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 ...

William Charles Coleman Gell, (10 July 1888 – 16 May 1969) was an officer of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and then of 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) and ...

. He served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

RAF Balloon Command Balloon Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling all the United Kingdom-based barrage balloon units during the Second World War. History Prior to the establishment of Balloon Command, a balloon group was b ...

from 1944 to 1945.

Early life

Gell was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

the son of William and Catherine Gell. He grew up at 111 Gough Road,

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

, where his father managed an umbrella factory. He was educated at

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

and

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

where he graduated with an MA degree in law. On coming down from university, Gell returned to Birmingham to begin his legal career as a solicitor.

Territorial Force

Gell's military service began in the Officers Training Corps (OTC), a standard route for a non-career

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

:Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal W C C Gell
/ref> "William Charles Coleman Gell (late Cadet Serjeant, Cambridge University Contingent, Senior Division, Officers Training Corps) to be Second Lieutenant". (London Gazette). Once settled as a Birmingham solicitor, Gell joined a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

(TF) battalion of his local regiment, the

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

. Initially commissioned, on 12 May 1911, into the 7th Battalion, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he soon transferred, from 21 January 1912, to the Birmingham Rifles, more formally known as: 5th and 6th Battalions, The Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

First World War

Gell served in 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 fightin ...

and commanded the 5th/6th Battalion in France, earning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

serving as temporary

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 ...

. Gell landed at LeHavre in France on 23 March 1915 with 1st/5th Battalion,

, he was wounded on the Somme in 1916 and from 3 October 1916 until 28 June 1917 was an acting

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, Gell held command of 1st/5th Battalion Royal Warwicks from 23 August 1917, serving in France and Flanders until late 1918 and completing his service in Italy. On 1 January 1917 his bravery still as a lieutenant and acting

during his service in France was rewarded with a rare appointment as a junior officer, to the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. Further brave conduct and successful leadership resulted in the award of a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order in June 1919 for his service as Acting

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 ...

commanding 1st/5th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in France and Flanders and finally Italy. The Italian government awarded him the

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

Between the wars

After service in the First World War, Gell returned to legal practice as a solicitor, being noted as "Mr. William Charles Coleman Gell, Solicitor, of 36, Waterloo Street, Birmingham,(a member of the firm of Johnson and Co., of the same place, Solicitors)" in the London Gazette in 1922. He continued to serve in the Territorial Army. Gell married Edith Maud Gosling on 30 January 1923 in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

. On 26 August 1931 Gell, who was then living at the Croft,

Blossomfield Blossomfield is a suburb of Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is the location of the main campus of Solihull College as well as Alderbrook School Alderbrook School is a co-educational secondary school in Solihull, West Midlands. It shar ...

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

was appointed Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for the County of Warwick. While serving as a

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 colonel. ...

in command of 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Gell was awarded the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...

(TD) for his long and distinguished service in the Territorial Army. He joined the Anti-Aircraft branch of the Territorial Army in 1935. In 1937 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, of which he had been commanding officer in 1924–29. The RAF List of July 1938 lists him amongst the military members of the "Territorial Army and Air Force Associations" of Warwickshire, recording Gell as honorary colonel of the 45th (Royal Warwicks)

Anti-Aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

Battalion,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. On 18 Jan 1939 Gell was appointed to a commission in the Auxiliary Air Force in the rank of

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 ...

as Officer Commanding, No 6 Balloon Centre, Auxiliary Air Force. The RAF List of August 1939 lists him as a wing commander in the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

Balloon Section after

barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...

operation was transferred from the

to the Royal Air Force.

Second World War

Sandys announces end of London bombing Sept 1944 IWM CH 13827

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gell served as Officer Commanding No. 5 and then No. 6 Balloon Centre protecting against German air attacks. Gell was promoted to

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in the

on 1 September 1940. In January 1941 the RAF List shows him as the senior group captain in the RAF Balloon Section date 1 September 1940. He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 30 Balloon Group in 1941, promoted air commodore on 1 December 1943, and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

in 1944 before retiring in 1945. Gell's success in command of Balloon Command protecting British cities and military and naval installations was rewarded in the Birthday Honours list of June 1944 with appointment as a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

Edith Gell

Gell's wife, Edith Maud Gell (1896–1980), also had a career during the war, serving in the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

(ATS). She is recorded as having joined up on 19 September 1938, just ten days after the service itself was officially established, making her one of the first recruits to the Service. By March 1940, the mother of four was serving as a senior commandant, then the fourth most senior rank of officer in the service (another grade would later be inserted to match the rank-system of the men's services). On 30 May 1941, the ATS was made a formal part of the Army, subject to military law and military discipline. The women officers were all, whatever their ATS status, commissioned as second subalterns, the lowest rank of the new militarised-ATS system. The women were also given service numbers and though more senior women had been brought in to provide command experience for the rapidly-expanding Women's Services, Edith Gell was still the 36th most senior person in the ATS, as indicated by her number: 192036. Once formally commissioned into the reformed ATS, the women could be promoted through the new ranks and Mrs. Gell resumed her career in the new style of senior commander. By 1944, she was serving in the rank of chief commander and her six years of service to date were recognised with the award of a military OBE.

Later years

Following wartime service Gell again returned to legal practice with Johnson and Co. in Birmingham a company he was still associated with in 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gell, William 1888 births 1969 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Military personnel from Birmingham, West Midlands Territorial Force officers