Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry Pioneer of Civil Aviation


Travers was posted to 17 Squadron in September 1918, and the Squadron sent ‘A’ Flight to Batoum in December 1918. The latter was to co-operate with the forces fighting the Bolsheviks, and in 1919 ‘he was a pioneer pilot on the Salonika - Constantinople mail service and was the Air Member of the British Military Mission to Rumania from 1919-1920. He joined Imperial Airways in 1926 as a captain and was one of the first pilots on the African and Far East air routes flying Hercules, Atlanta and Hannibal aircraft... He became a senior captain first-class and flew all types of Imperial Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation flying boats and amassed a total of 19,500 flying hours. He first flew to East Africa in 1931.


One of his many memorable flights was the first crossing of the Indian Ocean from west to east when he flew Golden Hind from Mombassa to the Seychelles and on non-stop to Columbo, for which he received the King’s Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air. This operation was carried out with no aids to navigation.’ (Obituary refers)


Travers had transferred to the Reserve in 1922, and from 1925-26 he operated a private air taxi service to the south of France. He was employed by Imperial Airways the following year, and started to pioneer the Cairo-Basra-Karchi air mail route. He described his experiences in an interview, ‘We had no radio to speak of, no blind flying instruments that worked, practically no weather reports, and navigational aids which were in their infancy. With temperatures up to 127 degrees in the shade, we sat in open cockpits in the full blast of scorching air from our hot engines. The heat was so intense, the consumption of oil was enormous, and we had to feed in oil by hand from two-gallon tins. We had to force land frequently to wait for sand storms to pass; and on one occasion in Gaza’s heavy rains, water got into the petrol tanks. All three engines cut over the Syrian Desert, but we glided down safely on to a caravan track.


Even at the best of times we had to do a lot of hard routine work which the modern pilot leaves to efficient ground crews with their up- to-date mechanical aids. We had to refuel in the desert at emergency landing grounds by pumping our petrol from locked tanks in the ground. We had to raise the fuel about thirty feet - a back breaking job. Landing grounds were strips smoothed out of the desert with harrows drawn by camels. A single line furrow ploughed across the Arabian desert, which was frequently obliterated after sand storms, was the sole guide through that featureless expanse of desolation.’ (Article including in lot refers)


Travers, and Captain L. A. Waters, were granted the first Master Air Pilot’s Certificates by the British Air Ministry in February 1934. With the advent of the Second War Travers was employed flying VIP’s, secret agents and refugees to Lisbon, he also flew the famous “Horse- shoe” route to Australia. Travers made his epic crossing of the Indian Ocean in the Golden Hind in 1943, and two years later he captained the Argentina on the first BOAC commercial service to South America. He retired to Kenya in 1951, having flown approximately 19,500 hours, 3 million miles and carried 140,000 passengers. During the Mau Mau rebellion, Travers joined the Kenya Police Reserve Air Wing as a District Commandant (he did not claim his medal). His last employment was as a British Government Courier - collecting documents from Queen’s Messengers and delivering them to smaller outposts. Travers died in 1970, and his ashes were scattered over Lake Naivasha.


Sold with the following related items and documents: the recipient’s Imperial Airways and BOAC pilot’s bullion cap badges; several original photographs of the recipient in uniform; a dvd copy of a TV programme called The Last African Flying Boat which shows footage of Travers with his flying boat at Kissumu, Lake Victoria, Kenya, while on the Aouth African run; a large amount of copied research, including his Log Books, 1926-66, the originals being held along with other documents by R.A.F Hendon.


www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)


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