W. F. Bradley
William Fletcher Bradley (W.F.B.; 1876–1969) of Scarborough, Yorkshire, was Continental correspondent for The Autocar (a journal associated with Flight) and various other auto-related publications.
He covered the automobile Gordon Bennett races. During World War I he wrote about military vehicles.[1]
He was friends with Henry Farman, and, he says, a Farman lookalike:[2]
It was during the nursery days of flying that I realized the strong physical resemblance between Henry Farman and myself. During my first Rheims meeting a number of people gathered around my car clamouring for signatures. In vain I protested that I was not Farman. They refused to believe me and, in the hope of getting rid of them, I started to sign a false name. There was no retreat. When the captain of gendarmerie was convinced that he had seen Farman enter a house at Betheny, near Rheims, he called out his men and they formed a guard of honour when I emerged. After the police commissaires had taken up the joke and deliberately pointed me out as Farman, all resistance became impossible and I was generally recognized as "le quatrième frère."
References
- ↑ Bob Montgomery, "Past Imperfect: WF Bradley", Irish Times, 28 September 2005.
- ↑ W. F. Bradley, "Henry Farman—An Appreciation", Flight Vol. 74, No. 2584; 1 August 1958, p. 158.
