From 1921 to 1939, the principal British military officer in
Transjordan was Colonel C. F. Peake - Peake Pasha. Peake had founded the Arab
Legion and been responsible for establishing small detachments throughout the
country. In a land in which roads were only just beginning to be constructed
for the growing number of motor vehicles, travel on land could be slow and
visits of inspection slower still given that so many Arab Legion posts were in
remote places.
Peake was normally based in Amman – his house now the art
gallery called Darat al-Funun and his garden the restored remains of the ruined
Church of St George. Not far off – though rather more than the ‘short mile’ his
biographer claims (actually 2.5 miles straight line) was the ‘big RAF aerodrome
at Amman’, now Marka, Amman’s domestic airport, home of the Royal Jordanian Air
Force and the base from which our Aerial Archaeology in Jordan operates.
In 1930, Peake – who had seen some service with the RFC at
Salonika during the war, decided to learn to fly. Then aged 47, he bought a
Tiger Moth and arranged for the 26 year-old Roger Atcherley, one of the pilots
at RAF Amman, to teach him. It very nearly ended in tragedy, twice in the same
afternoon.
On the second day of
his instruction the dual-control machine in which they were flying plunged
suddenly earthward, hit the ground obliquely with a resounding bump and
careered across the aerodrome in a series of enormous bounds, like a gazelle in
full stride. When the plane had finally come to rest well outside the boundary
of the landing-ground, Atcherley turned to Peake in the seat behind him.
“What do you think
you're playing at?" he said peevishly. “It's no earthly use your going on
learning if you can't do better than that!"
"Better than
what?" asked the astonished Peake. "I wasn't doing anything. You were
in control. You never told me to take over and land the thing."
It transpired the communication tube was defective, Peake
had not heard Atcherley tell him to take the controls.
Undeterred they had tea in the mess and set off again:
"I'll take her up
for you,"' said Atcherley, "and get her in position for landing. Then
you take over and bring her down."
When they
had climbed to about forty feet, Atcherley turned round and waved a stick at
his pupil, who, thinking this was merely a cheery gesture of "All's right
with the world," was about to wave back when the plane disconcertingly
dipped its nose, and next instant crashed into the ground, shearing off its
under-carriage and smashing one wing, whilst an ominous plume of black smoke
ascended from the engine.
Atcherley
jumped out immediately, but Peake, who was badly winded remained in his seat.
"What on earth
have you done now ?" he gasped.
"I think you'd
better get out before we discuss that,” said Atcherley, "the plane's on
fire !"
Peake had just got
clear when the whole machine burst into flames and in a short time was utterly
destroyed. The explanation of the was that this joy-stick had become detached
from its fittings, leaving Atcherley helpless to control the machine,
whereupon, being debarred verbal communication owing to the defective tube, he
had waved the stick in Peake's face to show him what had happened and warn him
to take over. Peake, however, in his innocence, had failed to recognize the
stick as an integral part of the machine (he thought it was a cane which
Atcherley habitually carried), and had taken no action.
Despite four broken ribs, Peake bought a replacement
aircraft, learned to fly and henceforth dropped in regularly on his outposts –
to the discomfort of the legionaries who did not like such short notice of an
inspection or that his elevated view as he arrived enabled him to see things
not tidied away properly.
RAF Amman in late 1930s (APAAME_1936-39_RAF_JWHodson-0001) |
Peake remained in Jordan till 1939, retiring as a Major-General
of the Amir’s army, and lived to 1970 (aged 83). Atcherley was to die aged 66 just
3 weeks later but by that time he had been knighted and risen to the rank of
Air Marshal.
C. S. Jarvis, Arab
Command. The Biography of Lieutenant Colonel F. G. Peake Pasha, CMG, CBE, London,
1942: 135-6