The Man Who Tested Parachutes

"The Man Who Tested Parachutes" by Andrew Colley and John Neil is a character-driven drama about a handsome, charismatic schoolmaster whose dash masks profound emotional turmoil.

Set against the backdrop of WWII, the book charts Charles Agate's life from his early years as a Surrey schoolteacher, his fall from professional respectability and his subsequent transformation into an unlikely wartime hero at the forefront of the development of British airborne forces and the preparations for D-Day.

After the War he is haunted by his experiences, but he rebuilds his life as a charismatic head teacher, until, alone at the end, he is overwhelmed by memories of his past.

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Charles Agate was born in Redhill, Surrey in 1905. After attending school in Redhill he won a scholarship to Reigate Grammar School . It was this scholarship that enabled him to go to Goldsmiths College, join the RAF and to enjoy a thirty year career as a teacher.

His experiences at Reigate Grammar School shaped the man he was to become in terms of his politics, ethos and self image.

By the age of 16, Charles Agate had decided that he wanted to be a teacher and he won a place at Goldsmiths College, New Cross where he studied science. Everything on that course was focused on preparing teachers to manage a class of children, rather than being able to teach them. Not surprising really when classes could be up to 50 or 55 children.

Charles was the proud owner of a Norton Model 20 motorcycle; one of the fastest at the time. On a Saturday morning in 1934 he was going up to Crystal Palace Speedway when he crashed his Norton into a young lady who had just emerged from a hairdresser shop in Purley High Street. This lady was Marjorie Coles.

After a brief courtship, Charles and Marjorie were married and they bought what Agate later described as “a lovely little detached bungalow near Epsom, with no deposit.”

In 1934, Charles Agate was involved in rescuing a young woman who had been abducted by a local garage owner, Frederick William Deats (1887-1960), the prime suspect in a previous murder investigation. This is his story:

As a secondary schoolteacher under the age of 40, Charles Agate was subject to conscription so he volunteered for the RAF and was appointed to the RAF Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) with hopes of becoming a pilot or an air gunner.

However, his background as a teacher marked him out for a ground-based training role. It was this disappointment that encouraged him to apply to volunteer to test parachutes at RAF Ringway.

When Agate arrived at RAF Ringway, the staff included a number of former members of Alan Cobham's Air Circus. Agate had attended one of their displays at Shoreham Aerodrome in 1935, little knowing that he was soon to join the ranks of these mavericks and daredevils.

These included Harry Ward, the "Yorkshire Birdman". Bruce Williams, another stunt parachutist with the rugged good looks of a matinee idol and Earl Bateman Fielden, the first Chief Flying Instructor at Ringway who was described as "an old gentleman incapable of giving an order".