Cunningham John @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • Bristol<br>Blenheim Bristol<br>Blenheim
    Bristol
    Blenheim
  • John Cunningham - 1942 John Cunningham - 1942
    John Cunningham - 1942
  • Bristol Beaufighter Bristol Beaufighter
    Bristol Beaufighter
  • John Cunningham<br>by Cuthbert Orde John Cunningham<br>by Cuthbert Orde
    John Cunningham
    by Cuthbert Orde
  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • DH 108 Swallow DH 108 Swallow
    DH 108 Swallow
  • John Cunningham - Frank Whittle - Frank Halford John Cunningham - Frank Whittle - Frank Halford
    John Cunningham - Frank Whittle - Frank Halford
  • DH-115 Sea Vixen DH-115 Sea Vixen
    DH-115 Sea Vixen
  • John<br>Cunningham John<br>Cunningham
    John
    Cunningham
  • John Cunningham<br>Jimmy Rawnsley John Cunningham<br>Jimmy Rawnsley
    John Cunningham
    Jimmy Rawnsley
  • De Havilland DH-100 Vampire De Havilland DH-100 Vampire
    De Havilland DH-100 Vampire
  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • Comet I Comet I
    Comet I
  • John Cunningham John Cunningham
    John Cunningham
  • The Comet Prototype The Comet Prototype
    The Comet Prototype

John Cunningham

Croydon, 27 July 1917 – 21 July 2002

John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, AE was a Royal Air Force (RAF) night fighter ace during the Second World War and a test pilot. During the war he was nicknamed "Cat's Eyes" by the British Press to explain his successes and to avoid communicating the existence of airborne radar to the enemy.

John Cunningham was born in Croydon in 1917 in the midst of the First World War. He was keen on entering the aviation industry as a teenager. Temporarily abiding his father's wishes to avoid the military, he approached the de Havilland company and was accepted as an engineering candidate. Concurrently, he joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and became a member of No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron. Cunningham began his training in August 1935 and flew solo in March 1936. He received his wings in the summer of 1937. Cunningham gradually became an established test pilot, gaining a considerable amount of flying time on different types of aircraft.

In August 1939 Cunningham rejoined his Squadron, now equipped with a version of the Bristol Blenheim. His operator was Jimmy Rawnsley, who would serve as his gunner and radio operator for most of the war and contribute to all but three of Cunningham's victories. On 26 July 1940 the Squadron was re-designated a specialised night fighter unit and was amongst the first to receive Airborne Interception radar (AI). Cunningham was promoted to squadron leader in September 1940. In the autumn, as the Battle of Britain subsided and The Blitz began, the squadron re-equipped with the rugged and heavily armed Bristol Beaufighter.

On the night of the 19 November 1940, Cunningham claimed his first victory. By the time the Blitz had ended in June 1941, he had destroyed 13 enemy aircraft and claimed three as probable victories and two damaged. After a prolonged rest period, he was promoted to wing commander in 1942. He was also appointed to command No. 85 Squadron RAF, by which time his tally had reached 16 enemy aircraft destroyed. In 1943 and early 1944 he added a further four victories, one probable and one damaged. Cunningham's combat career ended with 20 aerial victories, three probable and six damaged. He spent the remainder of the conflict in various staff officer positions. By the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 had attained the rank of group captain.

After the war Cunningham re-joined de Havilland and continued his test pilot career. He flew the world's first Jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, in 1949. He then flew commercial jets for a time in the early 1960s and continued flying in the industry until the late 1970s. He also worked for British Aerospace as executive director, retiring in 1980. In recognition of his wartime exploits and his contribution to civil aviation he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In his retirement Cunningham was nearly financially ruined when Lloyd's of London ran into financial difficulty in 1988. He was forced to live frugally until the end of his life. He died six days shy of his 85th birthday.

Awards

  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire
  • Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars
  • Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar
  • Mentioned in Despatches
  • Air Efficiency Award
  • Silver Star (United States)
  • Order of the Patriotic War (USSR)

Sale of medals

Following Cunningham's death in 2002 his service medals and flying memorabilia passed to the de Havilland Aircraft Company Trust. The medals were subsequently sold for £384,000 to raise funds for the Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust Appeal on 7 September 2012.

