Claude Pelly

Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly

Air Marshal Sir Claude Pelly (centre) with Air Marshal Hardman (left) and Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten (right) at a ceremonial parade for No. 78 Wing RAAF on its departure from garrison duty on Malta, 1954
Born (1902-08-19)19 August 1902
Died 12 August 1972(1972-08-12) (aged 69)
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Air Force
Years of service 1920–1959
Rank Air Chief Marshal
Commands held RAF Middle East Air Force
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (3)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly GBE, KCB, MC, ADC, RAF (19 August 1902 – 12 August 1972) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the middle of the 20th century.

RAF career

Claude Pelly started his Air Force career at the RAF College Cranwell in 1920.[1] In 1931 he was deployed to Iraq where he became Air Liaison Officer earning the Military Cross "for distinguished service rendered in the field in connection with military operations in Northern Kurdistan, Iraq during the period December 1931 to June 1932."[2] He served in World War II initially as Head of Intelligence at Headquarters Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force and then as Senior Air Staff Officer for the Desert Air Force.[3]

After the War he became Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and then Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Technical/Operational Requirements) before joining the Directing Staff at the Imperial Defence College in 1951.[3] He went on to be Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East Air Force in 1953 and Controller of Aircraft at the Ministry of Supply in 1956.[3] Pelly was appointed Aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1957 and retired as an air chief marshal in 1959.[3]

In retirement he was a Board Member of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority from 1960 to 1964.[3]

Family

In 1930 he married Margaret Ogilvie Spencer; they had three sons and one daughter.[4]

Awards and decorations

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claude Pelly (RAF officer).
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Arthur Sanders
Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East Air Force
1953–1956
Succeeded by
Sir Hubert Patch
Preceded by
Sir John Baker
Controller of Aircraft
1956–1959
Succeeded by
Sir George Gardner
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