1931
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March: Shute joins up with Hessel Tiltman, (Now Sir) Alan Cobham and Lord Grimthorpe
to be Joint Managing Director of Airspeed. Shute invents the Airspeed name in his room
at the St Leonards club in York though his authorship is later disputed. The alternate
story was that Shute decided the name should start with an A and Miriam Tiltman came up
with Airspeed.
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1931
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March 07: Nevil Shute Norway and Frances Mary Heaton marry at Bromley in Kent. Nevil
is 32 and Frances is 28. They honeymoon in Switzerland. Shute takes along the stress
calculations for the Tern Glider.
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1931
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March 13: Airspeed is officially registered.
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1931
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March: The Lockheed Orion appears with the first retractable landing
gear on a commercial aeroplane. On seeing a picture on page 990 of The
Aeroplane magazine of May 27 1931 Shute and Tiltman are convinced that their
new designs must have this feature.
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1931
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Airspeed rent 6,000 sq ft - 1/2 of the York bus garage in Piccadilly, York for a factory.
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1931
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Early Summer: Shute completes "Lonely Road" and stops writing to concentrate
on Airspeed.
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1931
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1931 Mid: A few months before the first flight of the Tern glider in August
1931 Shute obtains his gliding "A" certificate at Sherburn-in-Elmet
aerodrome in preparation for doing the first test flight of the Tern.
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1931
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July: Sir Alan Cobham orders two Ferries for his National Aviation Day air show.
National Aviation Day later featured in "Round The Bend".
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1931
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1931 August: Shute flies the Tern glider on its maiden flight at
Sherbern-in-Elmet aerodrome. Towed into the air by Airspeed's Buick, the
Tern flew well and was very stable.
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1931
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Magersuppe, aged 20, a young German glider pilot, flies The Tern and sets the
British Gliding record at Ingleby Greenhow in the Cleveland Hills. Haak his assistant
is 18. Later they are deported back to Germany. Shute suspects Magersuppe later
assisted with The Blitz.
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1931
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Shute accepts an open 4 Seater Bentley as a deposit on the 2nd Airspeed Ferry. Shute
drives it to London for sale. He likes it and the car appears significantly in
"Lonely Road" and years later in Trustee "From The Toolroom".
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1931
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November 16: R100 is sold for scrap. By February 1932 The frame of R100 has been
crushed by a steamroller. This must have been a bitter time for Shute.
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1932
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"Lonely Road" published.
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1932
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Early March: The Airspeed Ferry is test flown by Harry Worrall.
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1932
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May 31: Shute and Frances's daughter Heather Felicity is born.
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1932
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June 25: Shute's mother, Mary Louisa Norway (born 1860 or 1861) dies aged 71.
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1932
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July: Negotiations proceed for Airspeed's move to Portsmouth.
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1933 - 39 ?
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Shute writes "In the Uttermost Parts of The Sea" about an
aircraft carrier sea rescue. It is sent to Wm Morrow & Co 386 Fouth Ave New
York NY. It is set in 1932.
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1933
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March: Airspeed moves to Portsmouth after 2 years in York.
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1933
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Early April: Henry Cutting, an office boy at Airspeed, recollects in
2003 that a man working on Cobhams refuelling experiments was in a fight
outside Mother Shiptons Pub. The other man in the fight died. Cobhams
partner was allowed free before his trial but died when his Airspeed
Courier, GABXN, crashed in Portsmouth Harbour on April 15 1933. In late 1945
Shute used the plot point of a fatal pub fight in The Chequer Board.
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1933 - 38
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In 2003 Henry Cutting recollected that in the Airspeed factory
a fuel tank was mistakenly tested with petrol instead of paraffin resulting
in a large explosion and fire. Airspeed worker Andie Drummond died and
co-worker George Lister was injured. Shute appeared, coolly stepping through
the now burning sacking that was used as a saw-dust barrier and quickly took
charge of the scene.
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1933
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The Shute Family move to Craneswater Park in Southsea which may have been rental
accomodation. Frances sets up in a medical practice in Southsea.
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1933
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The Shute Family move to a house called "Landfall" in a village called
Bishops Waltham between Fareham and Winchester in Hampshire. (found by DDT) Bishops
Waltham dates pre 720AD.
