The Forgotten Father of British Airships
Ernest T. Willows was a true pioneer, taking to the skies in the early decades of the 20th century. Today he is largely forgotten. This is the story of his life and death.
The start of the 20th century saw man turn its attention to the skies. For one young Welshman, the idea of soaring through the sky alongside the birds gripped his imagination.
Ernest Thompson Willows was a pioneer, designing airships that flew not only over the Cardiff skies but also to London and Paris. During his lifetime he was a celebrated figure, the first man to fly across the English Channel and the first civilian to attain an airship pilot certificate from the Royal Aero Club of England, holding certificate number 4. Today Ernest T. Willows is largely forgotten, this is his story.
The Young Ernest Willows
Ernest Thompson Willows was born on the 11th of July 1886 to Joseph Willows a dentist from Hull and his wife Evaline at 11 Newport Road Cardiff. The row of houses, then known as Brighton Terrace, later became part of Cardiff University. Today they have long since been demolished and, fittingly, the school of engineering occupies the space.
As well as Ernest, the Willows had two daughters Doris May and Daisy, who sadly died in infancy. The young family soon moved to Queen St, Cardiff.
Young Ernest was educated at Richmond Road school before enrolling in Clifton College, Bristol. Whilst attending the school he lived in the town with an aunt.
After leaving Clifton College in 1901, it was decided that young Ernest would follow in his fathers footsteps and become a dentist. However, another passion was soon to appear.
In 1903 the newspapers were full of accounts of airships and dashing young aviators taking to the skies. Like many, young Ernest avidly read the tales of Alberto Santos-Dumont and Captain William Beedle’s experiments in London with airships. He soon became determined to construct his own airship.
Willows No.1 and Pengam Moors
Sitting to the south east of Cardiff, Pengam Moors was little more than an expanse of scrubland when Ernest Willows chose it for the site of his first workshop.
At the tender age of 19 here he would build Willows No. 1. This marked a giant leap forward in the world of aviation. Despite the design being loosely based on Captain Beedles work, Willows had made significant improvements including a revolutionary steering method.
Unlike other crafts of the time, Willows did not have to scramble along the gondola to ascend and descend. Instead he constructed articulating propellers at the bow which allowed him to turn, ascend and descend with relative ease. It also meant that he could stay near the engine throughout the flight.
The first flight on the 5th of August 1905, lasting 85 minutes, was a success. It is said to be the first controlled flight of an airship in Britain.
Willows No. 1 enjoyed 6 flights before its inventor turned his attention to a second, improved craft.
Away from the skies, in 1908 Ernest married Irene Davies of Haverfordwest in Lambeth. The couple would have 4 children; Evelyn, Clifford, Dorothy and Ernest Joseph Denman. Tragically Evelyn died in 1910 just before her first birthday whilst the family lived at Deri Road, Penylan. Later, Clifford would die at the age of 22 in 1932 following a motorcycle accident whilst commuting to his job as a draughtsman at Whitley aerodrome, Coventry.
Willows No. 2 and No. 3
Following his initial success, Willows turned his attention to creating an improved airship, Willows No. 2. Between 1906 and 1908 he also collaborated with Captain Beedle to make airship gondolas for the British Army.
Taking its maiden flight in November 1909, Willows No. 2 was significantly larger than Willows No. 1. Despite various modifications No. 2 retained the unique twin tilting propellers and rudder system that gave the pilot easy control of the craft.
On the 4th of June 1910 Willows landed No. 2 outside City Hall in Cardiff before flying back to his shed on East Moors. This was the first aerial voyage recorded in Wales and earned Willows a prize of £50.
The flight was repeated the days later for the press and a crowd of 40,000. A local hero had been born.
In July, Willows flew No. 2 to Cheltenham. He was followed by a convoy of cars filled with spectators and well wishers. This was followed, in August, by a flight to London. The 135 mile flight, the longest at the time, was a record for a cross-country flight. It also made Willows the first aviator to cross the Bristol Channel.
The trip was not entirely straightforward. Taking off on th 6th of August, as the sun set, Willows followed his father who was driving a lead car with a beacon light. When the light failed, Willows was forced to navigate by the stars, city lights and on 12 occasions, by dropping close to the ground to ask for directions through a megaphone.
