From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Witness statement from engineer Michael John Willcocks regarding the final record attempt of Miss England II.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 174\5\ img101 | |
| Date | 13th June 1930 guessed | |
| MICHAEL JOHN WILLCOCKS of "Fermain" Pizee Avenue, Clevedon, Somerset, Engineer, will say:- I was directly employed by the late Sir Henry Segrave as his engineer and riding mechanic on Miss England II. I applied and was specially engaged for this particular job. Sir Henry did not offer the job to me until after he had carefully explained the risks and informed me that the enterprise would be highly dangerous. I have twice previously been capsized in racing motor boats. I was with Sir Henry on every run he made in Miss England II. The boat was remarkably stable and on every occasion gave us a smooth ride. There was never any pounding. I accompanied Sir Henry and Mr. Halliwell on Friday June 13. We went out to attack the record. My seat was on the starboard side, Mr. Halliwell on the port side and Sir Henry in the centre - our usual positions. We first made a run over the measured mile from South to North. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on that run. Everything functioned perfectly. We turned round and covered the mile again from North to South at a higher speed. Everything again functioned perfectly. Sir Henry and Mr. Halliwell both had stop watches and by previous arrangement were timing the boat. At the end of the second mile Sir Henry gave me the accustomed signal to examine the transmission, gear-box and the forward part of the hull, which was part of my routine work. I got down and looked forward and saw that everything appeared to be in order. I was about to go forward to make a manual examination when Sir Henry touched me on the wrist. I returned to my seat. Sir Henry slapped me on the shoulder and put his thumbs up. He was obviously delighted. I shouted "Broken"? at him (meaning the record) and he nodded. He then accelerated and turned the boat for a third run. The boat was now travelling much faster than on any previous run. | ||