Reginald Archibald Cammell

Reginald Archibald Cammell (10 January 1886 – 17 September 1911) was an early British military aviator[1] and the first to be killed on active service.

At the end of each flight the engine had to be stopped in the air and the aircraft glided in to land within 150 yards of a location previously decided by the pilot and indicated to the officials.

[9] He gained his Royal Aero Club certificate on 7 January 1911 with the low number of 45 (making him the 45th man in Great Britain to qualify for his pilot licence).

In July 1911 he took part in the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain air race but only completed the first stage, retiring after a forced landing east of Wakefield.

[1] A skilful and experienced flier, on 17 September 1911, aged 25, Lieutenant Cammell was killed in the crash of a Valkyrie monoplane at Hendon Aerodrome.

"[12] Dr. Cohen stated that there was no evidence that the aircraft was defective and that he believed that Lieutenant Cammell must have had "some temporary loss of knowledge or control of the machine and mistaken it for another".

His obelisk memorial opposite the Cathedral of St Michael and St George on Queen's Avenue in Aldershot has been a Grade II listed memorial on the Register of Historic England since 2010 owing to its historic significance "as commemorating a pioneer of military aviation, and marking the esteem in which he was held by fellow aviators.