Sir Frank Whittle Ignored

Britain's first jet fighter: The Gloster Meteor

A stamp? A bank note? Forget it. Other countries might have named a city - or at the very least an international airport - after a native son who had left such a profound mark on the world.
Across Britain, however, Sir Frank is remembered by a ring road in Derby, a couple of roundabouts, six side streets and a university laboratory. There used to be a pub called The Jet And Whittle in Leamington Spa (where he grew up) but then someone decided to drop the Whittle.

It is not as if the Government is allergic to retrospection. All year, ministers have been falling over themselves to mark 200 years of the abolition of slavery.
Our broadcasters have happily devoted hours of airtime to celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act which legalised homosexuality.

Other big events, though, have been strangely overlooked. Were you aware, for example, that this year has been the 300th anniversary of a moderately interesting moment in our history: the creation of Great Britain?

Aside from a £2 coin and a drinks party in January, the Government has managed to gloss over the Act of Union of 1707 and the birth of this country.
The merger of England and Scotland, of course, does carry with it a certain amount of baggage. Gordon Brown and his colleagues can hardly celebrate 300 years of a Union which they have dragged to the brink of divorce.
But what is wrong with poor Sir Frank? The man was a working-class hero who could have spared us the Battle of Britain and the Blitz if the British Establishment had been quicker to listen to him.

As his centenary year draws to a close, the only memento which I can find is a commemorative DVD, Whittle - The Jet Pioneer, by quantafilms.com.
It's an engaging portrait of a great life, featuring a lengthy interview with the man himself not long before his death in 1996. And it is quite a story, not that many people are likely to hear it any more.

The son of a toolmaker, Whittle had an early fascination with flight. His childhood heroes were the dashing aces of the early Royal Flying Corps and he went straight from school to the Royal Air Force's apprentice school at RAF Cranwell.
He made such a mark that he was one of a handful picked out for the officer training college next door where he continued to excel as a pilot and an engineer.
When not flying, he wrote a thesis on future developments in aircraft design in which he argued that if man was going to fly faster, he would have to fly at a greater altitude where the air was thinner.

Whittle concluded that the conventional propeller would never be sufficient and that an entirely new sort of engine would be required. His arguments were so advanced that he was awarded 30 out of 30 for his work - even though the professor who marked it admitted that he did not really understand it.

His thesis had raised a very important question. A year later, he had a brainwave which provided the answer. Everyone was still wondering how a conventional piston engine could make a conventional propeller go round and round more quickly.

Whittle realised that you did not need the piston engine or the propeller at all. Instead, you could use a gas turbine which would blast air out of a high-powered exhaust pipe at the back. It would be faster than anything in existence.

It was his 'Eureka' moment. "It came out of the blue," he recalled. He had, effectively, dreamed up the turbojet - the early jet engine.

But when the young RAF officer took his idea to the Air Ministry later in 1929, they were not sure what to make of it. They ran it past a senior boffin called A.A. Griffith who had already done some work on the subject.

Whether he was misguided or simply disliked this young pup in uniform, Griffith gave the idea a thumbs down.

As a result, the Air Ministry rejected Whittle's design as impractical and carried on ordering traditional planes with propellers. So Whittle took out a patent to protect his turbojet idea which was duly published by the Patent Office.

Others saw its merits, however, and German diplomats in London wasted no time ordering copies of the patent. When the patent expired in 1935, Whittle could not even afford the £5 renewal fee.

Meanwhile, according to German prisoners interrogated after World War II, Whittle's plans were being circulated around Germany. The secret of an invention which might have stopped the war was well and truly out.

The RAF remained supportive of their young genius, however, financing Whittle through Cambridge where, needless to say, he took a First Class degree in Mechanical Sciences. All the while, he was still designing the jet engine he knew would work.

Finally, two friends helped him secure enough backing to start a company called Power Jets Ltd, and in April 1937 he fired up an experimental jet engine for the first time.

