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 John de Milt Severne, (15 August 1925 – 4 October 2015) was a senior Royal Air Force officer and aerobatic display pilot. Senior appointments included

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of RAF Kinloss, Commandant of the Central Flying School, Air Officer Commanding the Southern Maritime Air Region, and Captain of the Queen's Flight. In 1960, he won the King's Cup Race and the

British air racing championship In the early 1980s the British Air Racing Championship was developed with the reformation of the Royal Aero Club Competition Committee into thRoyal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association(3R), allocating points according to position in th ...

Honours and decorations

On 1 March 1955, Severne was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) "in recognition of gallantry and devotion to duty". The actions that led to him being awarded the AFC were described in the London Gazette as follows: In the 1968 New Year Honours, Severne was appointed 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 o ...

(OBE). This was in recognition of his role in the withdrawal of British forces from

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

in 1967. On 15 December 1988, he was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(KCVO) for his service as Captain of the Queen's Flight. On 17 May 1991, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of the County of Somerset. Other medals awarded to Severne were the War Medal 1939–1945, the General Service Medal with ''South Arabia''

clasp Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Medal bar, an element in military decoration * Fastener, a hardware device that mechanically joins objects together * ...

, the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du couronnement de la Reine Élizabeth II) is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded a ...

and the

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'argent de la reine Elizabeth II) is a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The medal is p ...

Autobiography

Severne wrote an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

in the 2000s. The

foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between the ...

was written by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who knew Severne through his role in the Queen's flight and also from an earlier period when he served as

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

to the Duke.HRH the Duke of Edinburgh (2007) 'Foreword', in John Severne, ''Silvered Wings''. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Aviation. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severne, John 1925 births 2015 deaths British air racers Deputy Lieutenants of Somerset Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British military personnel of the Aden Emergency