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Beyond Lion Rock: The Story of Cathay Pacific Airways
In post-war Hong Kong, two men had a dream of the skies. In 1946, Roy Farrel and Syd de Kantzow set up the first post-war supply route across the Himalayas in their battered DC3, battling against danger, discomfort, civil war and hijacking. This is the story of Cathay Pacific.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
264 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
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About the author
Gavin Young
53 books8 followersGavin David Young (24 April 1928 – 18 January 2001) was a journalist and travel writer.
He was born in Bude, Cornwall, England. His father, Gavin Young, was a lieutenant colonel in the Welsh Guards. Daphne, his mother, was the daughter of Sir Charles Leolin Forestier-Walker, Bt, of Monmouthshire. Young spent most of his youth in Cornwall and South Wales. He graduated from Oxford University, where he studied modern history.
Young spent two years with the Ralli Brothers shipping company in Basra in Iraq before living with the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He fashioned his experiences into a book, Return to the Marshes (1977). In 1960, from Tunis, he joined The Observer of London as a foreign correspondent, and was the Observer's correspondent in Paris and New York. He had covered fifteen wars and revolutions throughout the world, and worked for The Guardian and was a travel writer. Young died in London on 18 January 2001; he was 72 years old.
He was born in Bude, Cornwall, England. His father, Gavin Young, was a lieutenant colonel in the Welsh Guards. Daphne, his mother, was the daughter of Sir Charles Leolin Forestier-Walker, Bt, of Monmouthshire. Young spent most of his youth in Cornwall and South Wales. He graduated from Oxford University, where he studied modern history.
Young spent two years with the Ralli Brothers shipping company in Basra in Iraq before living with the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. He fashioned his experiences into a book, Return to the Marshes (1977). In 1960, from Tunis, he joined The Observer of London as a foreign correspondent, and was the Observer's correspondent in Paris and New York. He had covered fifteen wars and revolutions throughout the world, and worked for The Guardian and was a travel writer. Young died in London on 18 January 2001; he was 72 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 20, 2013
This history tackles both strands that begat Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s de facto “national carrier”. One side is the pioneering work of founders Roy Farrell and Syd de Kantzow, both ex-military transport pilots and veterans of the treacherous “Hump” route over the Himalayas during World War II. Farrell bought a military surplus DC-3, the now famous Betsy, and started an airline from nothing before he was soon joined by de Kantzow. The other side is more establishment, with trading and shipping conglomerate Swire, led by Jock Swire, seeking to “get into Air” to further interests in the Far Eastern trade. Swire acquired Cathay Pacific a few years after the founding of the airline and still owns it today.
The book is very well researched, and the author has interviewed dozens of the major and minor players of the airline’s interesting history. It is interesting not only from the point of view of the aviation enthusiast, but very much also for its fascinating glimpses into Hong Kong immediately post war, through recovery and finally into the uncertain future of Chinese rule (the book was published in 1989, eight years before the handover). The author freely admits that he hasn’t bothered much with incidents of drunken pilots, pilots sleeping with stewardesses (or wifes with pilots out flying) or any such since these incidents are hardly peculiar to Cathay Pacific. Mr. Young focuses instead on defining events such as new aircraft types, new routes, scandals and accidents, viewed through the lens of regional history. The brief snippets from interviews with former and (then) current staff, as well as affiliated officials and businessmen, bring vividness and immediacy to the story.
My criticism, or shall we say niggle, with this book is that perhaps Mr. Young seems a touch too enamored with Cathay Pacific and the romance of the Far Eastern trade. But then again who can blame him? Even in the eighties, times were different. Certainly when the airline was started, Hong Kong was a remote and romantic place in the eyes of Westerners. A frontier where fortunes could be made and lost by those bold enough to take the often harrowing risks required.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1687
The book is very well researched, and the author has interviewed dozens of the major and minor players of the airline’s interesting history. It is interesting not only from the point of view of the aviation enthusiast, but very much also for its fascinating glimpses into Hong Kong immediately post war, through recovery and finally into the uncertain future of Chinese rule (the book was published in 1989, eight years before the handover). The author freely admits that he hasn’t bothered much with incidents of drunken pilots, pilots sleeping with stewardesses (or wifes with pilots out flying) or any such since these incidents are hardly peculiar to Cathay Pacific. Mr. Young focuses instead on defining events such as new aircraft types, new routes, scandals and accidents, viewed through the lens of regional history. The brief snippets from interviews with former and (then) current staff, as well as affiliated officials and businessmen, bring vividness and immediacy to the story.
My criticism, or shall we say niggle, with this book is that perhaps Mr. Young seems a touch too enamored with Cathay Pacific and the romance of the Far Eastern trade. But then again who can blame him? Even in the eighties, times were different. Certainly when the airline was started, Hong Kong was a remote and romantic place in the eyes of Westerners. A frontier where fortunes could be made and lost by those bold enough to take the often harrowing risks required.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1687
January 13, 2016
"'In future, we must share the same bed, celestials and terrestrials.'" (quoting John Swire, 88)
"In the cloud, CX800 is a blind white fish. Cloud-shadows flicker round the grey womb of the cockpit, across the crisp white shirts of the impassive men staring ahead into the fog with narrowed eyes or at their dials. Any minute .. any minute ... we shall burst out into the infinite sunshine. Now! In the sudden liberating explosion of light, the great white, green and sliver flying fish gives a joyful spring. Sunlight showers over us. Everything is smooth and weightless." (231)
"In the cloud, CX800 is a blind white fish. Cloud-shadows flicker round the grey womb of the cockpit, across the crisp white shirts of the impassive men staring ahead into the fog with narrowed eyes or at their dials. Any minute .. any minute ... we shall burst out into the infinite sunshine. Now! In the sudden liberating explosion of light, the great white, green and sliver flying fish gives a joyful spring. Sunlight showers over us. Everything is smooth and weightless." (231)
December 11, 2007
Another self-explanatory great read from travel writer Gavin Young, one of the best in the business
July 26, 2021
This book is about the story of Cathay Pacific Airways. Hong Kong’s main flagship carrier. What is the story behind it. How does it make this Airline that successful. Actually, the name comes from a comic. The two founders planned to use Cathay as the name. Then, they imagined a plane flying through the Pacific Ocean. This makes the airline name Cathay Pacific.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews