Edwin Harris Dunning


Squadron Commander Edwin Harris Dunning, DSC, of the British Royal Naval Air Service, was the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship.

Early life

Dunning was born in South Africa on 17 July 1892, the second child of Sir Edwin Harris Dunning of Jacques Hall, Bradfield, Essex. He was educated at Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth.

First landing on a moving ship

Dunning landed his Sopwith Pup on in Scapa Flow, Orkney on 2 August 1917. He was killed five days later, during his third landing attempt of the day, when an updraft caught his port wing, throwing his plane overboard. Knocked unconscious, he drowned in the cockpit.
He is buried at St Lawrence's Church, Bradfield, between his parents. A plaque in the church states:
In memory of Dunning, the Dunning Cup or Dunning Memorial Cup is given annually to the officer who is considered to have done most to further aviation in connection with the Fleet for the year in question. In the 1950s and 1960s it was awarded to Royal Air Force squadrons which achieve the highest standard on courses at the Joint Anti-Submarine School.

Honours and awards