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 ...

Alick Foord-Kelcey, (6 April 1913 – 26 October 1973) was a Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Signals Command in 1961.

RAF career

Foord-Kelcey was born in Canada, the son of William Foord-Kelcey, a lawyer, and his wife Irene Marion Ethel Payne. His father was killed in the First World War in 1918 and his mother, who was a sculptor, took her sons to England in 1923. He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, where he joined the Cambridge University Air Squadron and was then commissioned in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

in 1934 before joining the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1935.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal A Foord-Kelcey
/ref> He served in the Second World War on the Air Staff at Headquarters British Forces in Aden and as a pilot and instructor in the Western Desert before joining the Directorate of Plans at the Air Ministry. and later a member of the Joint Planning Staff at the Cabinet War Offices. After the war he became Station Commander at RAF Stradishall and then Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 12 (Fighter) Group before joining the staff on the British Joint Staffs Mission to Washington D. C. He was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at Headquarters Allied Air Forces Central Europe in 1955, Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1959 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Signals Command in a temporary basis for three months in 1961 before becoming Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence) in 1961 and retiring in 1964. In retirement he was Deputy Director of the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

Arms Control and Disarmament Research Unit and then Executive Director of the Federation of World Health Foundations in Geneva. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year Honours List in 1956.Service Aviation
Flight International, 6 January 1956

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Foord-Kelcey, Alick 1913 births 1973 deaths People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Heads of RAF Intelligence