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article John Cunningham (RAF officer) of Wikipedia ( authors )
John Cunningham : Your comments on this subject
Powered by Disqus
Top
Legal Credits FAQ Help Site Map

Terms of use for the services available on this site

By using this Website, Users agree to the following terms of use and rules :

Definitions

  • Webmaster : Head Administrator with all authority over the management and development of the Website.
  • Administrator : Anyone that was given by the Webmaster full or partial access to the Website's structure or with moderation rights on messages posted by Users.
  • User or Visitor : Any person visiting the Website pages.
  • Website : The following provisions apply to a single Website accessible via the www.aircraftube.com, www.aircraftube.org, www.aircraftube.net and www.all-aircraft.com. URL's
  • Service : All free informations and tools contained on the Website.
  • Comments : All text written by users on Blogs and comment pages available on the Website.
  • Media : All media available on or through the Website. One must distinguish the local media (photos, curves, drawings) and the external media (videos) which the Website refers.

    • Purpose of this site

    The purpose of this non-commercial site is purely educational. Reflecting a passion, it is also there to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives, their health or energy in the name of freedom, aviation safety or simply our passenger comfort.

    Copyright

    Some media may have escaped the vigilance of Administrators with regard to copyrights. If a user reports copyright infringement, he will be asked to prove that he is indeed the rights's owner for the concerned media. If so, his decision on the Administrator's next action will be respected: A total suppression of the Media on the Website, or the addition of some owner's reference. The publication of a media on the internet normally having as a goal to make it visible to many people, the Administrators expect in any case that the second option will be most often chosen.

    Pursuant to the Law on copyright and related rights, the user has the right to download and reproduce information on the Website for personal use and provided that the source is mentionned. They cannot however be used for commercial or advertising purposes.

    Using Blogs and filing comments

  • Moderator : The Administrator reserves the right to prevent the publication of comments that are not directly related to the Service without providing any explanation. Similarly, all insults, out of scope or unethical material will be banned.
  • Identification : Persons wishing to post a comment or use any form of contact are required to provide identification by the means of a valid e-mail address.
  • Responsibilities : Comments are posted on the Website under the unique responsability of their authors and the Administrators may in no case be liable for any statements or claims that the users might have issued.

    • As the comment system is hosted and maintained on servers external to the Website, the Administrators may in no circumstances be held responsible for the use that administrators of these servers or other third parties may have with those comments or filed data.

    Content Liability

    The Administrators carefully check the reliability of the sources used. They cannot, however, guarantee the accuracy of any information contained on the Website, partly because of the multiple sources from which they come.

    JavaScript and cookies - Storing information

    This Website imperatively uses JavaScript and cookies to function properly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Website for the retention or disclosure of personal information about Visitors. Exceptions to this rule will involve storing the Users banned for inappropriate comments they might have given as well as contact information for Users wishing to subscribe to future newsletters.

    When a user accesses the Website, the corresponding servers may automatically collect certain data, such as IP address, date and time of Website access, viewed pages and the type of browser used. This information is kept only for the purpose of measuring the number of visitors to the different sections of the site and make improvements.

    Donations - Advertising

    To continue providing the Service for free, the Webmaster reserves the right to insert advertising or promotional messages on any page of the Site. In the same idea, any donations will only by used to cover the running costs of the site, such as hosting, connection fees, hardware and software necessary for the development and maintenance of the Website.

    Links and other websites

    Administrators shall in no case be liable for the non-availability of websites operated by third parties to which users would access through the Website.

    Administrators assume no liability for any content, advertising, products and/or services available on such third party websites. It is reminded that those sites are governed by their own terms of use.

    Placing a link to third party sites or authorize a third party to include a link on their website refering to this Website does not mean that the Administrators recommend in any way the products or services offered by these websites.

    Modifications

    The Webmaster reserves the right to modify at any time without notification the present terms of use as well as all content or specific functionality that the Website offers.

    The modified terms and conditions immediately apply to the using Visitor when changes come online. Visitors are invited to consult the site regularly on the most current version of the terms and conditions

    Governing Law and Jurisdiction

    These general conditions are governed by Belgian law.

    In case of dispute regarding the interpretation and/or execution of the above terms, the parties agree that the courts of the district of Nivelles, Belgium shall have exclusive jurisdiction power.

    Credits page

    Wikipedia.org

    Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia.

    Youtube

    YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, view and share videos.

    Special thanks to all Youtube quality aviation vids providers, specially (Those I forgot, please excuse me or report) :

    Airboyd
    Andys Video
    Aviation videos archives
    Bomberguy
    Classic Aviation TV
    Historical Aviation Film Unit
    Horsemoney
    Jaglavaksoldier
    Joluqa Malta
    Just Planes
    Koksy
    Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture
    Memorial Flight
    Octane130
    Okrajoe
    SDASM archives
    Spottydog4477
    The Aviators TV
    Valentin Izagirre Bengoetxea
    Vexed123
    VonBerlich
    Zenos Warbirds

    Bundesarchiv

    The German Federal Archives or Bundesarchiv are the National Archives of Germany.