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1933
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May: "The Airship Venture" article is published in Blackwoods
Magazine. It covers R100 and R101. Shute later re-uses it to form a large
portion of "Slide Rule".
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1933
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In a conversation with Arnold G. Wilson at the Yorkshire Aero Club,
Shute suggests designing an aeroplane in which the pilot sits above and
behind the machine. The theory was that this would make landing easier
because of the pilot's improved perspective. Tiltman designs the AS 31. It
was never built. Shute later uses the idea of the pilot's view of the
machine from above and behind in "In The Wet".
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1933
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September: The first Courier is delivered to dealers. The last Courier, GACVF, flew in 1947.
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1933
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December 12: Shute is elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society
(FRAeS) for his work on retractable undercarriage. This experience is
reflected in No Highway.
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1934
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World Economic Depression lessens.
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1934 - ?
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Shute's short story "Air Circus" is published in Blackwoods Magazine.
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1934
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Middle: Shute starts the Airspeed Aeronautical College.
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1934
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July: The Twin Engined Airspeed Envoy is completed and shown at the SBAC display.
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1934
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Autumn: The DC2 appears in Europe signalling a quantum leap in aircraft design.
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1935
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March 6: Shute and Frances's daughter Shirley Anne is born. Artist friend
Flora Twort is made her Godmother.
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1935
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Spring: Shute spends 3 weeks in Athens trying unsuccessfully to sell
aeroplanes. This becomes inspiration for "Ruined City".
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1936
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Shute visits Ealing Studios and watches "Lonely Road"
(also released as "Scotland Yard Commands") being shot.
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1936
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The Courier becomes the first aeroplane ever to receive television signals
in flight when it is used for TV transmission testing.
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1936
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The film of "Lonely Road" is released under the titles "Lonely
Road" and "Scotland Yard Commands". Made by Basil Dean at
Ealing Studios it was directed by James Flood and starred Clive Brook and Victoria Hopper.
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1936
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Shute begins writing "Ruined City".
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1936
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The Shute family move to 14 Helena Rd Southsea where they live till late 1939.
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1936
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March: Airspeed now employs 600 people.
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1936
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Travelling in a train with Airspeed's publicist, Concord Morton, Shute
discusses a cutting from The Times about the crash of the new, all metal,
Boeing 247 airliner. The aircraft's tail had fallen off. In 1948 Shute
publishes "No Highway" in which tail-plane metal fatigue causes
the crash of a new airliner.
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1936
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May: Airspeed designs the Queen Bee and Queen Wasp Target planes.
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1936
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July 17: Spanish Civil War starts. All the unsold Airspeed aeroplanes are
quickly sold. The war finally ends on April 01 1939.
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1936
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Joseph Smith (27) and Arthur Gargett (22), employees of Airspeed, steal
G-ACVA, a new Courier worth 3,400- Pounds, to make their fortune in the
Spanish Civil War. They crash on take-off. Gargett Dies and Smith receives
4 months in prison. Young Airspeed employee Tom Cutting innocently assists
them and in 2003 still remembers the crash vividly. Shute gave evidence at the trial.
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1936
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October 04: Airspeed 1934 Ltd files for a patent titled "Improvements
in or relating to Indicating or Recording Instruments for use on Aircraft".
It is for an instrument to measure air density to get the best possible
performance out of an aircraft.
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1936
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October: The Air Ministry orders the first 136 Envoy Trainers. These are
later known as Airspeed Oxfords.
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1937
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January 27: Frances flies to Calcutta in an Envoy being sent to China in
Envoy III G-AERT piloted by Flt.Lt. Colman. Colman who was Airspeeds Test Pilot.
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1937
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March: The King's Flight Envoy is ordered. Shute starts to lose interest in Airspeed.
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1938 - 41
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(Approximately) March 02: Shute writes an undated letter to his
daughter Heather and another to Anne (Shirley's 2nd name was Anne) from The
Randolph Hotel in Oxford. Shute is on a fishing trip and meeting people. In
Shirley's letter he includes a drawing of a fish he was trying to catch.
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1938
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Shute's very thoughtful portrait is drawn by Hayling Island artist Flora Twort.
