Major Gerald Loxley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 January 1885 Fairford, Gloucestershire, UK |
| Died | 29 September 1950 Hereford, Herefordshire, UK |
| Allegiance | 
United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
RNAS;
Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1920 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards |
Air Force Cross
Légion d'honneur
Corona d'Italia |
| Relations | Earls of Stamford and Warrington |
| Other work | United Nations |
Major Gerald Herbert Loxley AFC (1885–1950) was a decorated British aviator of the First World War deployed in military intelligence, [1] before serving with the United Nations in Switzerland. [2]
Biography
Born on 31 January 1885 at Fairford, Gloucestershire, a vicar's son, [3] he was named after his godfather Sir Herbert Brewer.
Loxley attended Summer Fields School and Malvern College before going up to read Jurisprudence at Oriel College, Oxford. [4]
His World War I service in the Royal Naval Air Service saw action as an air pilot [5] before being appointed to a distinguished position in aerial reconnaissance, [6] advising the Director-General of Aircraft Production ( Ministry of Munitions) in Paris. [7] He was promoted to the rank of Major upon the creation of the Royal Air Force in 1919.
Later in life Major Loxley served as a diplomat at the United Nations Organization at Geneva. [8]
Family
The 5th child and 4th son of the Revd Canon Arthur Smart Loxley, son of John Loxley of Norcott Court, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, he was the only one of the Loxley brothers to survive the Great War. [9] In 1930 he married Alice Blundell Booth (died 1955, leaving no children), a cousin of the Booth baronets. [10] Through Julia Maria Heath [11] a collateral ancestor of his was the poet Lord Byron; and, with Cornish ancestry, his family was also closely related to Lord Dover and the Duncombes. [12]
After suffering a severe stroke, Loxley died on 29 September 1950 at St Mary's Hospital, Burghill, near Hereford.
Honours and awards
Loxley received the Air Force Cross [13] and was invested as a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by Marshal Foch in 1919, [14] having previously been appointed an Ufficiale of the Corona d'Italia in 1916. [15]
He received many other military honours as well as being admitted as a Freeman of the City of London "for War Services". [16]
See also
(Loxley family ancestral home)
References
- ^ "www.thegazette.co.uk" (PDF).
- ^ www.ungeneva.org
- ^ "CCEd | Clergy of the Church of England Database".
- ^ "Oxford university roll of service". Oxford, Clarendon press. 9 October 1920 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
- ^ "(996) - Navy lists > Quarterly > 1918 > April - British Military lists - National Library of Scotland". digital.nls.uk.
- ^ "King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : STERN, Lt Col Sir Albert Gerald (1878-1966) : 1: Papers relating to Stern's service during World War One, 1915-1918". kingscollections.org.
- ^ www.treaties.un.org
- ^ "www.fairfordhistory.org.uk". Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- ^ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, qv. BOOTH, Bt
- ^ Byron: Letters and Journals, vol. 1, 1973,p.165; Lord Byron to the Hon. Mrs Augusta Leigh, 26 April 1808
- ^ "Parishes: Northchurch or Berkhampstead St Mary | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
- ^ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage (www.burkespeerage.com), qv. BOOTH, Bt: "2m Alice Blundell BOOTH, born 20 September 1908, married 10 September 1930 Major Gerald Herbert LOXLEY, AFC, Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur, Croix de Guerre avec Palmes, late RAF (died without issue 29 September 1950), son of Rev Arthur Smart LOXLEY, Vicar of Fairford, Gloucestershire (see BYRON, B), and great-uncle of Elizabeth Patricia Loxley, Baroness Bingham of Cornhill (see BINGHAM OF CORNHILL, LP), and died without issue 29 August 1955".
- ^ "Droits et devoirs du décoré | La grande chancellerie". www.legiondhonneur.fr.
- ^ www.carabinieri.it
- ^ "Freemen Of London Revealed In New Online Archive". Londonist. 30 November 2011.
External links
- 1885 births
- 1950 deaths
- People from Fairford
- People from Hertfordshire
- People educated at Malvern College
- Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
- British intelligence operatives
- Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I
- Royal Air Force personnel of World War I
- Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
- Knights of the Legion of Honour
- Recipients of Italian civil awards and decorations
- British officials of the United Nations
- Military personnel from Gloucestershire