John G. Fuller followed The Ghost of Flight 401 with another nonfiction case study encompassing aviation catastrophe and transcendental communication, The Airmen Who Would Not Die (1979). Data presented in the book includes excerpts of Eileen Garrett trance mediumship session transcripts. John Fuller and his wife Elizabeth devoted 90 days for research in England while writing the book, including two weeks of interview sessions with former Air Ministry journalist Major Oliver G. G. Villiers and a visit with former Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard. Prior to going to the UK, the Fullers had already been gathering "an enormous dossier of letters, memos, transcripts, news clips and other material preserved over the years since 1928." It appeared that Eileen Garrett was being used as a 'channel' "to prove to a skeptical world that we did continue as conscious personalities after death."
John's Author's Note attests: "Particular care has been given to the transcripts of the psychic sessions with mediums. These are reproduced verbatim from either expert shorthand transcriptions or from copious notes of the transcripts of the purported messages . . . The author has attempted to show these apparent communications with the minimum of editing. They have been taken from the original transcripts still preserved from 1928 to the present."
In 1928 Captain W. G. R. Hinchliffe planned to make the first east-to-west trans-Atlantic airplane flight piloting a 32-foot long Stinson Detroiter monoplane despite in recent months eight people having perished during their attempts to accomplish the easterly Atlantic crossing against headwinds. During World War II the bridge of Hinchliffe's nose had been shattered by a German bullet that also left him blind in one eye he had accumulated "9,000 hours of flying time" in commercial flights. H was 33. Secretly involved in Hinchliffe's plan was Elsie Mackay, a British heiress/socialite/actress who arranged to pay all flight expenses and be his co-pilot and passenger during the flight. The flight embarked on March 13, 1928 with no wireless radio on board.
Forty hours later when the last of the fuel would be depleted, there was no word of a successful crossing. The captain's wife Emilie remained hopeful yet the sad reality of what had happened became more evident with each passing day. When her solicitors contacted Elsie Mackay's bankers, it was learned that the promised sum of ten thousand pounds in life insurance money arranged with Elsie for some reason had not gone through and the estate was now under the control of her father, Lord Inchcape.
In April and May, Emilie received two startling letters that her husband had been trying to get a message to her. One letter was from a woman whom she didn't know and the other was from author/Spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle with the latter affirming "A second medium has corroborated the message." When Emilie eventually met with the woman who is given the pseudonym 'Beatrice Earl' in the book, the result was that a session was arranged with trance medium Eileen Garrett.
The session took place on May 22 at the London Spiritual Alliance. Emilie Hinchliffe was personally able to transcribe the sessions as during her career she had been the executive secretary to the general manager of the Royal Dutch Airlines. She had met Captain Walter Raymond Hinchliffe when he was Chief Pilot for the company. After Eileen went into a trance, a 'guide' or 'control' named 'Uvani' spoke through her. The following passages are some excerpts from the transcript provided in the book with John's additional commentary presented in parentheses. John mentioned that the trance voice could switch back and forth from different manifesting personalities in succession and these shifts might come at any moment.
"Then here comes someone dear to you. A very young man. He went out suddenly. He was very vivacious and full of life. You must have sensed his presence. He passed on due to strong congestion to the heart and lungs, but he was in the state of unconsciousness." (The congestion — could it be drowning?)"He must be your husband. He keeps pointing to a ring on a finger. Was he married twice, or have you two wedding rings?" (The latter was correct, although Emilie only wore one at a time.)"He mentions the names Hermann and Wilhelm. He has seen them both here. . . ." (Hermann Hess, a close friend of Hinchliffe's, was killed in a crash in Holland in 1925. Wilhelm Hepner was killed in another flying accident in 1926.)"He came into death quick, few miles from land. Approximately one or two. He consulted his compass after the strut broke, hoping to reach land in the shortest possible way, or easiest way. But his companion was terrified, out of all limits. At 3 a.m. he gave up hope completely. . . .""Have you seen Brancker? Brancker told you not to hope any more. I curse myself I did not listen to Brancker. I went against all observations. Everyone said the weather was bad. You knew I wanted to do it. I was coming to the end of my flying. I could not have flown very much longer. You knew I had to do it. I could have only gone on two or three years, my eyesight was my life. I was drowned twenty minutes after leaving the wreck. I knew there was an island group near. It seemed easier to go south to reach land. But you know it was my intention to go north. I had prepared for weeks and weeks.""You have been worried about finances. You have been waiting, waiting, waiting. But you will hear good news soon."The name Wilhelm was spoken again, this time stating that he flew to Brussels. Yes, Emilie recalled, Wilhelm Hepner was killed flying from Paris to Brussels. The large letter "M" was mentioned. Hinchliffe often called his wife "Milly." Brancker was mentioned again: "Have you seen Brancker? Thank him for helping you."This, of course, was verifiable. Sir Sefton was trying to help and was a great comfort to Emilie. Then suddenly the voice of Uvani increased in pitch and tempo:
"Oh, God. Oh, God. It was awful. From one until three o'clock. He had forgotten everything but his wife and children. As he grows stronger, he will communicate better . . ." Uvani's voice spoke, as if passing on a message from the airman: "Tell them there is no death, but everlasting life. Life here is but a journey and a change to different conditions. We go on from unconscious perfection to conscious perfection."The trance session was over. Mrs. Earl and Emilie were silent. Very slowly, Eileen Garrett opened her eyes. Emilie Hinchliffe was emotionally exhausted. She closed her notebook. She found it difficult to find words. She rose, thanked Eileen warmly, but without identifying herself. She joined Mrs. Earl and they left the room.
Emilie arranged for another session with Mrs. Garrett two days later with John noting, "The appointment had of course been made anonymously, according to the customary practice at the Alliance." Emilie was admitted to the seance room just after the medium went into a trance condition with John Fuller describing Emilie as "keeping herself alert for every possible verifiable clue from which she could rationally judge the outcome." The guide Uvani's description of the communicator suggested a physical change in the "gentleman" who "has been getting in touch with you." The description given by Uvani affirms that in Raymond's current sphere of existence the scars of Earth life were now gone. The following passages of Uvani's commentary are from the session transcript presented in the book.
"He was a little shaky over the plugs because he had not tried these on a long-distance flight. He says that one was not sparking, and that cost him. Because there is no hope as soon as anything like this begins. There was much backfiring, and this really started the trouble with Elsie. Do you remember, he says, the conversation we had to change the make of plugs?""He knows you sorted out the papers in his desk and drawers. The studs are in a little box in the cupboard."
John Fuller commented about Emilie's response to the session: "All these poignant details were devastatingly accurate . . . She felt reassured. But one major point would have to be checked: the place where her husband's studs were located . . . When Emilie arrived back at her home, she went immediately to the cupboard Raymond had described, if indeed it was her husband who had spoken . . . This time, she noticed a little box in the drawer. She opened it. Inside the box were the studs, just where she had been told they would be."
A third session for Emilie with Eileen Garrett took place on June 9, 1928. The guide spoke through the entranced Mrs. Garrett about Emilie's husband: ". . . His great responsibility is in connection with monetary things. He is desirous and anxious to bring things to a head. He promised you that from the father of the girl there should be some recompensation forthcoming. It seems your husband is worried over Inchcape's attitude. If he will not listen, here is the way out of it: Your husband refers to someone at the Daily Express. He says you know who he means." The description of the session continues:
Emilie thought a moment, then said: "Does he mean Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?""No, not him. But Arthur Doyle would know. If Inchcape would not agree, write him again or get someone else to approach him. Tell him you are without funds, tell him about the children and also tell him that you are a stranger in this country. Tell him that it is all very well for him to say that I am responsible. But tell him that it takes two to make this arrangement, and that I am not morally responsible for the flight, or the conditions. If it is made known through the press to Elsie's father, I think he will then give some money. Talk this over with the Express . . ."
