Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway, novelist and aeronautical engineer; educated at Shrewsbury and Balliol College Oxford. During The Great War he applied for a commission in The Royal Flying Corps but failed his final medical and subsequently, in August 1918, enlisted in the infantry; being posted to the First Reserve Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment stationed at The Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary. After the war he became Chief Calculator (stress engineer) for the Airship Guarantee Company 1924; worked on construction of the R-100 Airship; deputy chief engineer under Barnes Wallis, 1924-30; founded the aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Ltd. 1931-38. Wrote many novels under the name Nevil Shute, including No Highway, A Town like Alice, On the Beach and, his autobiography, titled Slide Rule.
