The Lion of Letcombe Regis, by Trevor Hancock

THE story starts with these remarkable photos showing Mrs Helen Silver and her pet lion Simba at Warbrough Farm, Letcombe Regis. Born in 1894, the daughter of John Blandy-Jenkins, JP of Kingston Bagpuize near Abingdon, Helen Blandy-Jenkins married Stephen William Miles Silver of Letcombe Regis in 1914. The couple set up home at Warbrough Farm.

Helen Silver was an inveterate traveller, especially to Africa where she had family. On one such occasion in 1926, she brought back a lion cub. This was added to a collection of wild animals which was looked after by Mr Brook Alder, the Bailiff of Warbrough Farm, who became well-known as a wild animal keeper and trainer. The lion was kept on the lawn of the farm house, sleeping in a horse box and Helen was often seen taking the lion for a ride in the car.

It was reported in a local newspaper at the time: "A by road passes close by (the farm), and neighbours, who drive or ride horses past the lawn report having had some exciting experiences! In most cases, their horses are stated to have taken fright suddenly, without apparent reason, in other instances the lion has been known to fix his eyes on the horses and roar at them. People living in two cottages only about 100 yards away are stated to have long since accepted the lion as part of the natural setting and are on good terms with him."

Inevitably this could not last, and Simba was taken to Edinburgh Zoo in June 1927.

As to Helen Silver, she qualified as a pilot in August 1930, flying to Kenya to visit family two months later and returning in the same way. Whilst in Kenya, she had met Major Sandy Wynne-Eyton who was to become her second husband. He was a former WWI pilot, and was well-known for making an attempt to cross the Atlantic in a light aircraft. Together they started a flying business in East Africa delivering the mail and transporting passengers. On the outbreak of WWII, the couple offered their airline to the RAF. This was accepted and Sandy Wynne-Eyton was given the rank of Squadron Leader, whilst an order was put through giving his wife the rank of Sergeant pilot. Sandy went on to serve with the RAF in North Africa and Europe, where sadly he died in a flying accident. Helen remained in East Africa. She is now regarded as one of the first female pilots in the RAF.

The RAF Museum at Hendon has a copy of a letter from the RAF dated 29/10/1943, thanking her for her service with the East African communications flight. A file at the National Archives Kew details a complaint made against Helen Wynne-Eyton by Imperial Airways during her time as a pilot. She was the pilot of an aircraft which had a

bumpy landing and the passengers felt quite aggrieved to have been flown by an "amateur lady pilot". The matter reached the Governor of Kenya who received a letter from the RAF saying "the word amateur is admittedly not easy, but as the lady pilot concerned has more flying hours to her credit than the majority of regular RAF pilots now in the service, the term amateur appears to been used somewhat loosely".

After the war, Helen Wynne-Eyton remarried to David Christie-Miller, a farmer who later became High Commissioner in Kenya. She died in 1955.