John Fuller interjected:
But now the message suddenly shifted to Hinchliffe and his friends, both alive and dead. It brought up the two fliers who had met death in the Atlantic just before his own flight:"I saw Hamilton. I believe they had a terrible time. There was also Minchin. You remember the tale at the time? Everything was true. They turned back and got as near as in sight of the Irish Coast. Hamilton says they never had a hope, and they caught fire. I saw them. They had struck very bad weather conditions."The message went on to ask about other airmen they knew . . . the entire list of names being exactly correct . . . "I have seen two Georges here . . . I have met a lot of the old crowd, and those who were killed in the war. I am getting my memory back, bit by bit."
John Fuller commented about the third session:
. . . at some point during this long session—Emilie could not be certain exactly when—she moved to a full and unshakable belief that it was true, that we did live after death, and that the evidence she had encountered was incontrovertible. It was as if she had stepped into a new world herself.It was Uvani's cadences that closed the session: "He will keep you near until you are free of worry. God bless you and your household. Remember there is no death, but everlasting life."
In early July, a reporter from the Daily Express showed up on Emilie's doorstep after a statement was issued by Lord Inchcape that his daughter's private fortune equaling $2.5 million would be entirely allocated to an Elsie Mackay Fund that wouldn't be touched for almost half a century. Then the money having accumulated interest and dividends was to be presented to the government for the sole purpose of reducing the national debt. Soon there were newspaper headlines proclaiming "MR. HINCHLIFFE NEARLY PENNILESS" and "MRS. HINCHLIFFE'S DISTRESS OVER CHILDREN'S FUTURE."
Emilie went to a new session with Eileen Garrett in mid-July. Uvani informed her about the anticipated solution to her financial crisis: "He promises that it is still coming. But it may run to the last day in July. But it will be in July. . . ."
At 8:30 p.m. on July 31, Emilie received a telephone call from a Daily Express reporter who read to her a statement made by Winston Churchill that Lord Inchcape had arranged for the sum of ten thousand pounds to be given to the Public Trustee for administration accordingly — the amount obviously intended for the benefit of Emilie Hinchliffe.
John wrote: "She went again for a session with Eileen Garrett the following day . . . She wanted to press for exactly how and where such an afterlife existed."
While delineating his research of transcendental communication transcripts offering descriptions of the transition to 'the other side,' John mentioned: "The files of the British Society for Psychical Research were also bulging with cases like this . . ."
John described how a new focus for concern developed for Emilie.
As her rather joyful and hopeful session drew to an end on the first day of August, she was alarmed by a sudden sense of urgency the next words took on. They brought up the subject of the struggling airship program:"I am afraid they are getting things rushed. How can I tell Johnston? You remember the last bad accident." Johnston was the navigator assigned to the R101. [hydrogen dirigible airship]"I wish to goodness," the words continued, "it were possible for John Morkham to tell Johnston. I may sound silly, but I am certain, if things go on, there will be a buckling because some of the wires holding the fabric are not strong enough. I cannot help thinking there may be trouble with it. I want them to have another look at the wires, to see that all is in order. Johnston must know. I knew Johnston well. If Morkham could tell them in confidence, and ask them to be more careful. I know what I am talking about."She continued her shorthand as the message went on:"There is also a new type of engine they are trying out which interests me. It is not going to be a success. Things are not right at headquarters. Bear it in mind. A new type of engine. It will not be a success. Tell them to be careful. It is not stabilized as it should be."
Emilie Hinchliffe's experiences of transcendental communication compelled her to inform others about this momentous discovery. Her first unpaid public lecture was on November 22. Two more sessions with Eileen Garrett brought Emilie additional insights into what John Fuller expressed as "the world in which her husband now seemed to be living." (transcript excerpts from these two sessions) The author noted that during the most recent session "Raymond was still trying to get warnings and suggestions to his earthly fellow airmen" and "He still kept wanting to talk to his navigator friend Johnston about the problems with the R101."
I want to say something about the new airship. You know some of the people who have to do with it, but you will not like to broach the subject.They will start without thinking of disaster, but the vessel will not stand the strain. It will come down on one side first.