In 1941, a Gloster E28 plane took off with a Whittle jet engine inside it - 12 years after he had first had the idea. Britain had taken the lead in what would be known as the jet age. Whittle had been proved right all along. Production of his jet engine could finally begin.

By then, however, the Nazis - equipped with Whittle's original patent - had already beaten him into the air. In 1939, a German engineer called Hans von Ohain had built the first jet plane to take to the sky. It was unreliable and could travel for only six minutes, but history had been made.

Back in Britain, industry could see the commercial merits of Whittle's vision and there was no shortage of scheming and incompetence, notably by his supposed business "partners" at Rover.
They were supposed to be manufacturing his new engines. In fact, they wanted to pinch his know-how. Eventually, Rover was dumped in favour of Rolls-Royce - still the world leader in jet engines - but the dithering meant that Whittle's jet would not actually be of any great use until the war was over.

Until 1944, Whittle had worked in secret. But the Government was looking for public heroes and Whittle was suddenly outed as a national treasure whose secret weapon would help win the war.
The reality was that he had been obstructed all the way. And then the Government nationalised Power Jets in 1944. Whittle was still making great advances and was working on the world's first supersonic plane.

But, once again, Whitehall was not interested in pursuing his idea. With America now in the war and providing crucial men and material, Britain was providing scientific know-how in return.
All Whittle's research was handed over to the Americans and Britain's early lead in what would become one of the great post-war industries was simply surrendered.

Suffering from nervous exhaustion, Whittle retired from the RAF in 1948. He left with the consolation of a knighthood and a tax-free thank-you of £100,000, before embarking on a career as a consultant to the new jet industry which he himself had created.

Years later, the Queen would honour him personally by elevating him to the ranks of the Order of Merit, of which he was extremely proud. But there has always been a sense of that classic British tragedy - the brilliant inventor done down in his own land.

"Dad was incredibly patriotic and loved any opportunity to jump into his RAF uniform," says his son, Ian Whittle, 73, himself a former RAF fighter pilot who went on to fly Cathay Pacific jumbo jets.

"He certainly never grumbled about his financial situation. But he was in no doubt that if Britain had researched his turbojet idea properly in 1929, its viability would have been recognised and we'd have had a jet fighter in time for the Battle of Britain."

History is littered with what-ifs, of course. We will never know what a Whittle-powered jet Spitfire could have achieved in 1939. But it is safe to say that the Luftwaffe would probably not have picked a fight with it.

Today, Ian Whittle's primary concern is to protect his father's memory from continued erosion. "It is now an accepted fact in America that my father did not invent the jet, but that he and von Ohain - who became an American citizen - co-invented it at the same time," he says.
"Pretty soon, history will be rewritten to say that it was a German or American invention."
Certainly, many engineering institutions now routinely describe von Ohain as one of the "inventors" of the jet. So would the Germans have flown that first jet if they hadn't pinched young Whittle's plans?

"Certainly not. It was Frank's invention and they just copied him," says one of the greatest test pilots in aviation history, Captain Eric Brown, late of the Fleet Air Arm.

He should know. Not only has he flown more planes than anyone - 487 different types - but he was sent to Germany straight after the war to get hold of all the Nazis' aviation technology.
"I interrogated von Ohain, who was very ambivalent about where he had got his ideas," says Capt Brown from his Sussex home.

'But his sidekick was utterly straight-forward about it. He said that Whittle's patent had been in every technical library in Germany even before the war.

"I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that Frank Whittle was the real inventor of the jet engine and that he could have produced a jet fighter by 1937 if the Establishment had been on his side."

A few die-hard supporters still do their best to preserve Whittle's memory.
Gerald Howarth, Tory MP for Aldershot and a keen flyer, staged a small week-long exhibition in Parliament earlier this year to mark Sir Frank's centenary.

"Modern society isn't interested in brilliant men who muck about with oil and spanners and create great things which allow the rest of us to jet around the world," he says. "Today, we worship celebrities. But it is vital that our children know who Frank Whittle was, where he came from and what he did."

