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Colin Robinson asks

I am an antique restorer, and recently a customer brought me a fine carved wooden eagle for minor repair. He had brought it to me before, ten or fifteen years ago, when he first told me the story behind it. It had been given to him by his uncle when he was an enthusiastic King scout glorying in the name ‘Eagle’. His uncle, who was an antique dealer, he said, had bought it from the auction of the estate of Donald Campbell.

He now told me that he was thinking of selling it, but having taken it to Sotheby’s he was resigned to their judgement that without paperwork from the auction it could only be sold as an antique carving, however, being a fine example, it was still worth several hundred pounds. On the bottom of the carving there was an indistinct, German looking artist’s signature and I offered to see if I could find anything on the Internet about it.

With the help of a German friend, the signature was deciphered as Carl Gtchwind, followed by ‘Interlaken 1933’, Interlaken in Switzerland is renown for its woodcarving. Not knowing anything about the Campbell’s I looked up Donald Campbell only to find that the place and date on the carving fitted in better with Malcolm’s career, imagining the piece sitting on a studio shelf for four or five years, prior to Malcolm’s successful missions in Switzerland in 1937 and 1938.

The owner being eighty years old, the account of him being given it as a scout fits in well with the sale of Malcolm’s estate in 1949. Furthermore, his uncle lived at Merstham no more than two miles from Malcolm’s last home of Little Gatton on the edge of Reigate.

I am keen to find out any other information that might shed light on this carving’s history, particularly any details of any relevant auctions, and whether,, any auction catalogues might have survived.

Please email Colin at colinrobinson002@mail.com
David Allen Writes
It is common knowledge in our family that our great uncle who we have been unable to trace and being a hairdresser gave Donald his last haircut. My great uncle whose last name was BLACKBURN, probably( Noel or Cecil), lived in the lake district and will of course be dead now. Is there anyone who would know, what town or village, or even which hairdressers Donald went to or regularly used before he died? Please email me if any information, david@allen1624.fsnet.co.uk Thanking you D.Allen. Wigan. Lancs.
Elaine is trying to obtian information on her grandfather she writes "Wondering if you could help me I was looking for some info on my maternal grandfather Patrick Wilson I have been told by family that he had something to do with the Bluebird do you have any knowledge of him he was born before 1900 and I believe he has died in uk.His surname was Wilson but he went under Bernard or Patrick as a christian name. he had engineering skills and from the little I have been told it was the Bluebird that he worked on. If anything in the future comes up I would love to know a bit about him as I never met him. He was a Londoner and lived around Chelsea. " Could he have worked for Sir Malcolm at the Bluebird Garage in Chelsea? If you have any information please email me at deanali@lineone.net
Bert Gear has asked if K7 was equipped with paddles (Oars). He has been told these were required for insurance purposes, does anyone know if this was true? Or is this a Bluebird Urban Myth! Note:- I now have it on good authority (Donald Stevens!) That this is "nonsense" so there you have it!
Alan Cornhill writes "I am trying to acquire a copy of Donald Campbell’s signature circa 1956, signed D M Campbell, rather than the regular ‘Donald Campbell’ that we are use to seeing. Also, does anyone have any knowledge of Donald Campbell ever visiting, staying or living in the Village of Hopeman, Elgin, Moray, Scotland during the mid 50’s.” You can email him damon.waller@omec.com
Mark Goodman is after any K7 photos,especially 1955!He is also interested in acquiring any DC or LV memorabilia, especially museum quality, which is always offered to the Ruskin in the first instance on long-term loan. You can email him mg@banquocredit.com
James Marsh asks "Did Donald Campbell have any links at all to the Falkland Islands, i.e any family located there, and in particular Bleaker Island? I know this is rather a strange question but I was hoping you may be able to tell me. Thank you very much for your time" If you can help him, send an email to him at jmarsh@fidc.co.fk

Suzette owns boat that she was told once owned by Donald Campbell. Now called Memory, it was previously called "Viadoro" and before that "Daphne". Can anyone confirm this from the photographs below? If so please email me at deanali@lineone.net


Does anyone know the whereabouts of of the Mock-Up CN8 of Donalds, last seen in the south west area I believe. Is it still in existence? If you know please email me
Also Simon Sabel writes "I'm fascinated by the Mini, BLT 648B, next to the CN8 mock up - does it still exist ? it looks special, do you know if it was modified ?" He can be contacted via e-mail simon.sabel@flinthouse.com

