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 ...

Sir Francis John Williamson Mellersh, (22 September 1898 – 25 May 1955) was a

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

aviator and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

credited with five aerial victories during the

First World War 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 fighti ...

, and a senior commander in the

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) a ...

during the 1940s and 1950s. He was killed in a helicopter accident in 1955.

First World War

Mellersh joined the

in 1916. He trained as a fighter pilot and was posted to 9 Naval Squadron in 1917. While flying a

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service. The ...

on 28 July 1917, he drove down an

Aviatik Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen (today in France) in 1909 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft. It relocated to Freiburg in 1 ...

C. He switched to flying a

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

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 Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of t ...

; Mellersh claimed a

Fokker Dr.I The Fokker Dr.I (''Dreidecker'', "triplane" in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as th ...

triplane destroyed on that date. His last victory came two days later.

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.

References

Footnotes

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. , .

External links

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal Sir Francis MellershThe Aerodrome – Francis MellershKing's College London – Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives – MELLERSH, Sir Francis John Williamson
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mellersh, Francis John Williamson Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) British World War I flying aces Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 1898 births 1955 deaths Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents Military personnel from Surrey