Malcolm Campbell

Did You Know?

• Campbell first broke the land speed record in 1924 at 146.16 mph in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam, which is now on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
• Campbell named his car Blue Bird after seeing the play The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck at the Haymarket Theatre.

Early life and family

Campbell was born in Chislehurst, Kent, the only son of a Hatton Garden diamond seller. He attended Uppingham School and learned the diamond trade in Germany, where he developed an interest in motorbikes and racing. After returning to Britain, he worked unpaid at Lloyd's of London for two years, then for a year at £1 a week. From 1906 to 1908, he won all three London to Land's End Trials motorcycle races. He began racing cars at Brooklands in 1910, naming his car Blue Bird after seeing the play The Blue Bird. He also wrote motoring mystery novels, including Salute to the Gods, which was adapted into the 1939 film Burn 'Em Up O'Connor. In 1935, he narrated the short film Your Driving Test for Ford.

Military service

When the First World War began, Malcolm Campbell signed up as a motorcycle dispatch rider and saw action at the Battle of Mons in August 1914. He became a second lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment on 2 September 1914, and soon moved to the Royal Flying Corps, where he served as a ferry pilot after his instructors judged him too clumsy for fighter training. In the late 1930s, he led the provost company of the 56th (London) Division of the Territorial Army. Between 1940 and 1942, he commanded the military police unit of the Coats Mission, which was responsible for evacuating King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their family from London if Germany invaded. Transferred from the Corps of Military Police to the General List on 23 January 1943, he left active service on 16 December 1945 at age 60, receiving the honorary rank of major.

Land speed record

Campbell's first land speed record came in 1924, when he hit 146.16 mph at Pendine Sands in a 350-horsepower V12 Sunbeam. Between then and 1935, he set nine such records, three at Pendine and five at Daytona Beach. His first two records were in Sunbeam cars. In 1925, he lapped Brooklands at 100 mph in a streamlined Chrysler Six. On 4 February 1927, back at Pendine, he drove the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird to 174.883 mph over the flying kilometre and 174.224 mph over the flying mile. His final record came on 3 September 1935 at Bonneville Salt Flats, where he averaged 301.337 mph, becoming the first person to exceed 300 mph in an automobile.

Honours and awards

Campbell was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 for his First World War service. He was knighted by King George V on 21 February 1931 after setting a land speed record of 245.736 mph at Daytona Beach. He received the Segrave Trophy in 1933 and again in 1939. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994. In 2010, an English Heritage blue plaque commemorating Campbell and his son was installed at Canbury School in Kingston upon Thames.