I received an email from David Brocklehurst at the Battle of Britain museum, can anyone help? "I am the Chairman of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum (www.kbobm.org), which is a Museum dedicated to the memory of the 'Few' and the events of 1940. My interest in Donald Campbell is not only deep respect in what he achieved but also being one of the last Great Brits, and who's father was a hero to many of the 'Few'. Several years ago I recovered two Pickett-Hamilton Retractable Pillboxes from RAF Hawkinge and have subsequently recovered a third example from Lympne Airfield. You may or may not know that Donald Campbell was one of the engineers from Pickett-Hamilton who installed these forts during 1940. The examples we recovered from close to the Museum site were sited and installed by Donald Campbell during mid- September 1940. I am preparing a display regarding these forts and would also like the opportunity to commemorate Donald Campbell. Do you have any information on this period of his life or are you able to point me in the right direction where I could find it? I am also looking for photographs of Donald Campbell from 1940 as well as one's that relate to his recording breaking attempts. The visitors to our Museum will no doubt relate more to later photographs of Donald than wartime one's. Any help would be greatly appreciated.David Brocklehurst Chairman, Kent Battle of Britain Museum", email KentBattleofBritainMuseum@btinternet.com
Andy Hasty wants to know if anyone can tell him how rare this book is, If anyone can scan the front please send me a picture for my Media page. He writes "I have been given a booklet named bluebird on ullswater 1955 the person went to the winter gardens in blackpool in that year to see bluebird DC was there the lad at the time could not wait for the booklet to be signed can you believe that any way i have told this booklet is quite rare could you confirm that for me". Andy can be contacted by email :- RAVFOURANDY@aol.com
Tim McCoy writes "I am looking for information on, two models of the K-7 Bluebird from the 1960’s (give or take). One was a plastic injection molded model; I think about 1/24 scale, made by "Merit". I saw this model in the local model train store, here in California, about 1966. The other which I only saw as an advertisement, was made by the U.S. company "Berkeley", and was a working model, which used the Jetex 150. It was made from wood (balsa, I think), and vacuum formed plastic pieces. It was only advertised in model magazines, for a short period; I never saw one in a shop. There was also a small molded plastic giveaway in some breakfast cereal. I had one. It was quite a nice little model, and looked very much like the K-7, except it was molded in silver colored plastic. I painted the one I had blue, of course. I know there are current models of the K-7, but I’m curious about earlier modelling attempts. In any case I am interested in models of the Bluebird, and would like to track down any information about kits, plans, or modeling articles of the boat. If for no other reason to build a data base of available modeling information. " I have let Tim know about the Merit Kit on the Media page as well as the Plans. Can anyone else help with pictures and details of the other ones? (Or even a copy of the build instructions for the Merit one?) If so please email Tim tcmccoy@comcast.net
"I am trying to find out more about my Grandfather Ronald Brown - who passed away some 23 years ago, my grandmother passed away six months ago and during the emptying of her flat apparently a book was found with an inscription from Donald to my Grandfather. It appears that my Grandfather was in some way involved in Donald's work - but to what extreme I am not sure." If you can help please contact Karen Wilson email karen@geocenter.co.uk
Any details of the Celebrity football match Donald played in the 50's? Believed to be Chelsea, details of players and opposition welcome, please email me at the following address deanali@lineone.net
Identified so far are:- Rear Left to Right, Tommy Farr (Boxer) , Jimmy Henney (Disc Jockey), Bert Troutman (Footballer) or Ingemar Johansson?, Unknown, Ferenc Puskas (Footballer), Pete Murray (Radio presenter) or Tommy Trinder?, Hughie Green (TV presenter), Tom Gravney or Colin Cowdrey, Unknown, Front left to right singer Ronnie Carroll,Stirling Moss (Motor Racing Driver), David Nations (British Water Ski Champion from the 1950's), Colin Hicks (Singer who is in fact Tommy Steeles brother!), Rex North (Daily Mirror Columnist), Glen Mason (Singer) and Donald Campbell.
Mike Barton has provided many of the names above, as well as the following information on the Show Biz 11 :- "The person that you thought was Tommy Steele is in fact his brother Colin Hicks who had a brief flirtation with fame on the back of his brother Tommy's imense popularity of the time. Hicks was the family name which Tommy changed to Steele as was the norm in those days. Tommy Steele has played for the Show Biz 11, I saw him play for them in the mid sixties at Southgate in North London. Towards the end of the match large groups of Autograph hunters were gathering at the point of the pitch where the teams would come off, mainly to target Tommy. It was arranged that Tommy would fein injury and be helped off the pitch through the waiting fans. The same ruse was used to get him from the dressing room into his car!" and "I saw several of the Show Biz 11 matches during the early/mid sixties. I remember watching such names as Bernard Bresslaw, Dave King, Bernie Winters, Norman Rossington, David Frost, Jess Conrad (always in goal), Des O'Connor as well as Jimmmy Henney and Glen Mason"
Please email me the name of the photographer who captured Mr. Campbell's crash in 1967. I was told he lives here in California somewhere. Would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks very much. Rosemary Taylor rtaylor@populararts.com
Barbara Wilson enquires "I have a signed copy of Into the Water Barrier by Donald Campbell to Rose at the Northcliffe. It reads as follows:- To Rose & all my friends at the Northcliffe from Donald. Xmas 1957. Please, does anyone know of the Northcliffe and Rose ?" She can be emailed at himeanie@hotmail.com
Paul Thomas would like a copy of the BBC film on Sir Malcolm Campbell called "The Speed King" on. You can contact him at Paul63mod@aol.com

Can someone provide the exact location (Co-ordinates) for the spot on lake Eyre that Donald set the record on? Intrepid entusiast Neil Perry is hoping to fly over the Lake in January! The best information so far is about 38 miles from Muloorina Station. You can contact him at neil.perry@mtap.com.au


Please feel free to contribute anything you want! Corrections more than welcome. Pictures, particuarly colour ones would be most welcome. If you have anything you wish to write please feel free to send me anything you have and i'll try to add it.

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