Denis Ewart Bernard Kingston Shipwright AE FRSA (20 May 1898 – 13 September 1984) was a British soldier and Royal Air Force officer who served throughout both world wars. In his youth he became a motor racing driver; after a brief political career, he found it difficult to find work but eventually went into the film industry. His later life was spent working as a civil servant but he kept up his hobbies and developed an interest in Unidentified Flying Objects. Early life and wartime service Shipwright was born in London, the second son of Thomas Johnson Shipwright; his mother was the classical pianist and composer Adelina de Lara. At the age of 16 in 1914 he enlisted in the Army as a Private. He initially fought in the First World War as a Despatch Rider with the 2/1st Kent Cyclist Battalion (attached to the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment), and then became a Pilot for the Royal Flying Corps. Pilot Shipwright as a pilot was noted for his sense of humour and was said to have a "devil-may-care attitude". He was wounded and crashed while flying a mission around the Somme. He was promoted from the ranks, becoming a temporary second lieutenant in the RFC on 5 July 1917, and a captain in the Royal Air Force in 1918. He was also a lieutenant in the 96th Devon Yeomanry Brigade, and after the end of the war became an acting captain in the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry in 1920. He was appointed to the administrative branch of the Royal Air Force, relinquishing his appointment in March 1921 on appointment to the Territorial forces but retaining the rank of captain. His father died young; in 1918 Shipwright became engaged to Kate Hain, daughter of Sir Edward Hain (former Liberal Member of Parliament for St Ives). and they married on 20 March of that year. He also continued his education at Lille University and University College, Oxford. In 1920 he was admitted to the Middle Temple although still only an Oxford undergraduate. Motor racing In August 1920 Shipwright had bought a 30 hp racing car from Armstrong Siddeley which over the winter he tuned up and modified to improve its performance; he also fitted an airspeed indicator and altimeter. In 1921 he won the 24th running of the "100 mph Long Handicap" at Brooklands having been given a favourable handicap.