Air vice-marshal Sir Francis John Williamson Mellersh, KBE, AFC (22 September 1898 – 25 May 1955) was a Royal Naval Air Service aviator and flying ace credited with five aerial victories during the First World War, and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1940s and 1950s. He was killed in a helicopter accident in 1955.
Sir Francis Mellersh | |
|---|---|
 Air Commodore Mellersh (left), Air Commander of the Strategic Air Force, in discussion with senior officers in the War Room at Headquarters Strategic Air Force, Eastern Air Command in Calcutta | |
| Nickname(s) | Tog |
| Born | 22 September 1898 Esher, Surrey |
| Died | 25 May 1955 (aged 56) Itchenor, Sussex |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy (1916–18) Royal Air Force (1918–54) |
| Years of service | 1916–54 |
| Rank | Air vice-marshal |
| Commands | RAF Regiment (1952–54) AHQ Malaya (1949–51) No. 21 Group (1947–48) No. 91 Group (1946–47) RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park (1945–46) No. 231 (Bomber) Group (1944) RAF Wattisham (1941–42) |
| Battles / wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) |
First World War
editMellersh joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916. He trained as a fighter pilot and was posted to 9 Naval Squadron in 1917. While flying a Sopwith Triplane on 28 July 1917, he drove down an Aviatik C. He switched to flying a Sopwith Camel and scored victories 15 October 1917 and 12 April 1918; the latter win was shared with squadron-mate Roy Brown. On 21 April 1918, Mellersh was a flight commander involved in the dogfight that brought down the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen; Mellersh claimed a Fokker Dr.I triplane destroyed on that date. His last victory came two days later.[1]
Death
editMellersh debarked from a helicopter onto a quay on 25 May 1955; he had been invited to cruise on a yacht belonging to the Itchenor Yacht Club. As the helicopter departed, one of its rotors hit the mast of a yacht. As the copter crashed, the main rotor killed Mellersh.[2]
References
editFootnotes
edit- ^ Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. p. 280.
- ^ "Francis John Williamson Mellersh". www.theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
Bibliography
edit- Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
External links
edit- Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal Sir Francis Mellersh
- The Aerodrome – Francis Mellersh
- King's College London – Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives – MELLERSH, Sir Francis John Williamson