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1938
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"Ruined City" is published. It sells 20,000 copies in the first
6 months of its US release.
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1938
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Shute writes "What Happened To The Corbetts" / "Ordeal".
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1938
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April 15: Tiltman decides to resign from Airspeed after arguments with Shute
but Shute decides to leave instead. Airspeed now employs 1,035 people. Shute
is given a payout large enough to keep the Shute Family for 5 years.
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1938
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Summer: Shute and Frances holiday in St Cloude in the Jura Mts in France. The
trip later inspires The "Pied Piper".
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1938 - 41
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(Approximately) July 21: Shute writes Heather a letter from
Oxfaord where he is fishing again. Shute includes a poem called "Buck Bunny:
the Story of a Rabbit" in answer to Heather's poem.
Letter to Heather referring to his fishing and a poem Heather wrote.
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1938
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The Film Rights to Ruined City bought for 35,000 American Dollars. This is enough
to keep the Shutes for 5 more years.
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1938
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Late: Shute begins writing "An Old Captivity".
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1938
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Between October and December: Shute's father Arthur Hamilton Norway
(born in 1859) dies aged 79 at Portsmouth District Hospital.
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1938
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December: Soon after Shute's departure the first Oxford Trainer is
delivered. The final total built is 8,751 of which 4,961 are built by Airspeed.
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1939
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April: "What Happened To The Corbetts" / "Ordeal" is published.
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1939
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Spring: Shute does a month-long book tour of the US promoting "What
Happened To The Corbetts" / "Ordeal". He makes a speech criticizing
American Isolationism in New York and visits Cape Cod to research "An Old
Captivity". After drinking Berbeda Commodores on top of Mint Juleps Shute has
either a heart attack or a bad attack of wind in Grand Central Station New York.
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1939
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May: Shute joins Sir Dennistoun Burney and Sydney Hansel on an Admiralty Gliding
Torpedo Project.
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1939
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Summer: Shute works on "An Old Captivity" and sails his yacht Runagate.
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1939
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September 03: World War Two begins. Shute is sailing his new yacht Runagate with
his wife Frances and is caught in fog off the coast of France when war is declared.
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1939
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Autumn: The Shute family move to The Old Mill in Langston, owned by Flora Twort,
probably to get out of the immediate Portsmouth area which was a major military target.
|
1939
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Summer to Autumn: At least 3 trials of the Toraplane and the Doravane
are carried out off the coast of the Isle of Wight with the co-operation and
support of the Admiralty. The Toraplane was a gliding torpedo to be dropped
from an aircraft, glide at low level and shed its wings on entering the
water. The Doravane was a gliding bomb. The project seems to have had the
support of the Winston Churchill who was then First Lord of the Admiralty.
These tests are very soon reflected in Landfall.
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1939
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October 30: Shute attends the 1st of 4 meetings over 6 weeks under the
Chairmanship of Admiral Sir William James regarding the plans for the
Toraplane and the Doravane that were being designed by Sir Denistoun Burney.
In the minutes Shute is described as Sir Denistoun Burney's assistant.
|
1939
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December 04: Nevil Shute Norway, Sir Dennistoun Burney, Rolf Edmund
Spencer, Arthur Henry Cooper and Henry Edward Gauss file for a patent titled
"Improvements in or relating to Observing or Sighting Devices". It is a
design that relates to bomb sights.
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1939 - 40
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Shute attempts to write "The Lame Ducks Fly" but stops after typing one chapter.
|
1939
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Late: The Shute family move to Langstone Place in Langstone Harbour.
|
1940
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"An Old Captivity" published.
|
1940
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Middle: The Shute family leaves Langstone Place. Shute sends his wife Frances,
Heather (7) and Shirley (5) to Canada but, unable to draw on Shute's funds
there, they go to Bermuda. This is a War Plan he outlined in "What Happened
To The Corbetts" / "Ordeal" in 1938.
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1940
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Shute attempts to join the Navy as an RNVR "Elderly Yachtsman" to
command a trawler or mine sweeper but is immediately drafted into the Admiralty
Department of Miscellaneous Weapon Development. (DMWD).
|
1940
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"Landfall" is published.
|
1940 - 45
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For some of the war Shute is stationed at Exbury House working on ship launched rockets.
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