47 Facts About Giles Guthrie

Giles Guthrie was born in Westminster, London on 21 March 1916.

Giles Guthrie was educated at Eton College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Giles Guthrie took up business roles after the war, directing City General Trust before purchasing North Central Wagon Company in a joint venture with Prudential Assurance in 1928.

Giles Guthrie served as North Central Wagon Company's chairman from 1928 to 1939.

Connop was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his war service with the Ministry of Shipping, and the Guthrie baronetcy was created for Connop in the 1936 New Year Honours.

Giles Guthrie learned to fly on the de Havilland Tiger Moth whilst a student at Eton College aged 16, and was awarded his Private pilot licence on turning 17.

Giles Guthrie continued flying whilst at Cambridge, taking ownership of a Percival Vega Gull, an aircraft he flew extensively in 1936 and 1937, competing in several competitions as a co-pilot to Charles Gardner.

Giles Guthrie replaced his Vega Gull with the Percival Mew Gull, a dedicated racing aircraft, in 1937, and in the same year, he was awarded his commercial pilot license.

Gardner and Giles Guthrie retained the King's Cup Race in 1937, having flown the Mew Gull.

Giles Guthrie piloted the Mew Gull himself in 1938, coming second to future Supermarine Spitfire test pilot Alex Henshaw, who was flying a Percival Mew Gull.

Giles Guthrie went to work for British Airways, where he held a number of roles in the traffic and commercial departments.

World War II would see Giles Guthrie serve as a pilot with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.

Giles Guthrie trained at HMS Raven before joining 808 Naval Air Squadron.

Giles Guthrie's first posting with 808 Naval Air Squadron was on dockyard and Scapa Flow protection duties, flying Fairey Fulmars from various bases around the British coast.

Giles Guthrie did not join the merged 807 Naval Air Squadron; instead he returned to the UK and joined the Naval Air Fighting Development Unit operating from RAF Duxford, alongside their RAF counterpart, the Air Fighting Development Unit.

Giles Guthrie remained with the NAFDU until the end of the war, by which time he had risen to second in command and promoted to acting lieutenant commander.

Giles Guthrie was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division in the 1946 New Year Honours.

Giles Guthrie flew a Chrislea Ace and a Stinson Reliant from Gatwick Airport after the war, but increasing demands on both his time and that of Gatwick Airport resulted in his eventual retirement from flying, and he let his pilots licence lapse after 1953.

Giles Guthrie initially been offered a role with British Overseas Airways Corporation immediately after the war, but the death of his father on 28 September 1945 made this difficult and he would instead manage the Giles Guthrie family's business interests, which included the shareholding in North Central Wagon Company.

Giles Guthrie was appointed to the board of North Central in August 1946, at their annual general meeting.

Giles Guthrie initially asked Edward Heath in 1946 to join North Central as the deputy chairman, with a view to him taking over as chairman, but Heath, who was interested in running for Parliament, thought moving from London to Rotherham, where North Central was based, would be damaging to his political ambitions and turned down the offer.

Giles Guthrie took up the deputy chairman role at North Central Wagon Company himself, serving from 1960 to 1964.

Giles Guthrie served on the board of Radio Rentals until 1964, and served on the board of Prudential Assurance Company from May 1963 to January 1964.

Giles Guthrie was appointed to fill the vacant seat on the Prudential board created by the death of Donald Fergusson in March 1963, and it was widely expected he would become Prudential's chairman.

Giles Guthrie took up his position on 1 January 1964, relinquishing all but his British European Airways board appointment when taking up the BOAC role; the Government wished for closer co-operation between BOAC and BEA, and it was agreed that Guthrie would remain on the BEA board to facilitate this.

Giles Guthrie joined the Air Registration Board in September 1964, serving as an airline representative.

Giles Guthrie was appointed at the same time as his predecessor at BOAC, Matthew Slattery and aircraft engine designer Stanley Hooker.

Giles Guthrie served on the executive committee of the International Air Transport Association from 1964 to 1968.

Giles Guthrie was employed specifically to tackle the financial issues at the airline and restore its long-term profitability.

Giles Guthrie initially planned for a fleet of 39 aircraft by 1967, consisting of the 12 Vickers Standard VC10s which had been delivered or which were under construction, and 27 Boeing 707s.

Giles Guthrie resumed flying and captained proving flights of the VC10, including a transatlantic demonstration to Boston.

Giles Guthrie travelled to Japan to be involved in the investigation.

Giles Guthrie was largely successful and left the company with only a pay dispute with pilots unresolved, an issue that would continue on for several more years, delaying the Boeing 747's introduction by a year to 1971.

Giles Guthrie was responsible for cutting the executive headcount by a quarter, and more than 3,000 staff made redundant, with some being replaced by the new computer systems he introduced to streamline the business.

Giles Guthrie announced in May 1968 that he did not wish to be re-appointed for a second five-year term as chairman and chief executive of BOAC, relinquishing his BOAC appointment and related board positions at the end of 1968.

Giles Guthrie indicated the problems inherent with the separate BOAC and BEA structures during this interview, something that would be resolved when BOAC and BEA merged to form British Airways in March 1974.

Giles Guthrie would serve as Air Transport Insurance and Air Transport Guarantee's chairman alongside director-general Clarence Pell until 1971.

Giles Guthrie believed that Rhona had saved his life in the process.

Giles Guthrie became involved in local government after his move to Jersey, he served as the chairman of a Water Inquiry Board set up by Jersey's Public Works Committee.

Giles Guthrie had previously served as a magistrate in West Sussex in 1955.

Giles Guthrie was financial adviser to the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, and helped arrange for the purchase of Les Augres Manor in 1971, to secure the property permanently for the Trust.

Giles Guthrie was a keen sportsman; he played cricket for Lowfield Heath Cricket Club, prior to the expansion of Gatwick Airport which resulted in the village of Lowfield Heath being redeveloped.

Giles Guthrie was a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club and of the Royal Yacht Squadron where he owned and raced several yachts.

Giles Guthrie would have led a syndicate owning one of four boats, the fastest of which would have gone forward to challenge the New York Yacht Club for the trophy.

Giles Guthrie was married on 17 July 1939 to Rhona Leslie Stileman; the engagement was announced on 12 April 1939.

Giles Guthrie died at his Rozel, Jersey home on 31 December 1979 from a malignant brain tumour.

Giles Guthrie's eldest surviving son, Malcolm Connop Guthrie succeeded to the baronetcy.