Francis Mellersh (RAF officer)

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(1898-09-22)22 September 1898
Esher, Surrey
Died25 May 1955(1955-05-25) (aged 56)
Itchenor, Sussex
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy (1916–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–54)
Years of service1916–54
RankAir vice-marshal
Commands heldRAF 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/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Air Force Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)

First World War

Mellersh 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

Mellersh 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

Footnotes
  1. Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. p. 280.
  2. "Francis John Williamson Mellersh". www.theaerodrome.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.

Bibliography
  • 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.
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