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 ...

Sir Francis Claude Shelmerdine (25 October 1881 – July 1945) was a senior officer in the

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

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 ...

and a civil servant working in connection with

civil aviation Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military and non-state aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work ...

in the post-war years. Most significantly, he was

Director-General of Civil Aviation A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

during the 1930s.

Early life

Francis Claude Shelmerdine was born at Churchill,

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

on 25 October 1881, son of the Rev. Nathaniel and Mrs Emma Shelmerdine. He had an older brother and sister, Nathaniel and Constance, and one younger sister, Edith. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and then at Sandhurst. He was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

from the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

, in January 1901. He subsequently lived in South Africa, and worked as a cotton planter.

First World War

Shelmerdine served in France and in Egypt and in November 1915, was transferred from Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment (unofficially known as the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

at that time) to the

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

. In 1919, as a Lieutenant-Colonel, Shelmerdine joined the staff of the Civil Aviation Department at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. When Brigadier-General Festing was Controller of Aerodromes and Licences, Shelmerdine became his assistant, and when the department became a directorate and Festing left, Shelmerdine took on the role. He was later dispatched to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to ensure the smooth-running of the

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

air service. In 1927 he was posted to India, to serve as the Director of Civil Aviation there. He returned to the Air Ministry in 1931 as the home country's Director of Civil Aviation following the death of Sir Sefton Branker who was killed in the R101 airship crash. Shelmerdine was Director General of Civil Aviation from 1934 to 1941, when he had to retire under age regulations.

Personal life

He was married to Mary Cecily O'Nolan-Martin in Durban, South Africa, (where he was working as a cotton planter) in 1908. There was one child, Rosamonde, born in London in 1910, who lived solely with her mother from 1911. He disputed her parentage, and there was a court case in 1912. His drug habit was cited in this case. Mary Cecily filed for divorce in 1924. He was subsequently married to Lillian Sealey Playne, formerly Hanham, (née Haskins), Lady Shelmerdine (17 September 1884 – 11 July 1956) at St George's Hanover Square in 1925. He was knighted in 1936. He died in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

References

External links

Obituary notice in Flight Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelmerdine, Francis 1881 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Oxfordshire British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Green Howards officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Flying Corps officers