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THE FLYING HEPPELLS.
The Flying
Heppells was the name that the local press duly dubbed a family of aviators
from Newcastle upon Tyne. Philip Forsythe Heppell was a Newcastle man in the business
of Chartered Accountancy. With the start of World War One, Philip F. Heppell
joined the Army and was posted to the 1st/2nd
Northumbrian Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery. And, certainly by 1916, he
had gained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
However, a new form of warfare was beginning to make its presence felt
over the Western Front. The flying machine or aeroplane had arrived as a
serious weapon of war. It is unclear how or when Philip Heppell became
interested in aviation: but interested he was as he transferred to the royal
Flying Corps (RFC) taking the rank of Flying Officer. His civilian flying
licence shows that he graduated as a pilot, September 7, 1916. If training was
short: life expectancy was even shorter. Pilots were needed on the Western
Front and no sooner than Philip Heppell had graduated as a pilot than he was
shipped off to the fighting in France. The young Flying Officer was posted to
number 18 Squadron flying the FE2b: a two-seat reconnaissance fighter.
On the afternoon of October 26, 1916, only
a few weeks after qualifying as a pilot, Philip Heppell was on a routine patrol
when he had the misfortune to be intercepted by Jasta 5 and, in particular, by
it’s Commanding Officer Oberleutnant Hans Berr.
Oblt Berr
attacked the Fe2b in the area of Transloy at around 5pm successfully enough for
the Fe2b to be force landed. Philip Heppell and his observer, 2ndLt H.B.O.
Mitchell were both wounded in the attack and were both lucky to get away with
their lives. Philip Heppell had gunshot wounds in both thighs and wounds in 
the hands that later were to the
lead to amputation of three fingers.
Both men were taken prisoner and taken to
hospital to have their wounds treated. So serious were the wounds of Philip
Heppell that he was moved through a variety of hospitals. On March 27,1917, he
was visited by the Red Cross before being sent on the Holzminden Castle POW
camp. Philip Heppell was to remain at Holzminden until April of 1918 when he
was sent to the Hague via Ghent prior to repatriation back to England. It was
reported, August 29, 1918, that he had suffered a fracture of the Femur and the
amputation of three fingers and was: ‘permanently unfit for further service’.
Philip Heppell’s victor, Oblt Heinz Berr, was not feted to survive the war and
was killed in the area of Noyelles, April 6, 1917, ‘Defence Of The Fatherland’.
Between the wars, Philip F. Heppell was to
remain in touch with the world of aviation. He became a founder member of
Newcastle Aero Club, then based at Cramlington, Northumberland, and later
Woolsington, now Newcastle Airport. He was also to father two children, Rhoda
and Philip Whaley Ellis Heppell. Almost as soon as the young Heppell’s left
school, they were taught to fly by their father.
When WW2 started, it was not without the
help of the Heppell family. Philip F. Heppell was granted the rank of Squadron
Leader and, as an Administration Officer, was posted to Alabama where he was
involved in the training of RAF pilots for the duration of the war. Daughter,
Rhoda, also a pilot, became a member of the RAFA 
and was involved with flying a
number of various aircraft to numerous places. Philip W.E. Heppell, known as
Whaley, joined the RAFVR, June 26, 1939 as a pilot under training at Newcastle.
With the start of the war, he was posted to Hastings before proceeding on
flying training.
Flying training was carried out at Brough,
Cranwell and Number 7 Operational Training Unit (OTU). In September 1940,
Whaley Heppell was commissioned and posted to 616 Squadron at
Kirton-in-Lindsey. His career on 616 Squadron did not have a great beginning.
Now known as ‘Nip’, Heppell landed Spitfire X 4330 down wind, October 28 1940,
causing damage to the Spitfire as it overshot the runway. It earned Heppell a
notation from Wng Cmdr Hartley to the effect that the accident occurred due to
‘Gross Carelessness’ on behalf of the pilot, Heppell.
Throughout 1941, Heppell was to fly with
The Tangmere Wing under the command of Douglas Bader. Heppell was flying with
the Wing, August 16, 1941, when Douglas Bader was shot down. Heppell was one of
the pilots flying in an escort, August 19, to a bomber mission that also
dropped Bader’s new tin leg. Heppell was to remain with the Tangmere Wing until
the end of 1941 and was awarded the DFC, September 30, 1941.
Early in 1942 he embarked on the MV Cape
Hawke at Liverpool, which transferred him, and 249 Squadron to Gibraltar where
they embarked on HMS Eagle, which took them to within flying distance of their
new base at Malta. April 18 1942, Heppell was shot down over Grand Harbour by
‘friendly’ AA fire and forced to spend a couple of 
weeks in hospital. He was later to
carry out some test flying and flew with 1435 Squadron, once more from Malta.
Carrying out offensive patrols against Sicily, he was once more forced to take
to his parachute when a bomb ‘hung up’. He was later posted as Commanding
Officer to 229 Squadron, still at Malta and, later took command of both 222 and
129 Squadrons. Whaley Heppell achieved the status of ‘Ace’ during the battle of
Malta.
Heppell was posted to take command of 118
Squadron flying Spitfire 1Xs on long-range escort missions. Among his escort
duties was the air cover for operation Market Garden at Arnhem. He was ordered
back again; ’at all costs’ two days later to cover the dropping of supplies.
Heppell was to remain on 118 Squadron until the end of the war when he took a
staff position on the General Staff HQ 11 Group. Hew was awarded a bar t his
DFC as well as the French Croix de Guere with three palms in April 1945.
Whaley Heppell returned to his business of
chartered surveyor in Newcastle upon Tyne. However, he kept his ties with aviation
taking part in aerobatic displays as well as air races with his sister Rhoda.
Whaley Heppell was to die in 1987 and sister Rhoda in 2003 bringing to an end
the aviation side of the family known as the ‘Flying Heppells’.