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 ...

Meredith Thomas, (6 July 1892 – 20 May 1984) was 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) and ...

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 ...

. He began his career as a

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 ...

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 fightin ...

, credited with five aerial victories.

Early life

Meredith Thomas was born in

Felindre Felindre is a rural village in southern Wales. Felindre is located in the far north of Swansea, in the electoral ward of Mawr. The nearby Lower Lliw Reservoirs are a popular venue for walking and fishing. The water mill in the village was workin ...

Radnorshire , HQ = Presteigne , Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin = , Status = historic county, administrative county , Start ...

, Wales on 6 July 1892.

First World War

Thomas joined the

Queen's Westminsters The Queen's Westminsters were an infantry regiment of the Territorial Army, part of the British Army. Originally formed from Rifle Volunteer Corps, which were established after a French invasion scare of 1859. The unit became part of the newly ...

in August 1914. He went to France in January 1915, and served as an infantryman on the Western Front until 2 December 1915, before being commissioned into the

Welsh Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

. Thomas transferred to the

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

in October 1916 and was trained as a pilot, being assigned in 1917 to No. 41 Squadron to fly a Royal Aircraft Factory FE.8, and later an

Airco DH.5 The Airco DH.5 was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft. It was designed and manufactured at British aviation company Airco. Development was led by aircraft designer Geoffrey de Havilland as a replacement for the obs ...

. He became a flight commander with the rank of acting captain on 29 March 1917. He claimed his first two victories in September 1917 while flying an Airco DH.5, destroying an

Albatros D.III The Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service ('' Luftstreitkräfte'') during World War I. A modified licence model was built by Oeffag for the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ( ''Luftfahrtruppen''). ...

on the 25th near

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

, and another on the 28th at Bugnicourt, France. After transferring to a

Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fas ...

, he claimed three wins over

Albatros D.V The Albatros D.V is a fighter aircraft built by the Albatros Flugzeugwerke and used by the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. The D.V was the final development of the Albatros D.I family and the last Albatro ...

s. On 30 November 1917, he destroyed one D.V over Rumilly, France at 1345 hours. A quarter-hour later, he joined with squadron-mates Russell Winnicott, Loudoun MacLean, and

Frank Harold Taylor Lieutenant Frank Harold Taylor (11 August 1896—7 June 1985) was a Canadian-born 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 exa ...

in driving another down out of control. His final victory came on 6 December 1917 at 1450 hours, when he and two other pilots sent a D.V down out of control over Sailly, France. Having thus become an ace, he was then returned to instructor duty in England.

Interwar period

In 1919 Thomas was stationed in Germany; while there, he received the Air Force Cross on 3 June 1919. From 1920 to 1923 he served in Iraq as a

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 ...

filling a flight commander's position. On 13 February 1920, he was posted to

No. 6 Squadron RAF Number 6 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4 at RAF Lossiemouth. It was previously equipped with the SEPECAT Jaguar, SEPECAT Jaguar GR.3 in the close air support and tactical reconnaissance roles, and was post ...

, operating

Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 The Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 was a British two-seat biplane reconnaissance and bomber aircraft of the First World War designed and produced at the Royal Aircraft Factory. It was also built under contract by Austin Motors, Daimler, Standar ...

s and

Bristol F.2 Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It is often simply called the Bristol Fighter, ''"Brisfit"'' or ''"Bif ...

s from

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

, Iraq; he was

Mentioned in Despatches 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 ...

on 19 April 1921. In mid 1921, he transferred to No. 30 Squadron in Baghdad to fly an Airco DH.9a; he was again Mentioned in Despatches, on 28 October 1921. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 10 October 1922. Thomas returned from foreign service to begin attending

RAF Staff College The RAF Staff College may refer to: *RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970) *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park The RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park, was a satellite staff college for the Royal Air Force based at Buls ...

on 1 May 1923. On 5 May 1924, he was graduated to staff duty. He was promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

on 1 January 1926. On 1 September 1928, he began instructing

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s at the

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

. Once again posted overseas, Thomas began attending the Command and Staff College,

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

on 24 December 1931. In December 1933, he was moved to the Air Staff, Headquarters RAF India. His promotion to

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 ...

came on 1 January 1934. Thomas returned to the British Isles to assume command of No. 6 Armament Training Camp,

RAF Warmwell Royal Air Force Warmwell or more simply RAF Warmwell is a former Royal Air Force station near Warmwell in Dorset, England from 1937 to 1946, located about 5 miles east-southeast of Dorchester; 100 miles southwest of London. During the Second W ...

on 24 May 1937. The following year, on 6 May, he became Senior Air Staff Officer for

No. 5 Group RAF No. 5 Group was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part (February 1943 – 1945) by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane. History Overview The Group was formed on 1 September 1937, with its headquarters at RAF Mild ...

Second World War and beyond

With the advent of war, Thomas moved up in responsibility, becoming Director of Technical Training on 7 August 1940. On 1 December, he was appointed an acting air commodore. On 24 December 1941, he became SASO of

Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an Command (military formation), organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading, Berkshire, Reading in Berkshire. History Flying ...

. On 2 August 1943, Thomas was simultaneously raised to acting

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 ...

and appointed Air Officer Commanding of

No. 23 Group RAF No. 23 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force, first established in 1918, and finally disbanded in 1975. The group was reformed as No 23 (Training) Group in RAF Inland Area on 12 April 1926, at RAF Spitalgate, by re-numbering No. 3 Group RA ...

. On 8 March 1944, he became Air Officer Commanding, Air Headquarters India. He held the post through war's end. On 22 January 1946, Thomas was retained as an air vice marshal. His retirement followed on 18 April 1946. He died on 20 May 1984, at

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Gloucestershire, England.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Meredith 1892 births 1984 deaths Welsh military personnel People from Radnorshire Welch Regiment officers Queen's Westminsters soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British World War I flying aces Royal Air Force air marshals Companions of the Order of the Star of India Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)