Nearing the Crystal Palace in south London, Willows tossed a grappling hook, this acted as a break, halting his progress and allowing him to safely descend. When the rope broke Willows had no way of stopping the craft. Eventually, in the early hours of the following morning he managed to get the attention of a person on the ground who enlisted a ground crew and, by pulling on a guide rope, managed to bring Willows No. 3 down in Lee.
Despite these minor setbacks, the flight was a success. After arriving in London, Willows flew over St Paul's Cathedral.
Willows No. 2 was taken out of service by the end of October 1910. Ernest T. Willows was an ambitious man and wanted to do something to put his name on the map. His plan was to rebuild No. 2 as a larger craft capable of crossing the English Channel to Paris.
On the 29th of October 1910, Willows No. 3 took to the skies for the first time, flying over White City in London.
The evening of the 4th of November 1910 saw a large crowd, including both Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, gather at a field in Wormwood Scrubs, close to what is now the Linford Christie Stadium to see Willows embark. Before taking to the skies, Willows announced that Willows No. 3 was now known as the “City of Cardiff”.
Again, the flight wasn’t without incident. Whilst crossing the channel, Willows lost his maps over the side. After reaching France, problems with the envelope forced him to land at Corbehem near Douai at 2:00 am. Here Louis Breguet, a French aviator, helped make repairs to the envelope before Willows arrived in Paris on the 28th of December. Willows celebrated his achievement by flying around the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve.
Willows No. 4 and World War One
In 1912, Willows and his family relocated to Birmingham. Later that same year, Willows No. 4 took to the skies.
Smaller and more streamlined than Willows No. 3, the craft enjoyed only a handful of trips before it was sold to the admiralty for £1,050. Renamed “His Majesty’s Naval Airship No. 2”, No. 4 underwent significant adaptations before being used, sporadically, for training exercises.
Following the outbreak of World War One, it was decided that there was a need for airships to patrol the coast and seas, spotting submarines. In March 1915 “His Majesty’s Naval Airship No. 2” was renamed S. S. 1 and became the prototype of the Submarine Scout airship fleet.
Meanwhile, Willows used the money from the sale of No. 4 to establish a spherical gas balloon school at Welsh Harp, Hendon in 1913. It was from here that he launched Willows No. 5 in 1913. Fitted with a 4 seat gondola, No. 4 was the largest and grandest of Willow’s airships. Designed to carry members of the paying public on pleasure flights over London, Willows made numerous flights in the craft from November 1913 to early 1915.
As World War One continued, Willows ceased giving pleasure flights across London’s skies. Instead he enlisted and in 1916 Ernest T. Willows was made a captain in the Royal Flying Corp.
Willows spent much of the war in offices on Westgate Street, Cardiff where he managed the design and construction of tethered barrage balloons. These were placed around London and other UK cities, to prevent enemy aircraft from getting low enough to construct bombing raids.
Willows No. 5 and The End
World War One changed many things. For Ernest T. Willows it marked the drastic decline in the interest of airships and balloons. Aeroplanes were now the future.
Despite his name, fame did not come hand in hand with fortune. To support his family, Willows was reduced to touring parks and events, offering people pleasure rides in his craft.
In 1921, the family were crossing from the Isle of White in Willows No. 5 when they lost their worldly belongings overboard. Following this they relocated to a schooner moored in Chiswick on Thames.
In 1925 Willows was giving flights at the Wembley Exhibition. One night the balloon escaped its mooring and crashed into the house of Sir Hector Ranson, the former premier of Western Australia.
While no one was hurt, the house suffered significant damage; the porch was demolished, chimney pots were dislodged and the entire house filled with hydrogen gas.
Despite these setbacks, Willows continued to fly.
The following year, shortly after celebrating his 40th birthday, Willows took his craft to Hoo Park in Kempston, Bedfordshire.
On the 3rd of August Willows took off with four passengers on board. During the flight the gondola detached and crashed to the ground. Willows and one of the passengers died instantly. The three other passengers died either on their way to or in hospital.
Ernest Thompson Willows was buried in Cathays Cemetery with his parents and young daughter Evelyn.
Today, Ernest Thompson Willows is remembered today in aviation circles as the “father of British airships.” In his home city Willows High School stands on the site of the East Moors shed where the young man built his first airship.
Fascinating. But how did EW manage to fund such an enterprise from such an early age?