Sefton Brancker

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Air Vice Marshal Sir William Sefton Brancker, Template:Postnominals (22 March 1877 – 5 October 1930) was a British pioneer in civil and military aviation and senior officer of the Royal Flying Corps and later Royal Air Force. He was killed in an airship crash in 1930, exactly 20 years after his first flight.[1]

Early life

Sefton Brancker was born in Woolwich,[2] the eldest son of Col. William Godeffroy Brancker and Hester Adelaide, the daughter of Major General Henry Charles Russell. Brancker grew up as the elder of two brothers; their father died in 1885. From 1891 to 1894, the young Brancker attended Bedford School.[1] His father was born in Hamburg to a British father and German mother;[3][4] the Branckers were a long-established Anglo-German family that had lived in England for several generations.[5]

On 7 April 1907, he married May Wynne, the daughter of Colonel Spencer Field of the Royal Warwickshire regiment; they had one son, also called William Sefton Brancker.[5]

Military career

Brancker was trained for the British Army at Woolwich, joining the Royal Artillery in 1896.[6] He served in the Second Boer War and later in India, where he made his first flight in 1910.[7] On 18 June 1913 he was awarded the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's Certificate no. 525.[6]

During the First World War, Brancker held important posts in the Royal Flying Corps, including Director of Military Aeronautics.[6] In late 1915 a brigade system was introduced in the RFC, and Brancker was promoted to brigadier general and appointed to command the Northern Training Brigade, with his headquarters in Birmingham. This appointment was to be short-lived, as in early 1916 he was appointed Director of Air Organisation in London.[8] In 1917, he briefly served as the General Officer Commanding Royal Flying Corps's Palestine Headquarters and then its Middle East headquarters.[6] Promoted to major general in 1918, he became Controller-General of Equipment in January of that year and Master-General of Personnel in August 1918.[6] On 23 August 1918 he resigned his commission in the Army[9] and was granted a permanent commission as major-general in the RAF.[10] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1919[11] and retired from the RAF with the rank of major-general on 13 January following.[12] He was granted the rank of air vice-marshal in 1924.[13]

Civil aviation

On 11 May 1922 he was made Director of Civil Aviation,[6] and worked assiduously to stimulate British interest in the subject among local authorities and flying clubs. He encouraged Manchester and other cities to construct municipal airports and airfields. He participated in several long-distance survey flights, notably with Alan Cobham. He was an ardent supporter of the development of British civilian air services connecting London to British colonies and dominions overseas.[14]

Brancker was chairman of the Royal Aero Club's (RAeC) Racing Committee from 1921 to 1930, and his dynamic leadership led to the RAeC forming the Light Aero Club scheme in 1925, which helped provide the British clubs with examples of such new and improved aircraft types as the de Havilland Moth and Avro Avian.

Death

File:R101 wreckage.jpg
The wreckage of R101

Together with Lord Thomson, the Air Minister, Brancker was killed when the airship R101 crashed near Beauvais, France, on 5 October 1930, during its maiden voyage to India.[6][14] His death occurred on the 20th anniversary of his first flight.[1]

Legacy

In 1952, British European Airways named its 'Pionair' (Douglas DC-3) G-AKNB "Sir Sefton Brancker" to mark his substantial contribution to the development of British aviation.

In 1996, British Airways (BA) named one of its newly delivered Boeing 777s (G-ZZZB) "Sir William Sefton Branker" [sic] in recognition of his work. Other 777s in the BA fleet were named after aviation pioneers, for example "Wilbur and Orville Wright" and "Sir Frank Whittle".

Kenmore Park housing estate in Kenton, Harrow, has a number of its roads named after aviators including Brancker.

Brancker Road in Plymouth was named in his honour during build in the mid 1930s.

References

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  1. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ 1891 England Census
  3. ↑ Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898
  4. ↑ 1881 England Census
  5. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "template wrapper". Template:Link note
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker
  7. ↑ Raleigh 1922, pp. 421–22.
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "London Gazette util".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "London Gazette util".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "London Gazette util".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "London Gazette util".
  13. ↑ Who Was Who 1929–1940, p. 154.
  14. ↑ a b Pirie 2009.

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  • Pirie, Gordon H. Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation, 1919–1939. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009.
  • Raleigh, Walter. The War In The Air: Being the Story of The part played in the Great War by The Royal Air Force: Vol I. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1922.

Further reading

  • Sir Sefton Brancker, Norman Macmillan, William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1935
  • Heavenly Adventurer: A biography of Sir Sefton Brancker, Basil Collier, London, 1959
  • Air Days, John F. Leeming, Harrap, London, 1936
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External links

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Military offices
New title
Directorate established
 Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics
Deputy Director from March 1915
1913–1915 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Officer Commanding No. 3 Wing
August – December 1915 Template:S-ttl/check 		Unknown
New title
Brigade established
 Brigadier-General Commanding Northern (Training) Brigade
December 1915 – February 1916 Template:S-ttl/check 		Unknown
New title
Post created
 Director of Air Organization
March 1916–1917 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
New title Deputy Director-General of Military Aeronautics
February – November 1917 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Officer Commanding Palestine Brigade
November – December 1917 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
General Officer Commanding HQ RFC Middle East
November – December 1917 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
New title
Air Council established
 RAF Controller-General of Equipment
January – August 1918 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check RAF Master-General of Personnel
1918–1919 Template:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
Cecil Lambert
As Director of Personnel
Government offices
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Director of Civil Aviation
1922–1930 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Professional and academic associations
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check President of the Royal Aeronautical Society
1926-1927 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Notes and references
1. Template:Trim

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