One of the people Emilie told about the warning messages was Captain Morkham, who agreed to join her at a session. The warnings persisted at each new session and eventually Emilie made two efforts to warn navigator Johnston. Arthur Conan Doyle accompanied her during one of these occasions. The reaction of Johnston is described by John Fuller: "He told them he appreciated their coming, but reassured them that everyone was taking every possible precaution to make sure that the ship was free of flaws." Johnston would be among those to lose his life aboard the R101.
After the ailing Doyle made his own passing from Earth life during the summer of 1930, Emilie continued lecturing. The first flight of the airship above the town of Bedford was on October 14, 1929 with three of the five engines being used. Test flights would continue for another year.
She concentrated on writing a short book about her experiences with the messages from her husband, but found herself hemmed in by pressure from family and friends against revealing the personal and intimate details of both the financial struggle and the R101 involvement. In spite of these restrictions, she felt that she could reveal enough to convince many of the reality in her mind, that we continue to live after death.
At a dinner party that Eileen Garrett attended, a friend brought to her Air Vice Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, who was also a guest at the event. Upon learning of Captain Hinchliffe's apparent warnings of impending disaster for the R101, Brancker indicated to Eileen Garrett that he wasn't going to change his plans for being on the airship for the scheduled first flight to India. He would be accompanied by Lord Thomson and other distinguished officials and dignitaries. Flight Lieutenant Herbert Carmichael Irwin was Captain of the R101.
After 2 a.m. on October 6, 1930, the R101 'flying hotel' en route to India burst into flames upon crashing into a hillside. The survivors were engineers Bell, Binks, Cook, Leech, Savory and wireless operator Disley; none of the officers or passengers had been saved among the 48 lives that were lost.
The following day Eileen Garrett conducted a trance session for a well-known Australian journalist of the popular British magazine Nash's alongside author/psychical researcher Harry Price, who apparently considered the experience as experimental; however, considering Price's at times denialist writings about phenomena associated with Spiritualism his secretary's transcript made of the session may perhaps be questionable in relation to being unexpurgated and offering verbatim accuracy. John Fuller wrote about the "big problem" for Ian Coster: "it was a news break that couldn't be used. Even if it could be taken as factual, who would believe it? . . . Coster left to get on with his other work. He had to interview Edgar Wallace, the mystery writer, on how to deal with gunmen . . . He planned to keep in close touch with Price about getting expert opinion on the transcripts . . . He didn't quite know how to handle this for Nash's and Cosmopolitan."
Major Oliver G. G. Villiers was a British Air Ministry officer whose duties included being the editor of the official journal and annual report of the Air Ministry. His director Sir Sefton Brancker was a victim of the crash. Villiers attended a total of seven Eileen Garrett trance sessions between October 31 and November 28, 1930. He personally was note-taker with John Fuller commenting: "For Villiers, the situation boiled down to this: The material he had received in the seances not only had great importance as far as the hearings were concerned. It extended to the larger question of whether man lived after death. He was now sure that he had been in touch with a group of identifiable entities . . . they seemed to be able to transmit articulate technical information to him, almost as if they were still living . . ." The full session transcripts made by Villiers are presented in the book. (first and last Villiers session transcripts)
John Fuller reported that an article about findings related to Harry Price's seance transcript in May 1931 "appeared rather inconspicuously in the Morning Post. Suddenly, it was picked up by the press all over the world. It made many front pages, from Hong Kong to Brisbane. Then just as suddenly, it died down." Studying the Eileen Garrett seance transcripts compelled John to consider: "Does man's individual consciousness and self-awareness go on after death — in a form not markedly different from our own life here on Earth?"
The author offered his reaction upon perusing the numerous volumes in the library of the Society of Psychical Research: ". . . one evident fact emerged: If anyone took the time to study the most rational reports on the evidence of life-after-death, it would be difficult not to at least accept it as a distinct possibility . . . Although we spent many days going over selected material, we could barely scratch the surface."
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