    FAQ

    I don't see my comments any more!

    Please note that each page has it's own comment entry. So, if you enter a comment i.e. on the B-747, you will only see it on that related page.

    General comments are accessed via the "BLOG En" button.

    Comments are moderated, so please allow some delay before they appear, specially if you are outside Europe.

    Menus are developing below the page, because they are too long!

    But they remain accessible, for example by scrolling the mouse wheel, or with your finger (on the menu) on a smartphone or tablet.

    I see adds on all videos.

    Use a good free add remover software.

    The site is loading random pages at startup.

    We think it is a good way to bring back the memory of aircraft, persons or events sometimes quite forgotten.

    HELP PAGE

    Why this site?

    Discovery

    This website is dedicated to one's aeronautical passion (which I hope we share) and was realised mainly as an educationnal tool. Knowing that, you'll notice that each new visit brings random topics for the purpose of making new discoveries, some achievements or characters certainly not deserving the oblivion into which they have sometimes fallen.

    By these pages, we also want to pay tribute to all those who gave at one time or another, their lives or health in the name of freedom, aeronautical security or simply our comfort.

    Centralisation

    Internet is full of websites dedicated to aviation, but most are dedicated to subjects or periods that are very limited in space or time. The purpose of this site is to be as general as possible and thus treats all events as well as characters of all stripes and times while putting much emphasis on the most significant achievements.

    The same years saw birth of technologies like photography and cinema, thus permitting illustration of a large part of important aeronautical events from the start. Countless (and sometimes rare) media recently put online by enthousiasts finally give us access to these treasures, but the huge amount of information often makes things a little messy. A centralization effort is obviously most needed at this level.

    All persons who directly or indirectly contributed to the achievement or posting of such documents are here gratefully acknowledged.

    General

    Fluid website

    This site automatically fits the dimensions of your screen, whether you are on a desktop computer, a tablet or a smartphone.

    Bilingual website

    You can change the language by clicking on the flag in the upper left or via "Options" in the central menu. Of course, the videos remain in the language in which they were posted ...

    Browser compatibility

    The site is not optimized, or even designed to run on older browsers or those deliberately deviating from standards. You will most probably encounter display issues with Internet Explorer. In this case, it is strongly recommended installing a modern (and free!) browser that's respecting the standards, like Firefox, Opera, Chrome or Safari.

    Cookies and Javascript

    This site uses cookies and JavaScript to function properly. Please ensure that your browser is configured accordingly. Neither of these technologies, or other means shall in no case be used on the Site for the retention or disclosure of personal information about its Visitors. See the "Legal" page for more on this subject.

    Website layout

    Left menus

    Because of the lack of space on smartphones and small tablets, these menus are hidden. Everything is nevertheless accessible via the main menu option, located between the video and photo sections. This menu is placed there for compatibility reasons with some browsers, which play the videos over the menus.

    "Search" and "Latest" :
    The link "In Titles" restricts the search to the titles of different forms. Use this option if you are looking for a plane, a constructor, a pilot or a particular event that could have been treated as a subject.

    The link "In Stories" will bring you to a search in all texts (the "Story" tab) and will take more time. The search term will appear highlighted in green when opening the corresponding story.

    Would you believe, "Timeline" will show all subjects in chronological order.

    "Random" will reload the entire page with a new random topic.

    The bottom section keeps you abreast of the latest five entries. New topics are added regularly. Don't hesitate to come visit us often : add bookmark.

    Blogs and Comments central section

    Under the photos section comes the comments tabs window :

    You can enter general comments in your own language via one of the two buttons on the left (BLOG EN and BLOG FR). Note that these buttons are accessible regardless of the language to allow some participation in the other language.

    All comments are subject to moderation and will be published only if they comply with the basic rules of decorum, while remaining relevant to the purpose of this site.

    The third tab allows you to enter comments on the shown topic and is bilingual. Personal anecdotes, supplements and other information questions will take place here.

    The "Story" tab shows the explanatory texts. They are most often taken from Wikipedia, a site where we participate regularly.

    The "Data" tab is reserved for list of features and specifications.

    Right menus

    On a smartphone, the lack of space is growing and this menu is moved to the bottom of the page to give priority to videos and pictures.

    The top right icons are links to videos posted by third parties (on their own responsabilities) or by ourselves. The link below these icons will take you to the channel of the one who posted the video. Feel free to suggest other videos if you think they are of some interest (Use the BLOG button or the "Contact" link).