Sefton Brancker
| Sir William Sefton Brancker | |
|---|---|
Sefton Brancker, c.1915–18
|
|
| Born |
22 March 1877 Woolwich, Kent, England |
| Died | 5 October 1930 (aged 53) Beauvais, France |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
British Army (1896–18) Royal Air Force (1918–19) |
| Years of service | 1896–1919 |
| Rank | Air Vice Marshal |
| Commands held |
Master-General of Personnel (1918–19) Controller-General of Equipment (1918) HQ RFC Middle East (1917) Palestine Brigade (1917) Northern (Training) Brigade (1915–16) No. 3 Wing (1915) |
| Battles/wars |
Second Boer War First World War |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Air Force Cross Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class (Russia) Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class (Russia) Commander of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) |
| Other work | British Director of Civil Aviation |
Air Vice Marshal Sir William Sefton Brancker, KCB, AFC (22 March 1877 – 5 October 1930), commonly known as Sir Sefton Brancker, was a senior officer of the Royal Flying Corps and later Royal Air Force, and pioneer in British civil and military aviation.
Sefton Brancker was born on 22 March 1877, at Woolwich in Kent. His parents were Colonel William Godefroy Brancker and Hester Adelaide, the daughter of Major General Henry Charles Russel. Brancker grew up as the elder of two brothers and their father died in 1885. From 1891-94, the young Brancker attended Bedford School. The Branckers were a long-established Anglo-German family that had lived in England for several generations.
Brancker was trained for the British Army at Woolwich, joining the Royal Artillery in 1896. He served in the Second Boer War and later for a number of years in India, where he made his first flight in 1910. On 18 June 1913 he was awarded the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's Certificate no. 525.
During the First World War, Brancker held important administrative posts in the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force including Director of Military Aeronautics. 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 Brancker was appointed Director of Air Organisation in London. In 1917, Brancker briefly served as the General Officer Commanding Royal Flying Corps's Palestine Headquarters and then its Middle East headquarters. 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. The following year, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and, with the introduction of RAF-specific ranks, he became an air vice marshal.
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