Francis Mellersh (RAF officer)

Air Vice Marshal Sir Francis John Williamson Mellersh KBE, AFC, RAF (22 September 1898 – 25 May 1955) was a World War I pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service credited with five aerial victories, and a senior Royal Air Force commander during World War II. He was killed in a bizarre helicopter accident in 1955.

World War I service
Mellersh joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916. He trained as a fighter pilot and was posted to 9 Naval Squadron in 1917. While flying a Sopwith Triplane on 28 July 1917, he drove down an Aviatik C. He switched to flying a Sopwith Camel and scored victories 15 October 1917 and 12 April 1918; the latter win was shared with squadron-mate Roy Brown. On 21 April 1918, Mellersh was a flight commander involved in the dogfight that brought down the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen; Mellersh claimed a Fokker Dr.I triplane destroyed on that date. His last victory came two days later.

Post World War I
In 1922 Mellersh had a son born to him. He named the boy Francis Richard Lee and he followed his father's example, joining the RAF and rising to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal himself. The younger Francis was the subject of a famous photograph while getting his hair cut between missions.

Death
Mellersh debarked from a helicopter onto a quay on 25 May 1955; he had been invited to cruise on a yacht belonging to the Itchenor Yacht Club. As the helicopter departed, one of its rotors hit the mast of a yacht. As the copter crashed, the main rotor killed Mellersh.