Air Commodore Arthur Kellam Tylee

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(24 April 1887 – 13 April 1961) was Canadian officer who served in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the War, Tylee was the first Air Officer Commanding of the

Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

Early life

Tylee was born on 24 April 1887 in

Lennoxville, Quebec Lennoxville is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lennoxvi ...

(now

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

),Compton Cemetery
the son of Arthur Mailland Tylee and his wife Harriet F. Kellam. Tylee later studied at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

Technology's war record
/ref> from around 1910 to 1913.

Military career

Tylee enlisted in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in August 1915, and was commissioned as a probationary

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in December of that year; he had previously held the rank of lieutenant in the Canadian Militia. At least some of his junior years in the RFC were spent flying the

Martinsyde G.100 The Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant" and the G.102 were United Kingdom, British fighter bomber aircraft of the First World War built by Martinsyde. The type gained the name "Elephant" from its relatively large size and lack of manoeuvrability. The G. ...

on No. 23 Squadron on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. Tylee was made a flight commander in February 1917 and in March he was made a squadron commander and given the temporary rank of major. It was also in 1917 that Tylee was sent back to Canada, to command

Camp Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Force, C ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

before being posted to England to carry out advanced work. On 1 April 1918 Tylee was transferred from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly created

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

in the temporary rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and returned to Canada to serve as the Inspector of Training for the Royal Air Force in Canada. He continued in this role until the end of World War I. In June 1918 Tylee was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for valuable war service and he was also made an officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. After the War, Tylee returned to Canada. By 1920 Tylee was selected to be the first Air Officer Commanding the Canadian Air Force and granted the rank of air commodore. Tylee established a small headquarters at

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

under the oversight of the Air Board on which

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Sir

Willoughby Gwatkin Lieutenant-General Sir Willoughby Garnons Gwatkin, (11 August 1859 – 2 February 1925) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Militia during the First World War. Military career The son of a barris ...

served. In October 1920 Tyle, accompanied by

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

George Thompson, set out to complete the last leg of the first trans-Canadian flight (which had started in Halifax in July), departing from

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

in a de Havilland DH-9A. They arrived in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

after 4 days of flying. In February 1921 Tylee turned his attention to the matter of what might make a suitable flag for the Canadian Air Force. In a note he wrote to Gwatkin, Tylee proposed that the

RAF Ensign The Royal Air Force Ensign is the official flag which is used to represent the Royal Air Force. The ensign has a field of air force blue with the United Kingdom's flag in the canton and the Royal Air Force's roundel in the middle of the fl ...

be adopted with a maple leaf at the centre of the

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

. Gwatkin in turn applied to Air Marshal

Sir Hugh Trenchard Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the ...

, the British Chief of the Air Staff, who rejected the proposal on the basis that "the sentiment of unity between the Air Services of the Empire" ought to be maintained. It was not until 1940 that Tylee's proposed design was adopted. Later in 1921 Tylee was replaced as commander of the Canadian Air Force by

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

Ronald RedpathCanadian Forces
/ref> Tylee died on 13 April 1961 and was buried in the Compton Cemetery in Quebec.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tylee, Arthur Kellam 1887 births 1961 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Sherbrooke Military personnel from Montreal Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Canadian Militia officers Canadian Air Force personnel Canadian Officers of the Order of the British Empire