AMY JOHNSON: Hessle Road Tomboy - Born and Bred, Dread and Fled: Colour Version (HESSLE ROAD: Stories about Hull's Fishing Community and Arctic Trawling Heritage (England))

World-famous aviatrix Amy Johnson was fun. At school, she danced on a teacher’s desk when she was out of the room. She enjoyed boys’ games and “became as big a tomboy as any of them” – especially at cricket. Then it all changed: Amy described herself as a hermit and “lifelong fertile liar”. For historians, Amy’s personality raises more questions than answers: Why lie about where she was born and bred – in Hull’s Fishing Community? Was she ashamed that her family’s wealth came solely from Hull fish docks? Was Amy afraid of being called a Cod Farm Lass – the notorious ‘rude, crude and lewd’ women employed by her father? Why did she tell people Bridlington was her hometown? When and how did ‘Joystick Johnnie’ first become a tomboy? Was her aircraft Jason named after a Greek hero or a Hull kipper? Why did Amy not invite her parents to her posh London wedding in Mayfair? But they turned up anyway! Did the British shoot Amy down because she was carrying a German spy / lover in 1941 - and so covered up her death? Why did the Johnson Family never donate her memorabilia to her hometown? Although born in Hull’s Hessle Road Fishing Community, she was in dread of being associated with the Johnson family’s fish dock business and so fled the port. This is the first publication to probe deeper into Amy’s fishing roots or how the Johnson family bought Jason for her solo flight to Australia. It is now time to reveal the truth behind a Hessle Road tomboy – and still rejoice in the story of “Amy, Wonderful Amy”.