Henry Leigh Carslake Prize

The Henry Leigh Carslake Prize was an essay contest founded in 1927 by the parents of Lieutenant Carslake, who had been killed in an airplane crash off Malta on 21 October, 1920. The Prize consisted of a silver medal, together with a sum of money (the balance of income available) for the purchase of books and instruments.

History

Paraphrasing the Navy List of 1957 very lightly, Carslake's parents provided a Fund of approximately 590 guineas invested in Government securities.

The Prize was awarded annually to the Naval Officer, Supplementary List Officer, or Special Duties Officer serving as a Naval Observer in the Fleet Air Arm who, in the opinion of the Admiralty, submitted the best essay on a subject specially set by the Admiralty in each year and dealing with the work and development of the Fleet Air Arm. It was not to be awarded more than once to the same Officer, and could be withheld if no essay of sufficient merit is submitted. R.N.V.R. (List 1) Officers serving as Observers and Officers of the Commonwealth Navies were also eligible to receive the Prize.

The authorship of the essays was strictly anonymous. Each competitor must adopt a motto and enclose with his essay a sealed envelope with his motto typewritten on the outside and his name and address inside. Essays were to be treated as confidential.

Recipients

Officers who received it were denoted by a suffix of [HC] next to their name in the Navy List.

Year	Recipient	Notes
YEAR	Arthur Reid Pedder
YEAR	Basil James Carlisle Wise
YEAR	Lachlan Donald Mackintosh
YEAR	Robert Meyrick Ellis
YEAR	Walter Thomas Couchman
YEAR	Charles Graham Thompson
YEAR	Alexander Noel Campbell Bingley
YEAR	John Evelyn Smallwood
YEAR	Arthur David Torlesse