The Amy Johnson Statue

Описание: It’s rather wonderful, really, that on the windswept promenade of Herne Bay — a place more accustomed to gulls, chips, and the occasional sideways rain — there stands a life-size bronze statue of Amy Johnson. It was commissioned by the Amy Johnson Project to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of her untimely death on 5 January 1941. The bronze was unveiled, with much ceremony and a decent amount of British drizzle, by HRH Prince Michael of Kent and modern-day aviatrix Tracey Curtis-Taylor on a Saturday in September 2016.

Amy Johnson, who was just 37 when she died, remains one of those figures who seem almost too large for life, let alone for death. Her end was as mysterious as it was tragic — her plane went down in circumstances that no one ever properly explained, and a gallant rescue attempt cost the life of the ship’s captain who tried to save her. According to the RAF Accident Record Card, it was off Herne Bay that her final flight came to its sorrowful close. Neither her body nor her aircraft was ever found, which somehow makes the whole story feel both unfinished and unforgettable.

The statue itself is a lovely thing — not grand or aloof, but spirited and very human. Dressed in her early 1930s flying gear, she’s captured mid-stride, adjusting her goggles and looking skyward, as if she’s about to hop into her plane and head for Australia again. The bronze includes some of Amy’s own words, which show her to have been not just brave and brilliant but delightfully articulate too.

By day, she mingles almost unnoticed with the seaside crowd — dogs on leads, prams, people wondering if they should have brought a jumper. But at night, when the promenade is empty and the air still, her silhouette stands alone against the sea and sky. It’s a hauntingly beautiful sight: the lone girl flyer, still looking up, still ready for flight.

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