Department of Engineering / News / Sir Arthur Marshall OBE DL (1903 – 2007)

Department of Engineering

Sir Arthur Marshall OBE DL (1903 – 2007)

Sir Arthur Marshall OBE DL (1903 – 2007)

Tributes have been paid across the University to Sir Arthur Marshall who died today aged 103.

Sir Arthur Marshall OBE DL was one of Britain's aviation pioneers whose Cambridge-based aircraft engineering and automotive business grew to become a major force in the UK Aerospace industry, and one of the largest privately-owned companies in the country.

He was born on 4th December, 1903, just 13 days prior to the first manned flight by the Wright brothers, the eldest of eight children.

His father, David, founded Marshall of Cambridge in 1909 as a car hire and motor business.

He was educated at the Perse School for Boys, Tonbridge School and Jesus College, Cambridge where he gained a First Class Degree in Engineering. Whilst up at Cambridge he also gained a Running Blue for the quarter mile and was subsequently selected as a member of the British team at the 1924 “Chariots of Fire” Olympic Games in Paris.

He obtained his pilot's licence, in 1928 and, in 1929, he and his father bought their first aircraft, a de Havilland Gipsy Moth. In June that year, his father also purchased Whitehill Farm, alongside the family home in Newmarket Road on which they opened Cambridge's first aerodrome. Arthur combined his work in the garage with giving flying instruction in his spare time, and an expansion of the aviation business led to the purchase of land just outside Cambridge in 1935 on which the present Cambridge Airport was developed.

Arthur Marshall's flying training methods resulted in the Company's Elementary Flying Training Schools being the most productive in the country. His scheme was eventually adopted across the Royal Air Force, providing huge benefits during the remainder of the Second World war. The Marshall Flying Schools trained over 20,000 pilots and instructors for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Arthur Marshall also initiated the incorporation of his company into the Government's Civilian Repair Organisation. During the course of the War, Marshall repaired over 5,000 aircraft of types such as Whitley, Oxford, Albemarle and Mosquito.

Arthur Marshall became Chairman of the Company on his father's death in 1942, and remained in this position for the next 48 years, until his retirement in 1989. His unique management style, as well as his single-minded attention to detail and strong leadership enabled him to achieve success by example which fostered unrivalled team spirit and an enduring loyalty from his workforce which encouraged them collectively to achieve standards which were stamped with corporate pride. This rare inspiration became a Marshall hallmark, and was a telling testimony of his leadership.

Following the War, Arthur Marshall established a vehicle body building division of the Company which, as Marshall Specialist Vehicles, grew to become a substantial supplier to the Ministry of Defence. He developed the aircraft business, Marshall Aerospace, into a major maintenance and repair business which is, today, one of the most highly regarded companies in its field.

The Motor business, started by his father, which was further developed by Arthur's son Michael, is now one of the country's largest privately-owned garage groups.

Arthur Marshall was passionately attached to Cambridge and was particularly proud to have created a highly respected business which provided substantial local employment.

He maintained a close relationship with Jesus College which elected him as an Honorary Fellow in 1990. The relationship with Cambridge University was further endorsed when, in June 1996, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, in his role as Chancellor of Cambridge University, conferred on him an Honorary Law Degree.

On that same day in June, Arthur performed the official opening of the Arthur Marshall Room in the new Pavilion at the Cambridge University Athletics Grounds. In 2001, The Sir Arthur Marshall Institute of Aeronautics was formed as part of Cambridge University Engineering Department.

At the age of 90, he completed his autobiography “The Marshall Story - a Century of Wheels and Wings” in which he modestly recalls his Company's unique and outstanding contribution to over 80 years of progress and change in the British aviation and automotive scene.

His working hours were legendary and, right up to his retirement in 1989, at the age of 86, he was working a seven day 65 hour week, although these long hours never dulled a sharp sense of humour. At the time of his death, although long retired from playing a part in the management of the expanding family business, he nonetheless kept in touch from his “retirement offices”. Remarkably, at the age of 99, he delivered the Annual Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators “Sir Frederick Timms Memorial Lecture” on 24th September 2003. Just three months later a party was held for his 100th birthday party when members of his family and a number of close friends sat down to lunch in Jesus College, Cambridge. In his speech, Sir Arthur reflected that, as you get older, you find there are three phases of life: you are born, you are middle aged and …… “you are looking very well”.

On 9th June 2004, when The City of Cambridge conferred the Honorary Freedom of the City on Sir Arthur, he was the oldest person at the age of 100½ to receive this unique honour which had been awarded only 14 times during his lifetime. It was the first occasion since 1911 that it has been given to a non-Councillor.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, said: "Sir Arthur was an outstanding citizen of Cambridge and a valued friend to the University. A true scholar-sportsman, his life was one of great and varied achievement. He will be greatly missed by us all."

Professor Bill Dawes, the University's Frances Mond Professor of Aeronautical Engineering said: “He was a great man with whom we were very pleased and proud to be associated. He inspired a close relationship between Marshall and the University which is manifested in what is nowadays called the Sir Arthur Marshall Insitute for Aeronautics.”

Professor Robert Mair, Master of Jesus College and whose father was a former Professor of Aeronautical Engineering who worked closely with Sir Arthur, said: “Sir Arthur was the oldest member of Jesus College and one of our most distinguished alumni. Throughout his long and successful career, Sir Arthur maintained a close association with the College and in 1990 he was made an Honorary Fellow. We all fondly recall the memorable centenary birthday lunch given for him in the College in 2003, at which he spoke eloquently about his long and distinguished life.”

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