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{{Short description|British business man}}
{{For|the American basketball player, coach, and executive|Allan Bristow}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
[[File:Alan Bristow in May 2009.jpg|thumb|Alan Bristow]]
'''Alan Edgar Bristow''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OBE|FRAeS}} (3 September 1923 – 26 April 2009)<ref name=AutoBiog/> founded one of the world's largest [[helicopter]] service companies, [[Bristow Helicopters|Bristow Helicopters Ltd]], which prospered primarily in the international oil and mineral exploration and extraction industries, but also spread into search and rescue, peacekeeping and other fields.<ref name=TimesObit/>

==Early life==
Born in [[Balham]], south London, on 3 September 1923, Alan Bristow was raised first in [[Bermuda]], where his father Sydney was in charge of the Royal Naval Dockyard, and later in [[Portsmouth]], England, when his father was promoted. At [[Portsmouth Grammar School]] Bristow was a contemporary of the author [[James Clavell]], who remained a lifelong friend and wrote a book, [[Whirlwind (novel)|''Whirlwind'']], about one of Bristow's riskier exploits.<ref name=AutoBiog>{{cite book|author=Alan Bristow|title=Alan Bristow, Helicopter Pioneer: The Autobiography|year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword|isbn=978-1848842083}}</ref>

==World War II==
After [[World War II]] broke out, on his 16th birthday in 1940 Bristow joined the [[British-India Steam Navigation Company]] as a deck officer cadet. He twice had ships sunk under him: the {{SS|Malda}}, by Japanese warships in the [[Bay of Bengal]] on 6 April 1942; and the {{SS|Hatarana}} by the German submarine [[German submarine U-214|''U-214'']] on 18 August 1942. He was present at the [[Japanese conquest of Burma#Japanese capture of Rangoon|evacuation of Rangoon]] and the [[Operation Torch]] landings in North Africa.<ref name=AutoBiog/> Bristow was credited with shooting down two [[Stuka]]s from the forepeak of an ammunition ship off the coast of [[Algeria]].<ref name=AutoBiog/>

In 1943, Bristow joined the [[Fleet Air Arm]] as a trainee pilot. Trained by the RAF in [[Canada]], he was trained on the [[Fairchild PT-19|Fairchild Cornell]] and [[North American T-6 Texan|North American T6 Harvard]].<ref name=AutoBiog/> In 1944, he was sent to [[Floyd Bennett Field]], [[New York (state)|New York]], to learn to fly the difficult [[Sikorsky R-4]] helicopter, the world's first mass-production military helicopter.<ref name=AutoBiog/> In 1946 he became the first Briton to land a helicopter on the deck of a naval frigate at sea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.navywings.org.uk/news-blog/70th-anniversary-pioneering-helicopter-landing/ |title=70th Anniversary of Pioneering Helicopter Landing |publisher=Navy Wings}}</ref>

==Career==
After demobilisation he joined the [[Westland Aircraft|Westland Aircraft Company]] as its first helicopter test pilot, but was [[Dismissal (employment)|sacked]] for attacking the company's sales manager.<ref name=AutoBiog/>

===Bristow Helicopters===
{{main|Bristow Helicopters}}

As a freelance helicopter pilot, he sprayed crops in [[France]], the [[Netherlands]] and [[North Africa]].<ref name=AutoBiog/> Starting his own helicopter trading and operating company, in 1949 while in [[Indochina]] trying to sell [[Hiller OH-23 Raven|Hiller 12A]] helicopters to [[French Army]] forces, Bristow rescued a group of French soldiers using one of his own helicopters, while they were under attack from [[Viet Minh]] [[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]] fire. He was subsequently awarded the [[Croix de Guerre]].<ref name=TimesObit/> Bristow then provided helicopter spotting services for [[Aristotle Onassis]]'s pirate whaling fleet in the Antarctic.

