Campbell, Donald Malcolm

Campbell, Donald Malcolm (1921-67), b. Kingston Hill, Surrey, England.

At one time he held the world land speed record and the world water speed record.

The son of Sir Malcolm Campbell, Donald followed in his father's footsteps.

In 1955 he set a new water speed record of 202.15 mph (324 km/h) on Ullswater, Cumberland/ Westmorland. Then he raised the record five times, reaching 418-99 km/h on Coniston Water, Lancashire in 1959. In 1960 he was preparing for an attempt on the land record at Utah, USA but his car crashed at just under 300 miles per hour and he received a fractured skull.

Four years later, on a beach beside Lake Eyre in Australia, he set a world record of 400 mph (640 km/h) and soon afterwards, on Lake Dumbleyung, he raised the water speed record to 276 mph (444 km/h).

On 4 January, 1967 Campbell reached a speed of 300 mph (480 km/h) on Coniston Water. Minutes afterwards his boat, Bluebird K7, broke to pieces and he was killed.