Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Frederick Stovin-Bradford (19 June 1919 – 23 September 1974) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer and aviator in the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''Capt F. Stovin-Bradford'', 8 October 1974, p.18 During his career, Stovin-Bradford was involved in the sinking of the , was one of the youngest officers to be promoted to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

since Nelson's time, and served as Staff Officer to the Flag Officer of Home Air Command in England and later Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer in charge of East Australia. His obituary in ''

'' described him as one of the most colourful personalities in the

Early life and education

Stovin-Bradford was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, and was educated at Bedford Modern School.

World War II

He joined the

of the

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on 21 November 1938, and was posted to at

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...

for training, eventually completing the observer's course at in August 1939, just prior to the declaration of war against Germany. Stovin-Bradford first served in

824 Naval Air Squadron 824 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron based at RNAS Culdrose and currently operating the AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 Operational Conversion Unit. It trains aircrew in Anti-Submarine warfare and Airborne Surveillance and Con ...

flying in Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers aboard the carrier from October 1939, and seeing action in the Mediterranean; at the

Battle of Calabria The Battle of Calabria, known to the Italian Navy as the Battle of Punta Stilo, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the World War II, Second World War. Ships of the Kingdom of Italy, Italian ''Regia Marina'' were oppose ...

in July 1940, and in the sinking of the and three other vessels in the Gulf of Bomba on 23 August, for which he was subsequently awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 5 November 1940, with seniority from 19 June. After a period of time posted to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

at the end of 1941, he was promoted to lieutenant on 1 February 1942. After completing an Air Signaller's course, he was posted to

700 Naval Air Squadron 700 Naval Air Squadron (700 NAS) is an experimental test squadron in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. History 700 NAS was originally formed on 21 January 1940 at RNAS Hatston (HMS ''Sparrowhawk'') in Orkney in a plan to centralise the operations ...

in July 1942 to serve aboard the battleship , flying in

Supermarine Walrus The Supermarine Walrus (originally designated the Supermarine Seagull V) was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and manufactured by Supermarine at Woolston, Southampton. The Walrus f ...

reconnaissance aircraft, and taking part in Russian convoys in May, in the landings in North Africa in November, and during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. He was posted to the

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

in September 1943 to serve as Operations Officer, taking part in hunter-killer operations in the Atlantic and on Arctic convoys, then served as a Liaison Officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches Admiral Sir Max Horton from September 1944. Stovin-Bradford commanded

825 Naval Air Squadron 825 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Naval Air Squadron which was re-commissioned on 10 October 2014 and currently flies the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2. It was a carrier-based squadron that was formed on 8 October 1934 from the ...

from its reformation at

RNAS Rattray Royal Navy Air Station Rattray or RNAS Rattray (HMS ''Merganser'') and also known as Crimond Airfield, Crimond Aerodrome or Rattray Aerodrome was a Royal Naval Air Station near Crimond, Aberdeenshire. History The station started to be built ...

in July 1945, and from 28 December 1945 commanded

735 Naval Air Squadron 735 Naval Air Squadron (735 NAS) was a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons, Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1943 and 1946 as an ASV (Air-to-Surface Vessel) radar Training Unit. Forming at RNAS Ins ...

based at RNAS Burscough.

Post-war career

In 1946 Stovin-Bradford qualified as a pilot, and served in

812 Naval Air Squadron 812 Naval Air Squadron was a Naval Air Squadron of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1933 and 1956, and saw service in both World War II and the Korean War. Service history First formation The squadron was first form ...

flying the Fairey Firefly Mk. VI, as part of 14th Carrier Air Group (14 CAG), also completing courses in fighter combat, ground attack and reconnaissance at the School of Naval Air Warfare. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander on 1 February 1948, and served as Commanding Officer of 810 Naval Air Squadron (17th Carrier Air Group), and was the first British pilot to land on the , eventually commanding 17 CAG aboard from September 1950 during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He was promoted to commander on 31 December 1950, and for his "distinguished service in operations in Korean waters" he was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Cross on 29 June 1951. From 1951 he served as Commander (Air) at the Naval Fighter School at RNAS Culdrose, and then from 1954 was a Staff Officer (Air) to the Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers, ( and ) receiving promotion to captain on 31 December 1955. According to his obituary, he was one of the youngest officers to be promoted to the rank of captain since the time of Nelson. From 31 July 1956 he was the Commanding Officer of

RNAS Brawdy 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 ...

, Pembrokeshire West Wales, and from July 1958 to September 1960 was 'on loan' to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

, serving as Chief Staff Officer to Flag Officer-in-Charge, East Australia Area, based at . From June 1962 he was the Chief of Staff to Vice-Admiral John Graham Hamilton, Flag Officer Air (Home), based at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent (HMS ''Daedalus'') was one of the primary shore airfields of the Fleet Air Arm. First established as a seaplane base in 1917 during the First World War, it later became the main training establishment and ad ...

. Stovin-Bradford retired from the Navy on 30 July 1965, being made a

Commander 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 o ...

in the

1966 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1966 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

Later life

He then returned to Australia to live in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and to enjoy his wider interests. He was a fine musician, who composed ''Flying Stations'', a special march for the

, which received its first public performance at the

Royal Tournament The Royal Tournament was the world's largest military tattoo and pageant, held by the British Armed Forces annually between 1880 and 1999. The venue was originally the Royal Agricultural Hall and latterly the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. In its l ...

at Earls Court in 1963. He was also an avid follower of

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

, having served as President of

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

, became a First Grade referee, and was serving as Vice-President of

Eastwood Rugby Club Eastwood Rugby is a rugby union club playing in the Sydney Premier Rugby competition. The Eastwood District extends from the Parramatta River at Meadowbank to the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry. The Club currently plays at TG Millner Field ...

at the time of his death. Stovin-Bradford died in Sydney in 1974 and was survived by his wife and four children.

References

External links

Portrait of Frederick Stovin-Bradford at the Imperial War Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stovin-Bradford, Frederick 1919 births 1974 deaths People from Hendon People educated at Bedford Modern School Fleet Air Arm aviators Royal Navy officers of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II