Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force

Major General Brancker was born in 1877 at Woolwich, Kent and was educated at Bedford School. He joined the Army in 1896 where he received a commission in the Royal Field Artillery and saw active service during the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.

After serving briefly as RFA Adjutant, he transferred to the Indian Army where he rose to the rank of Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General, Army Headquarters, India. At the same time, he developed an interest in aviation.

By 1913, Brancker was a junior staff officer at the War Office under General Sir David Henderson. He learnt to fly and was appointed to the Royal Flying Corps reserve, serving as Deputy Director Military Aeronautics during 1914 - 1915 and Director of Air Organisation during 1916 - 1917.

A strong administrator, Brancker was responsible for establishing the Royal Flying Corps in France when the First World War broke out and continued to organise the supply of aircraft, engines, mechanical transport, spares, stores, pilots and ground crew for much of the First World War.

At the end of the War, he retired from the Royal Air Force in order to develop his interest in civil aviation. Air Vice Marshal Brancker was killed on 5 October 1930 when the R101 airship, on which he was a passenger, crashed on its inaugural flight from Cardington to India.

Faces of the First World War

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