Aviator of Fortune: Lowell Yerex and the Anglo-American Commercial Rivalry, 1931-1946 (review)

This is the story of the colorful career of a somewhat improbably named New Zealander, Lowell Yerex, an earlier pioneer of aviation in the Caribbean and Central America during the 1930s and 1940s. The book charts the origins of Yerex's determination to establish air services in the region and focuses particularly on his attempts to interest the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom in his ventures. He hoped, for example, to secure their financial support and protection against rival airlines, especially “chosen instruments” like Pan American.

The book's strength lies in the fact that it unravels a little-known story within the context of larger issues, which have received some scholarly attention. Anglo–American commercial rivalry in the Caribbean and Central America, and indeed throughout the whole of Latin America during the interwar years, is well known, but could probably be reexamined. Similarly, both the United States and the United Kingdom were anxious about their respective positions in the subcontinent during, and more particularly, after the Second World War. While the Americans had cause for concern about the machinations of a perfidious Albion, they almost certainly underestimated Britain's postwar economic weaknesses and overestimated any forceful role she could play in America. Erik Benson also touches upon other wider issues: America's “Good Neighbor” policy toward the Latin American republics, as well as the special relationship with the United Kingdom. In the end, Yerex's attempts to play each off against the other won him few friends.

However, as Benson makes clear, Yerex's left an enduring legacy. Transportes Aereos Centro Americanos (TACA), which he founded still flies between the United States and Latin America. And British West Indian Airways, with which Yerex was also associated, remains a carrier between the United States and the Caribbean. On the other hand, his adversaries are no more. Pan American has been dissolved, and Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) has been taken over, and the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) disappeared many years ago. The book's presentation includes some interesting illustrations and photographs as well as helpful maps to guide the reader.

However, does Benson claim too much for his hero? The book rather overstates the central importance of Yerex and his business ventures in the Caribbean as an issue for either the United States or Britain, especially during the Second World War when both countries were attending to more pressing matters. Nor were Yerex's aviation services a core feature of Anglo–American rivalry, the extent of which can be easily exaggerated. Of course, even firm friends have differences of opinion, but the fact remains that the United States and the United Kingdom were close allies. It is easy to read too much into correspondence, which records minor spats in areas where respective national interests bumped into one another. It is doubtful that Yerex could really be regarded as “a catalyst for dispute between the two allies,” as Benson suggests (p. 129).

In essence, too, Benson may have overestimated Britain's continuing interest in Central America and the Caribbean, areas which were always considered more important to the United States. In many respects, the United Kingdom had already withdrawn de facto, if not de iure, from the region, which she had rather left to the Americans. While Britain retained imperial possessions in the West Indies, her support for shipping services had long since atrophied and it was difficult to offer any convincing reason as to why Whitehall would fund additional transport services in what was now a British economic and strategic backwater.

The book is not quite clear about its aims and falls, perhaps, between two, or possibly three, stools. It is not a standard business history of a forceful entrepreneur—it contains no consistent or explicit analysis of any commercial results (such as return on the capital...