IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA Travers
Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
Title: TRAVERS BROTHERS
Date(s): Created 1989
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 volume
Name of creator(s):
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
James Lindsay Travers: born in 1883; educated at King's College, London, 1902-1906; apprentice at Legros and Knowles Engineering Works, Willesden, 1906-1909; draughtsman, Royal Engineers Balloon Factory, Farnborough, 1909, working chiefly on wind balances for wind tunnel; Assistant to Professor A K Huntington in aviation experiments, Eastchurch, 1909; undertook private aviation experiments, 1910; appointed as designer and assistant to Short Brothers, Eastchurch, 1911, and worked on aeroplanes, floating devices and first twin-engined aeroplanes; undertook instruction, flew passengers and raced for Graham-White Company, Hendon, 1911-1912; joined Naval Wing of Royal Flying Corps, 1912; flew and tested seaplanes and undertook experiments with flying boats and night flying, Calshot Air Station, 1913-1914; Flight Cdr, Royal Naval Air Service, 1914; Commanding Officer, Calshot Air Station, 1915; appointed to Felixstowe to investigate problems connected with handling of seaplanes on ships, 1916; appointed to Air Department, Admiralty, to test new types of flying boats, 1917; commanded test flight, Isle of Grain Test Depot, 1917; Wg Cdr, 1917; Lt Col, RAF, 1918; in charge of technical information, Civil Aviation Department, Air Ministry, 1920-1921; Technical Adviser to Chilean Naval Air Service, 1921-1923; died in air crash, 1924. Herbert Gardner Travers: born in 1891; worked for Joseph Travers and Sons Limited, trading merchants, London, 1910-1914; joined Machine Gun Section, 1 Bn, Honourable Artillery Company and posted to France, 1914; joined Royal Naval Air Service, 1915; undertook reconnaissance flights in France, 1916-1917; flew on North Sea anti-submarine patrols, 1917; served in France with 211 Sqn, RAF, 1918; test pilot and seaplane pilot, Blackburn Aeroplane and Manufacturing Company, Athens, Greece, 1926-1928; pilot instructor, Bristol and Wessex Club, Cinque Ports Flying Club, and London Aeroplane Club, 1928-1933; pilot, National Air Display, 1934; pilot, Spartan Air Lines, Imperial Airways and British Airways, 1935-1938; Flight Lt, Administration and Special Duties Branch, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 1939-1945; died in 1958. Charles Tindal Travers: born in 1898; 2nd Lt, 1 Worcestershire Regt, 1916; served with 10 and 84 Sqns Royal Flying Corps, BEF, France, 1917-1918; studied at King's College, London, 1920-1923; served with Royal Canadian Air Force, 1928-1932; Air Engineer and Pilot , Manitoba Forestry Service, Canada, 1932-1934; died in 1969.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Cross country (Hothersall and Travers, Sittinbourne, 1990), a biography of James Lindsay Travers, 1883-1924, Herbert Gardner Travers, 1891-1958, Charles Tindal Travers, 1898-1969, notably including details of James Lindsay Travers' experiments with seaplanes and flying boats, 1909-1914, and of the brothers' service in World War One with the Royal Naval Air Service, Royal Flying Corps and RAF, written by E Travers, the daughter of Herbert Gardner Travers, and privately published in 1990. Includes extracts from the brothers' letters and from Herbert Gardner Travers' flying log-books.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Single item
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archives Services.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue available in hard copy in the Centre's reading room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Presented to the Centre by the family in 1990.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Decorations: James Lindsay Travers: OBE, Herbert Gardner Travers: DSC, Charles Tindall Travers: AFC
Date(s) of descriptions: Feb 1997