Early Life
Born in Perranporth, Cornwall, Healey became interested in all things mechanical at an early age, most particularly aircraft. After leaving school he joined the Sopwith Aviation Company in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, as one of its first apprentices and no doubt also worked in the Sopwith sheds at the nearby Brooklands aerodrome and racing circuit. After WW1 started, he volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and earned his "wings" as a pilot in 1916. During the First World War, he served on anti-Zeppelin patrols and also as a flying instructor. Shot down by British anti-aircraft fire on one of the first night bomber missions of the war, he was invalided out of the RFC at the age of 18. He returned to Cornwall and took a correspondence course in automobile engineering and after the war ended, opened the first garage in Perranporth in 1919.
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