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
Died	25 May 1955(1955-05-25) (aged 56) Itchenor, Sussex
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	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

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.

External links

• 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

Military offices
Preceded by Oswald Gayford	Officer Commanding RAF Wattisham 1941–1942	Succeeded by unknown
Preceded by Howard C. Davidson USAAF	Air Commander, Strategic Air Force, Eastern Air Command 1944–1945	Formation disbanded
Preceded by Ronald Graham	Commandant RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park 1945–1946	Succeeded by Dermot Boyle
Preceded by Gordon Vasse	Air Officer Commanding No. 21 Group 1947–1948	Succeeded by Cecil Bouchier
Preceded by Stephen Strafford	Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment 1952–1954	Succeeded by Brian Yarde