constructed as commercial aircraft from the start and included the RAF’s Hastings and its civil version, the Hermes, both capable of carrying over 50 people at speeds approaching 300mph. However, another twist in his career came in 1947 when he saw an advertisement for De Havilland Propellers. Having had experience of variable pitch and constant speed varieties, he applied and found himself employed as their modification draughtsman at a greatly increased salary!
Technology was advancing rapidly in the world of aerospace. Guided missiles were being seen as an answer to manned aircraft. In 1951, Don was invited to join English Electric as their Assistant Chief Draughtsman engaged in missile design. By 1953 he had become Chief Draughtsman. And in 1954, there was a technical alliance between the UK and the USA.
Although some development had already taken place on the ‘Black Knight’ project, in 1955 De Havilland Propellers were awarded a Government contract to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) known as the ‘Blue Streak’.
Don was now their Chief Draughtsman with a prestigious office in London’s West End and was asked to assemble a drawing office team of up to 80 members. De Havilland Aircraft, a separate company at that time, was to build the structure whilst Rolls Royce would be responsible for the propulsion motors. The enormity of the project was best illustrated by the fact that by the time it ended, his team numbered 364 and that was in the Drawing Office alone!
Woomera, in South Australia, was selected as the main test site. It was here in 1964 that ‘Blue Streak’ made its first launch. It was successful and nine further launches were made during the 1960s. The missile was designed to carry a nuclear warhead and was nearly 70 feet in length with a diameter of 10 feet. Its casing was made of mainly stainless steel approximately four mm thick whilst its fuel system, which included 12,000 gallons of liquid oxygen; would be exhausted in a burn-time of only 155 seconds.
In 1972, the launch site moved from Australia to French Guiana in South America, and the following year the British pulled out of the project altogether, leaving it to the French. Don says there are a number of reasons for the decision – some Military, others political. On the Military side, it was felt that the fixed silos, although underground, could be vulnerable to a pre-emptive strike by an enemy and also the preparation time prior to launch was too long. Politically, there was a case for buying American weapons, in this instance, the newly developed Polaris missile.
Don has his own views on this, particularly as under the Exchange of Information pact much of their research had gone into the development of American missiles and also that on pulling out of Blue Streak, and freely handing over all the research to the French, we had scored an own goal. The French used our technology to develop Arianne which today is the most successful launcher of commercial satellites in the world.
On a personal note, Don said that the abandonment of Blue Streak meant he had to make 187 members of his staff redundant and he saw each one of them individually.
With the Blue Streak project abandoned, De Havilland now undertook research for other companies, including the European Space Agency and ELDO – the European Launch and Development Organisation. They also worked on projects such as the Blue Steel missile which was capable of speeds up to more than three times the speed of sound. It was used operationally for six years, its design function being originally the protection of the RAF’s Vbombers from enemy ground-to-air missile attack. Later, it was considered as a potential satellite launcher, although this aspect was not ultimately pursued.
Towards the end of his long career in the British aerospace industry, Don became De Havilland’s Chief Procurement Engineer, responsible for the team writing specifications for, amongst other things, the RAF’s Short Range Air-to-Air Missiles. He was also involved in the development of underwater launch missiles such as Harpoon and terrain-following weapons, although he was quick to concede that not all developments actually entered military service. Invariably the research on one design helped that of another.
By the 1980s there was considerable consolidation in the aerospace industry as companies merged and British Aerospace emerged as the country’s premier aerospace company. It was as a member of B Ac that Don finally retired from the industry in 1981.
In 2001, Don was presented the Aircrew Association’s top award of a Presidential Commendation. Granted by its President, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Wilson KCB AFC, the citation reads: ‘As a mark of esteem and appreciation for the outstanding contribution made in promoting comradeship among military aircrew and the development of the Aircrew Association’. The award of the framed certificate was made by the Aircrew Association’s National Chairman, Air Commodore Jack Broughton DL, during a visit to the West Country.
The Journal, Clubs & Societies, 26 August 1999
Exmouth Journal, 20 April 2000
The Journal, 19 April 2001
One of Don’s 23 Squadron Operations is described in full in Martin Bowman’s book: ‘The Men Who Flew the Mosquito’, Chapter 11: Night Intruders; published by Pen & Sword.
NOTE: Don, thanks for all the information and wonderful telephone calls shared. You are one of life’s true Gentlemen and I have nothing but admiration and praise for all you have achieved in your lifetime. You have told me you are 93 years old. But your journey isn’t over yet. Remember that. You still have much to offer. We’re happy you are over your illness, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch at any time. You will always be very welcome.
Janine xx
This article is from the Spring 2013 issue of Confound and Destroy
