In April 1892 Christopher Draper was born in Cheshire. He would lead an eventful life, centred on flying. He first became interested in flying in 1909 when Louis Blériot
flew across the Channel. Lacking the funding to obtain a flying licence
he wrote to a friend of his father, the ex-MP and insurance broker
Joseph Hoult. This gentleman gave the young Draper £210 on the strict
conditions he told no one about the gift.
Hoult
worked in the insurance industry, giving cover to ships during war
time. He also donated a large sum of cash to attempt to get Liverpool
ready for the First World War, and during that conflict was one of the
opening backers of the idea for making payments to merchant captains who
rammed and sunk U-boats (for further reading either see the piece on
Bell's Submarine, available here or here).
Now that Draper had the money he obtained his pilot's
licence, however he was now unemployed. He then took up a short service
commission with the Royal Navy starting in January 1914. After the war
broke out Draper was stationed in Scotland for anti-submarine patrols
and home defence. During this time, he flew a seaplane under a bridge over the Firth of Tay.
Later on in the war Draper and his squadron were sent to France. As he was picking up his Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter from the Sopwith works he saw a low footbridge between the hangars of the works and a nearby race course and promptly flew under it.
During his time overseas
he had quite a few encounters, including forcing down Werner Voss. He
also spent time bombing enemy airship sheds, and balloon busting. In
total he would get twelve victories during the war. Some of his pilots
after the event describe a great many patrols where no enemy was
sighted, which have led some to consider Draper lacking the warrior instinct to fight. However, he clearly would fight if called upon to do so. He also didn't take well to discipline.
Draper
was transferred back to Britain after a blazing row with one of his
commanding officers. It wouldn't do his prospects any harm however. At
the end of December 1917 he was promoted to Major and proceeded to command Naval Squadron Number
Eight. On the first of April the RNAS became merged with the RFC and
became the RAF, Naval 8 became No 208 squadron. Most of the pilots and
ground crew kept calling it 'Naval 8'. Major Draper refused to
change his uniform from the black naval dress to the new RAF blues.
Equally he kept referring to himself as a Major, not a Squadron
Commander.
A
week after this amalgamation the Germans launched their spring
offensive and tore through the front lines. At the time No 208 was
stationed at La Gorgue
supporting the Portuguese troops to their front. At about 0400 the
Squadron was roused by the sounds of heavy fighting at the front line.
This was somewhat muffled by the dense fog that lay over the aerodrome.
Slowly heavy shelling began to pick up hitting nearby towns and
villages. Soon French civilians were fleeing past the squadron's
position, followed
closely on their heels by Portuguese troops, who had no visible
officers and had abandoned their arms and equipment. Draper ordered the
planes moved out of the hangars and dispersed, and for the squadron to
begin packing.
Most of the Squadron
asked to be allowed to try and take off in the dense fog, however
Draper refused seeing the risks were too great. He ordered all the
aircraft collected in one point at the centre of the airfield so that a
single officer
with a motorcycle could remain and fire the aircraft and escape should
the Germans overrun their position. With these precautions in place
Draper attempted to contact his HQ, however, the phone lines were down so the switchboard was ordered to pack and leave. The ammunition
supply column and the ground crew had lost a lot of their equipment but
had gotten most of their personnel out. The squadrons mounts were fired
and the last personnel left by 1130. It says much of the disparity
between the Germans and the Allies considering the fact that No 208 was
fully re-equipped and flying again within 48 hours.
After the war Draper tried to become a second-hand
car sales man, but this venture soon folded and he became a test pilot.
In 1920 he was part of the RAF aerobatics display team, and took part
in the first Hendon air show in 1921. He resigned in October. For the
next few years he became an actor and stunt pilot. However,
by 1930 he was unhappy with the treatment of war veterans (at the time
the world was in the grip of the great depression so everyone's
situation was looking bleak). He rented a Puss Moth and set out to make a
demonstration by flying under all 14 of the bridges over the River
Thames. Due to the weather conditions he only managed to fly under two.
His action did have positive benefits, it was caught on film and Draper received more offers of employment and had a more successful acting career from then on. In 1932 Draper
was invited to take part in the 'Aces of the Air' tour. In Germany he
was introduced, and spent half an hour talking to a German politician
named Adolf Hitler. As Hitler was a veteran Draper was quite vocal in his views about how the British government was lacking in supporting veterans.
When
back in the UK Draper was written to by a German doctor asking him to
spy for the Germans. Draper immediately reported this series of events
to MI6, and thus became a double agent. This lasted for another four
years before the Germans just simply stopped responding.
During the Second World War Draper re-enlisted in the RAF and spent a lot of time in Coastal Command and Africa.
After the war Draper was once again upset about the discrimination against
people over the age of 45. As part of the Over 45s Association, Draper
decided it was time for another protest. He rented an Auster and decided
to fly under all eighteen of the bridges over the Thames. He managed
fifteen aborting on three due to the wind conditions. When interviewed
afterwards about the aborts on some of the bridges Draper retorted 'I
only had one engine you know!'
Draper was arrested for disturbing the peace. He fully expected to have his pilots licences revoked and declared:
'I did it for the publicity. For 14 months I have been out of a job, and I'm broke. I wanted to prove that I am still fit, useful and worth employing. They tell me I can be jailed, possibly for six months. It was my last-ever flight- I meant it as a spectacular swansong.'
At
court he was only fined ten guineas. His protest also served its cause
creating much more publicity for the older person, and generating a wave
of offers of jobs to the Over 45's Association. Draper kept his licence
until 1964, and in his career flew seventy-three types of aircraft with some 17,000 hours flight time. Draper died in 1979 aged 86.
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