Sidney Cotton

A colourful account of an enigmatic character - a classic loner in a world of intrigue and chaos - the story of Australia s most bizarre chapters in aviation history

---

Sidney Cotton was a superb pilot, a talented inventor, a businessman - and a spy. He was born in western Queensland in 1896 and served in the RAF in the latter part of World War I. He later went into business in the UK (aviation and photography) and always operated very close to the edge. Various businesses went broke under him, but he always walked away. But as World War II drew closer, he became more involved with security matters and was recruited by MI6. He had extensive business contacts in Germany, and frequently used these trips to take photographs of sensitive military sites. He later fell out with the RAF and the security establishment, but he will always be remembered as the man who flew the last civilian plane out of Berlin before the declaration of war. Later in life he was involved in the oil industry in the Middle East, and ran guns to India. His business life remained varied...He died a poor man - but still surrounded by mystery.