Bristow started operating flights in aid of [[oil exploration]] in the [[Persian Gulf]]. Engaged by the former RAF fighter ace [[Douglas Bader]], his company became highly profitable and Bristow a wealthy man. In the 1960s, Bristow sold a stake in his business to a consortium led by [[Freddie Laker]], having [[Coin flipping|tossed a coin]] in the course of an extended lunch to decide the valuation of the shares. Bristow won, and the funds enabled him to buy the {{convert|2000|acre}} [[Baynards Park]] estate in Surrey.<ref name=AutoBiog/>

Bristow Helicopters Ltd eventually expanded to cover most of the globe outside Russia and Alaska, with notable profit centres in the British North Sea, Nigeria, Iran, Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. For his services to aviation he was honoured with an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] in 1966.<ref name=TimesObit/>

Bristow's reign over the British helicopter sector came to an end in 1985 after he had a falling-out with [[Nicholas Cayzer, Baron Cayzer|Lord Cayzer]], whose family holding company [[British & Commonwealth]] was one of the shareholders brought in by Laker. Bought out by the Cayzers, Bristow retired and the company's fortunes declined with the North Sea oil industry.<ref name=AutoBiog/>

===Westland Affair===
{{main|Westland Affair}}
In April 1985, Bristow formed a consortium called Bristow Rotorcraft to launch an £89 million bid for his former employer, Westland Helicopters, which was initially rejected. After the Government of Margaret Thatcher had forced the board to accept, Bristow was threatening to pull out unless he was given assurances of new [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] orders and the cancellation of a £40 million "launch aid" loan from the government. Bristow withdrew his bid in June 1985, by which time Westland preferred an agreement with the American company [[Sikorsky Aircraft]]. However, the [[Defence Secretary]] [[Michael Heseltine]] MP demanded a "European" solution, and resigned spectacularly after a cabinet row to create the Westland Affair. The resultant disputes within the Conservative Party resulted in the resignation of [[Leon Brittan]] as [[Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]]. Bristow claimed to have been offered a knighthood if he would return to the negotiating table to help the government out of its embarrassment. Westland was eventually bought by Sikorsky.<ref name=AutoBiog/>

===Other interests===
In 1968, Bristow took over from Laker as the chairman of independent airline [[British United Airways]]. After leading the 1970 merger with [[Caledonian Airways]] to form [[British Caledonian]], he then returned to chair Bristow Helicopters.<ref name=AutoBiog/>

A keen [[Equestrianism|equestrian]], Bristow represented Great Britain at four-in-hand carriage driving with the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]]. In the late 1980s, he developed an, ultimately unsuccessful, driverless urban rapid transit system called [[Briway]].<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/alan-bristow-magnate-entrepreneur-dies-4824043 | title = Alan Bristow, magnate and entrepreneur, dies at 85 | work = GetSurrey | publisher = Surrey & Berkshire Media Limited | date = 1 May 2009 | accessdate = 6 February 2014}}</ref> In the 1990s Bristow invented a [[waterbed]] for [[dairy cattle]]; his [[animal bedding]] is sold internationally.<ref name="tweti20021026">{{Cite news |last=Tweti |first=Mira |date=26 October 2002 |title=Water Beds for Cattle? These Cows Milk It for All It's Worth |language=en-US |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-26-me-outthere26-story.html |access-date=26 May 2021}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Twice married, he had a son [[Laurence Bristow|Laurence]], a professional racing driver, and a daughter by his first wife, Jean. He died on 26 April 2009, aged 85, survived by his son and by his second wife, Heather.<ref name=TimesObit>[https://archive.today/20100524070326/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6187419.ece Tribute to Alan Bristow] The Times</ref>

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|author=Alan Bristow|title=Alan Bristow, Helicopter Pioneer: The Autobiography|year=2009 |publisher=Pen & Sword|isbn=978-1848842083}}
{{refend}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/finance-obituaries/5245637/Alan-Bristow.html Obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph'']
* [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/may/05/obituary-alan-bristow Obituary in ''The Guardian'']
* [http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=2085 Autobiography: Alan Bristow, Helicopter Pioneer]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristow, Alan}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Portsmouth]]
[[Category:English test pilots]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society]]
[[Category:People from Balham]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm aviators]]
[[Category:People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School]]
[[Category:British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Helicopter pilots]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century English businesspeople]]

Alan Bristow - Revision history

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