I suspect most of them do not have a clue. And it is hardly surprising, I reflect, as I wander through London's Science Museum. Up in the flight section on the third floor, a group of schoolboys charge past in search of something interactive and fun.

None of them pauses to look at a steel contraption on a rack. Why should they? It looks likes something you might find in the corner of a scrapyard.

A small label says it was the "first British turbojet" and that it was first tested in 1937. There is nothing to single it out as Whittle's original engine, nothing to say that this is the Stephenson's Rocket of jet aviation.

Indeed, there is little to distinguish it out from all the other British, German and American engines parked down the side of this wall.

An information panel next to it says that an RAF officer called Frank Whittle made an "imaginative leap" in the use of the gas turbine and went on to produce the first British jet engine. The panel concludes that it was Nazi Germany which produced the "first jet aircraft to enter service". So, there we have it. The man who invented the jet engine is not even credited in his own homeland. Oh well. At least he's got his ring road in Derby.

ASYLUM SEEKER VETTED APPEALS

Saturday January 19,2008

AN asylum seeker with no right to work in Britain was employed for a year – handling asylum appeals.Eugene Tawanda Madzima helped process appeals in Leicester after landing a job with a fake Home Office letter and National Insurance number.He even helped in staff training and was only found out when he tried to open a bank account with a fake passport which he said he bought from a London solicitor for £1,000.In an added farce, it emerged his asylum claim has not been dealt with in four years because he is one of the 450,000 backlog cases. A judge said the blunder “beggars belief”. It is fresh embarrassment for the Government and comes a month after it emerged an illegal immigrant worked as a security guard at the Home Office.Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: “It is truly shambolic that in less than three months the Government has managed to employ illegal immigrants as security guards, cleaners and now as part of its training staff at the heart of the immigration service.”An inquiry was under way yesterday into how 24-year-old Madzima, from Zimbabwe, managed to work as an administration assistant at Leicester’s Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Service. He has now begun a 12-month prison sentence imposed at Leicester Crown Court where he admitted having a forged passport and a fake National Insurance number.Jacqui Callam, defending, said he had “simply made up a National Insurance number” when he got the job. He had “worked hard and earned the respect of colleagues,” she said.Judge Simon Hammond demanded to know why Madzima’s asylum application still has not been processed.

Ibstock and Heather election, BNP 62 votes from win

NW Leicestershire almost saw a shock BNP win on Thursday 10 January when Ivan Hammonds came within 62 votes of victory in the Ibstock and Heather by-election.

Labour just held on to their seat, with the Conservatives beaten into third and the Liberal Democrats trailing in well behind in last.

Great effort team.

FILTH OF THIRD WORLD HOSPITALS

Hospital staff are struggling to beat infections

BLOODY bandages encrusted with deadly MRSA have been used repeatedly in a hospital – threatening 21,000 patients.
Politicians have demanded an inquiry after a study found two thirds of tourniquets were never washed, most were soiled or bloodied, and some were re-used for four years.
Patients were placed at risk of catching a superbug, say microbiologists who found that one in 20 tourniquets carried the potentially fatal MRSA virus.MSP Mary Scanlon, the Scottish Tory health spokeswoman, yesterday said the probe into Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was “shocking”. She added: “It is something people would expect in a Third World country or on a battlefield, not in the frontline of an NHS costing billions of pounds a year in Scotland.“At the very least, Scottish patients are entitled to expect unsoiled bandages and tourniquets without bloodstains.”
All bandages should be washed and sterilised. That should be normal practice said Derek Butler, chairman of charity MRSA Action UK
The findings, which will be published in a medical journal shortly, were uncovered following tests on all 50 tourniquets being used at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Scientists at Aberdeen University said the hospital had a “significant problem” with MRSA with 1,670 cases a year. They found the bandages – used for raising veins in the arm so blood samples can be taken – were being used for an average of 42 weeks, with at least one spending 208 weeks on the wards.They had come into contact with around 21,000 patients, with 62 per cent soiled, four per cent bloodstained and a further four per cent soiled and bloodstained.
The researchers have urged hospital officials to bring in disposable bandages. Professor Hugh Pennington, who was not involved in the study but is a microbiologist at Aberdeen University, yesterday said there would be a “serious risk” of an infection passing from the bandage into the bloodstream.Prof Pennington added: “Even if people are washing their hands, if the tourniquets are contaminated then it blows away all the other controls.“They haven’t got time to disinfect the tourniquet between each patient but by using reusable tourniquets you would get rid of the risk altogether.”Former minister Ross Finnie, now the Lib Dem health spokesman, said the findings are a “clarion call” for every health board. He added: “Everyone expects the highest degree of cleanliness in our hospitals, therefore it is highly disturbing that this report should reveal a degree of failure to cleanse properly that seems quite incredible.”According to official figures, deaths from MRSA have increased by more than a third over the past year, from 38 in 2005 to 51 last year. However, experts fear the true figure could be ten times higher. Hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA and Clostridium Difficile are estimated to cost the NHS in Scotland at least £183million every year. David Hardie, 60, believes an MRSA infection contracted at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary contributed to his wife Noreen’s death in August. The 61-year-old had an operation on a dislocated hip. Mr Hardie, an off-shore worker, from Millbrex, Aberdeen-shire, said: “The last time I went up to see my wife in hospital, I was sitting at the side of the bed and the amount of stuff lying on the floor was ridiculous.There were syringes lying about, bits of paper taken off bandages and it wasn’t even any distance from the bin. The place was just manky.”Derek Butler, chairman of charity MRSA Action UK, described the findings as “disgusting”. He added: “All bandages should be washed and sterilised irrespective of what they are used for. That should be normal practice for any modern medical facility.”The Scottish Government said a task force has been set up to reduce hospital infections, and stressed £54million will be spent on fighting the bugs over the next three years.A spokesman said: “Patients and the public rightly expect the highest standards of hospital cleanliness and we are determined to drive down hospital infections, and ensuring that hospitals have ever higher standards of hygiene cleanliness is a key part of that.”Officials at NHS Grampian yesterday said they had not seen the study but “look forward” to reading the findings. A spokesman added: “Like all hospitals, we have procedures in place for tackling the spread of infection, which we take very seriously.”

TWO FACED STRAW, ALL TALK

'Hypocrite' Straw reprimands magistrate who walked out of court due to veiled Muslim defendant

Jack Straw was accused of hypocrisy yesterday after censuring a magistrate who refused to deal with a case in which a Muslim woman wore a face veil.
The Justice Secretary issued a formal reprimand to Ian Murray even though Mr Straw himself famously asks women to remove their veils in his constituency office.
Mr Straw said in October 2006 that veils were "a statement of separation and difference".
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, a West Yorkshire constituency with a strong Muslim presence, said: "He is a complete hypocrite.
"Jack Straw tells everyone that he will ask anyone who wears a veil to remove it, then he turns round and disciplines someone for following his line.
"People are fed up to the back teeth with continual concessions to minority groups, in particular in the courts."
In his role as Lord Chancellor and head of the legal system, Mr Straw yesterday backed an order that Mr Murray should go for further training and guidance in court procedure.
The taxi driver was on the bench at Manchester magistrates' court last June when Zoobia Hussain, 32, appeared accused of criminal damage.

Jack Straw dilutes pledge to keep danger men behind bars
Miss Hussain, a jobless mother of five who was later convicted of the offence, was wearing a niqab, a veil which covered her face apart from her eyes.
The Judicial Communications Office that speaks for the Lord Chief Justice said that the reprimand was given because of Mr Murray's behaviour in court rather than his attitude to the veil.
Judges and magistrates may ask for veils to be removed, a spokesman said.
Mr Murray, 65, from Stockport, said he would not sit as a magistrate until the matter had been finally resolved.