| Aktivitet | Came to Dartington after Dorothy's marriage to Leonard Elmhirst in 1925. Whitney was among the first pupils at Dartington Hall School. In 1929 he gained a pilot's licence having flown solo since the age of sixteen. He took up racing driving from 1931-35, during which time he broke the lap record at Brooklands and won the South African Grand Prix (his brother Michael came an unexpected third in the same race). In 1935 he started an aviation business and at the beginning of the war joined the RAF. In 1940 he was seriously wounded during the Norwegian campaign and awared the MC. After his recovery he was credited with four air combat victories during the Battle of Britain. In 1941 he was shot down over France and captured, but escaped from prison camp to return to active service. In addition to the MC he was awared the DFC. In 1944 he was air-ADC to King George VI and appointed CBE. When British European Airways was formed in 1946 he became its Deputy Chairman and Managing Director, then in 1947 he moved to BOAC as its Deputy Chairman. He was later to have leading positions with Rolls Royce and the Post Office Corporation. After his childhood Whitney was an infrequent visitor to Dartington Hall, but he often saw his mother on her visits to London. In 1935 he married Daphne Finch Hatton. He died after a short illness in 1979. |