The Short Brothers were well known to me by name for a good many years before I had the pleasure of meeting any of them personally. That was when I joined the Company in the middle of 1916. It must I think, therefore, seem strange to you that the honour, a very real one to me, of being invited to give this first lecture to commemorate their great pioneering work, should fall to me.

A big part of the span of man's life has passed since they began their activities; many of their contemporaries and friends of those early days have either passed on or have reached a ripe old age. It may well be that I know the brothers personally better than any one else living. Be that as it may, I am quite sure that none holds them in greater esteem.