On this day – famous aviator’s emergency landing in Horsham 1911

Just a few days after witnessing a rare visit by a plane in 1911 (see our post) the residents of Horsham and this time the nearby village of Warnham were treated to another aircraft landing – this time manned by a pilot who would serve in the Great War with great distinction.

On August 4 James Valentine landed in a meadow at Endes Place in Warnham, the property of Mr C.B. Gregson who had bought the estate three years earlier.

James Valentine was taking part in the first Daily Mail Circuit of Britain, a contest for the fastest completion of a circuit round Britain by air.

He landed in Warnham at around 10am while on his way to Brooklands in Surrey from Shoreham after something broke in the front of the monoplane. After landing, he quickly left for Brooklands to get a mechanic, travelling in a car he had borrowed from Mr Gregson’s wife.

In the meantime a large number of cyclists arrived from Horsham to inspect the French Deperdussin aircraft. The newspaper report of the time said it was ‘vastly different to the Valkyrie seen earlier in the week on the Golf ground.’

Mr Valentine returned around 3pm, but mechanics had already repaired the plane and moved it to the house end of the meadow to allow a longer take-off. However, he was unable to leave as the wind was in the wrong direction so ‘the tall airman was most indulgent to autograph hunters and photographers’.

He rested with friends on the grass under the plane and then went with Mr and Mrs Gregson to have tea at the house.

The wind had dropped by 6.15pm so Mr Valentine returned to his plane but was delayed as both men and women pressed him for an autograph. Finally, though, he set off at 6.28pm for Brooklands.

He won the prize for the the first Englishman to complete the course and was third overall. In total there were 30 competitors in the competition.

The Londoner also took part in the Circuit of Europe, one of the few pilots to complete the course.

Not surprisingly, when the First World War began Valentine joined the Royal Flying Corps and received a number of medals and awards, including ones from Russia and France. He rose in the ranks to Lieutenant-Colonel and in June 1917 was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his service in the field.

However, just a couple of months later he died, aged 29, as a result of wounds sustained in at Kieff in Russia (now Kyiv in Ukraine).