Reginald Turnill

Reginald Turnill
Born	1915 (age 108–109) Kent
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Aviation and space correspondent for the BBC from the 1940s to the 1990s
Notable credit(s)	BBC TV News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4
Spouse	Margaret Hennings
Children	2 sons

Reginald Turnill (born 1915) was the BBC's aviation (and space) correspondent for over forty years throughout the heyday of space exploration and British (initial) aviation prowess. He saw at first hand the development of modern aviation and NASA's space missions. Some journalists saw one of these at close hand, but not both.

Career

In his teenage years (the 1930s) he was an assistant to Jack Hill, who became a Daily Telegraph editor. He started as a journalist at the age of 15. He was an avid reader of the works of H. G. Wells, and interviewed the author in the 1930s.

BBC

He joined the BBC in 1956, when in his 40s. He was mainly the Air and Space correspondent, but as military aviation overlaps with defence, he was also occasionally a BBC Defence correspondent, but not a War correspondent; he looked at the technology, not the conflicts, and neither is he an astronomer. He was most seen on the BBC from the 1960s to the 1980s. He became friends with Wernher von Braun, who was similar in age to him, although his approach was initially frosty and reticent.

On 2 March 1969 he was the BBC's reporter on Concorde's maiden flight at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.

In April 1970, he was the first journalist to report on the Apollo 13 catastrophe via the BBC World Service when based at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center on 13 April 1970.

In 1990 he presented Return Ticket, a five-part Radio 4 series about the Apollo 13 mission.

He was largely superseded at the BBC by Christopher Wain. He felt the BBC did not give him the kudos he deserved for the experience he gained. His former position at the BBC is now taken by Jonathan Amos.

Newspapers

Many obituaries for people in the aviation industry for the Guardian newspaper are written by him. He has also occasionally contributed in the 1970s to The Times.

Author

He contributed to series of books notably the Observer's Book of Manned Spaceflight and the Observer's Book of Unmanned Spaceflight in the 1970s, published by Frederick Warne & Co. In the 1980s he edited the Jane's Spaceflight Directory.

From his books it is clear that Concorde and the Apollo 11 Moon landings attracted his attention the most. No-one has been back to the Moon since 1972, and neither has another supersonic airliner been built. He was particularly disappointed by the cancellation of the Black Arrow British space programme in July 1971, at the very moment it was providing results.

In 2006 he won the Sir Arthur Clarke Award Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

He married Margaret Hennings in 1938 in Westminster. They have two sons (born 1940 and 1944). He lives in Sandgate, Kent.

Publications

• The Moonlandings: An Eyewitness Account, (foreword by Buzz Aldrin), 2002, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521815959
• Celebrating Concorde, 1994, Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 0711022968
• Farnborough: the Story of the RAE, (with Arthur Reed), 1981, Hale Publishing, ISBN 0709185847
• The Language of Space: A Dictionary of Astronautics, 1970, Littlehampton Book Services, ISBN 030493657X
• Moonslaught: The full story of Man's race to the Moon, 1969, Purnell and Sons

See also

• Jay Barbree

External links

• BBC Archive
• The Eagle has Landed
• Interview on Astrotalkuk.org in April 2008

Video clips

• Discussing Apollo 13 in April 2010

Audio clips

• Concorde's maiden flight in March 1969 on BBC School Radio