Reginald Turnill facts for kids

Reginald George Turnill (born May 12, 1915 – died February 12, 2013) was a very important journalist for the BBC. For twenty years, he was their main reporter for everything about airplanes and space travel. This was a time when humans first started exploring space and when new, super-fast jet planes like Concorde were being developed.

Reginald Turnill reported on all of NASA's space missions. He also covered every single Apollo program mission that went to the Moon for the BBC. Even after he officially retired, he kept working with the BBC as a freelance reporter for several years.

Reginald Turnill's Career

Reginald Turnill started his career very young, at just 15 years old. He worked as a telephonist for the Press Association, which is a big news agency in Britain. By 1935, he became a reporter himself.

After serving in World War II, he returned to the Press Association in 1946. In 1956, the BBC hired him. He started as an assistant reporter covering industrial news.

Becoming an Air and Space Expert

In 1958, Reginald Turnill became the BBC's special reporter for air and space news. His job also included reporting on defense topics. He focused on new technology, not on wars.

He became friends with Wernher von Braun, a famous rocket scientist. Turnill reported on all the space flights where people went into space. He also covered the introduction of new passenger jets. These included planes like the Comet IV and the amazing Concorde.

On March 2, 1969, he was the BBC's reporter for Concorde's very first flight. This historic event happened at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France.

Reporting on Apollo 13

In April 1970, Reginald Turnill was the first journalist to report on the Apollo 13 accident. He was based at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in the USA. He shared the news through the BBC World Service on April 13, 1970.

After turning 60, he retired from his full-time job at the BBC. But he continued to work as a freelance broadcaster. He wrote many books and was even the Space Editor for Newsround until the mid-1980s. In 1990, he hosted a five-part radio series about the Apollo 13 mission called Return Ticket.

Reginald Turnill as a Writer

Reginald Turnill helped write several important books. In the 1970s, he contributed to the Observer's Book of Manned Spaceflight. He also worked on the Observer's Book of Unmanned Spaceflight. These books were published by Frederick Warne & Co.

In the 1980s, he was the editor for the Jane's Spaceflight Directory. He was very sad when the Black Arrow British space programme was canceled in July 1971. This happened just when the program was starting to show good results. In 2003, he published his own book called 'The Moonlandings, An eyewitness account'. In this book, he shared his experiences and explained how humans first landed on the Moon.

Turnill also wrote many articles about people involved in space and aviation. These articles appeared in major newspapers like The Guardian, The Times, and The Daily Telegraph. One of his last articles was about Sir James Hamilton. Sir James helped design Concorde's wing. This article was published in The Guardian in May 2012.

Reginald Turnill passed away at the age of 97 on February 12, 2013. He had been unwell for a few months. In 2006, he received the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Lifetime Achievement. This award recognized his amazing career and contributions.

Personal Life

Reginald Turnill married Margaret Hennings in 1938. They had two sons, born in 1940 and 1944. He lived in Sandgate, Kent.

See also

• Jay Barbree