Ex-airman Arthur plays it safe…

LIFE is full of “ups and downs” for liftman Arthur Hale these days, but before he came to ATV House he worked for 38 years on street-level — driving London buses.

Arthur holds 34 awards for safe driving, including the gold and silver stars of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and their 15, 20 and 25 years’ brooches.

In his breast pocket he keeps what must be one of the oldest driving licences in existence. The year of issue — 1917.

He has driven buses in London for more than half a million miles and for many years he was a driver on the well-used No. 6 and 11 routes through Central London.

Driving London’s buses, particularly in recent years, is a job that makes big demands on nerves and skill.

Arthur’s philosophy for driving: “Keep your mind on your job. And never try to get your own back when another road user takes advantage of you”.

Arthur’s experiences of locomotion have not been confined to years behind the wheel of a bus. He was one of the pioneer members of the Royal Flying Corps and was flying in action on Zeppelin patrols when still in his teens.

As a youngster he was mad on the new science of aviation. Several times he tried to get into the air by joining a balloon school but without success until, at 18, he was accepted in the Royal Flying Corps.

At 18 he was in France with No. 12 Squadron, RFC. After an injury he was returned to England where he flew as an observer on a 120 horse-power FE2B — a plane that seemed mostly held up by bamboo sticks and will-power of the pilot and observer as they scouted the German Zeppelins.

They flew at 75 mph — a terrific speed in those days — without radio or any other contact with the ground.

It was a matter of following a course by map and compass and hoping you would see a railway station if you got lost.

Arthur still bears two scars on his face which are mementos of the occasion when his aircraft forced-landed in a farm field in Lincolnshire and pitched over in the ploughed furrows giving both pilot and observer a nasty shaking up.