Cecil Arthur Lewis

Cecil Arthur Lewis
Born	29 March 1898 Birkenhead, England, UK
Died	27 January 1997 (aged 98) London, England, UK
Allegiance	Royal Flying Corps
Years of service	1915-1918
Unit	3 Squadron, 9 Squadron, 23 Squadron, 44 Squadron, 56 Squadron, 61 Squadron, 152 Squadron
Battles/wars	First World War, Second World War
Awards	Military Cross

Cecil Arthur Lewis MC (29 March 1898 — 27 January 1997) was a British fighter pilot who flew in World War I. He went on to co-found the BBC and enjoy a long career as a writer, notably of the aviation classic Sagittarius Rising (inspiration for the film Aces High).

Lewis joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 after lying about his age^[1] and learned to fly at Brooklands. In 1916, he flew the Morane Parasol in combat with Number 3 Squadron and was awarded the Military Cross^[2] for his actions during the Battle of the Somme. Flying the S.E.5a with 56 Squadron, he was credited with eight victories during May and June 1917. Back in England, Lewis served with 44 and 61 Squadrons on Home Defence before returning to France in late 1918 with 152 night-fighter Squadron, flying the Sopwith Camel.

After the war ended, Lewis was hired by the Vickers company to teach the Chinese how to fly and to establish a Peking-Shanghai air service using Vickers Commercials, the civilian version of the Vickers Vimy bomber. It was in Peking that Lewis married Doushka Horvath (1902–2005), the daughter of a Russian general. Lewis returned to England when the air service project was abandoned by Vickers after a couple of years.

Through his friend, the Russian singer Vladimir Rosing, Lewis met the artist Charles Ricketts, who became his artistic mentor and sponsor. After Rickett's death, Lewis edited his letters and journals for publication.

Lewis was one of the four young men who, in 1922, founded the British Broadcasting Company (precursor of the British Broadcasting Corporation) where he was a writer, producer, and director. In 1931, he co-wrote and directed a short film adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play How He Lied to Her Husband. At the 1938 Academy Awards ceremony, Lewis, Shaw, Ian Dalrymple and W. P. Lipscomb received Oscars for their screen adaptation of Pygmalion. He served with the Royal Air Force during World War II, in Sicily, Greece, Egypt, and Italy.

During the late 1940s Lewis became enamored with the teachings of the Greek-Armenian mystic Gurdjieff. In 1947 he flew a Miles Gemini to South Africa, where he spent the next three years on a farm he established, but the farm was not a success, and in 1950 he returned to England. He joined the Daily Mail in 1956 as a reporter. After his retirement he moved to Corfu where he spent the rest of his life, continuing to write until well into his nineties.

George Bernard Shaw wrote of Lewis; "This prince of pilots has had a charmed life in every sense of the word. He is a thinker, a master of words and a bit of a poet."

He was the last surviving Britishace of World War I.

References

Bibliography

Works by Lewis

• Sagittarius Rising (1936) ISBN 1-85367-143-6
• The Trumpet Is Mine (1938)
• Challenge to the Night (1939)
• Pathfinders (1944)
• Yesterday's Evening (1946)
• Farewell to Wings (1964)
• Turn Right For Corfu (1972)
• Never Look Back; an Attempt at Autobiography (1974)
• Gemini to Joburg (1984)
• Sagittarius Surviving (1991)
• All My Yesterdays (1993)
• So Long Ago, So Far Away (1996)

External links

• "Obituary: Cecil Lewis" by T. H. Bridgewater The Independent 29 January 1997
• "Cecil Lewis, 98, Pilot In Wartime, Writer And Oscar Winner" New York Times 2 February 1997
• Cecil Arthur Lewis at the Internet Movie Database