Gerald Loxley
| Gerald Loxley | |
|---|---|
 Major Gerald Loxley at Ledbury in 1946 | |
| Born |
31 January 1885 Fairford, Gloucestershire |
| Died |
29 September 1950 Hereford, Herefordshire |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | RNAS; Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1915-1920 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards |
Légion d'honneur Corona d'Italia |
| Other work | United Nations |
Gerald Herbert Loxley (1885–1950) was a decorated British aviator of the First World War deployed in military intelligence,[1] before serving with the United Nations.[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 before he was appointed to a distinguished position in aerial reconnaissance,[5] advising the director-general of aircraft production (Ministry of Munitions) in Paris.[6] He was confirmed in the rank of Major upon the creation of the Royal Air Force in 1919.
Later in life he worked as a diplomat at the United Nations Organization in Geneva.[7]
Family
The 5th child and 4th son of the Revd Canon Arthur Smart Loxley, son of John Loxley of Norcott Court, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire,[8] 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 descendant of that old Cheshire family.[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 was invested as a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by Marshal Foch in 1919,[13] having been appointed Ufficiale of the Corona d'Italia in 1916.[2] He received many other military honours as well as being admitted as a Freeman of the City of London "for War Services".[14]
See also
(Loxley family ancestral home)
References
- ↑ www.thegazette.co.uk
- 1 2 www.archive.org
- ↑ www.theclergydatabase.org.uk
- ↑ Oxford University Roll of Service
- ↑ Navy List: RFC Naval Wing (RNAS)
- ↑ www.kingscollections.org
- ↑ www.un.org
- ↑ www.thepeerage.com
- ↑ www.fairfordhistory.org.uk
- ↑ 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
- ↑ www.british-history.ac.uk
- ↑ www.legiondhonneur.fr
- ↑ Freemen of the City of London online archive
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