From Flying Over the Somme to Teaching the World to Fly : The Extraordinary Robert Smith-Barry

Robert Smith-Barry is often credited with establishing the ‘Gosport System’ of flying training—Hugh Trenchard, Marshal of the RAF, is quoted as saying that Smith-Barry ‘taught the world to fly’. The reality is more complex. Smith-Barry was an early aviation pioneer who was among the first to train other pilots. Often described as brilliant, he was eccentric, and unable to work in a chain of command. Following Smith-Barry’s command of 60 Squadron at the Somme in 1916, he was posted to training duties at Gosport, where his School of Special Flying was established. This enabled him to drive change in how pilot and instructor training was organised, which ultimately became his crowning achievement. A flawed character, even before the First World War had ended, Smith-Barry had found himself sidelined. Unable to grasp how the training of instructors had evolved in his absence, in the Second World War his grandiose plans for new flying training schemes were met with disdain from those in command, including some with whom he had been on first-name terms. Smith-Barry nevertheless impressed many when serving as a ferry pilot and a chief ground instructor, though he struggled with personal tragedy and ill health.