Mark Kerr (officer)

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Mark Kerr

Mark Edward Frederic Kerr CB CVO (* 26. September 1864 ; † 20th January 1944 ) was a British officer in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force , the first Deputy Chief of Air Staff ( Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ) instrumental in Establishment of the Royal Air Force, which emerged from the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on April 1, 1918. After completing his aviation training in 1914, he was the Royal Navy flag officer who became a pilot.

Life

Training as a naval officer

Kerr, whose father Admiral Frederic Kerr 1891-1896 King of Arms ( King of Arms ) of the Order of the Bath was entered after visiting the Stubbington House School in 1877 as a naval cadet ( midshipman ) in the Royal Navy and graduate from his training on naval officer the steamer - frigate HMS Inconstant . In 1882 he was transferred to Egypt as an officer in the naval brigade ( Naval Brigade ) , where he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea ( sub-lieutenant ) in 1883 . After his promotion to lieutenant captain ( Lieutenant ) on August 20, 1886, he was flag lieutenant of Vice Admiral William Nathan Wrighte Hewett , who was at the time commander in chief of the Channel Fleet . He held this post until Hewett's death on May 13, 1888 and was subsequently an officer on the battleship HMS Victoria and then deputy commander ( second-in-command ) of the protected cruiser HMS Cambrian .

After his promotion to frigate captain ( Commander ) on June 30, 1898, Kerr took over his first command post in 1899, as the commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Mermaid . Subsequently, he was in 1901 deputy commander of the battleship HMS Implacable and after his promotion to Captain ( Captain ) on January 1, 1903 Naval Attaché at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Italy . He was also accredited as a naval attaché at the embassy in Austria-Hungary and in the Kingdom of Greece . On October 6, 1903 he became a member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) and on July 11, 1905, he was also the commander of the Greek Order of the Redeemer .

On September 8, 1908, Mark Kerr became the first in command of the battle cruiser HMS Invincible as a sea captain

In 1905, Kerr became a flag lieutenant of Rear Adm. Prince Louis of Battenberg , who was then commander of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron . He then succeeded Captain George Edwin Patey in May 1907 in command of the battleship HMS Implacable and was replaced in September 1908 by Captain Henry Loftus Tottenham . He himself then became first in command of the battle cruiser HMS Invincible on September 8, 1908 . He then became assistant to the Admiral Commanding Coastguard and Reserves (Admiral Commanding Coastguard and Reserves ), Rear Admiral Frederick Inglefield , in 1911 , and was subsequently the successor to Sea Captain Hugh Evan-Thomas between July 9, 1912 and May 16 1913 Aide-de-camp of King George V for the Navy. His successor in this capacity was sea captain Ernest Gaunt .

Promotion to admiral, First World War and establishment of the RAF

After his promotion to Rear Admiral ( Rear Admiral ) on May 16, 1913 Kerr was commander in chief of the Greek navy and held this position in the first two years of the First World War from. On June 3, 1913, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

During this time he also completed his pilot training, which he completed on July 14, 1914 with Certificate No. 842 of the Royal Aero Club (RAeC). This made him the first flag officer in the Royal Navy to complete his pilot training. Shortly afterwards, in 1914, he made the longest water crossing at the time by plane with the return flight from Paleo Faliro to the island of Poros . Due to his age, however, he was not intended for further use in the Naval Aviation Service RNAS ( Royal Naval Air Service ), but instead took over the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Adria Squadron in May 1916. As such, he requested aircraft from the Admiralty to support his operational missions.

In August 1917 Kerr Air Force Committee (was Air Board ), made available to assist in the formation of the Air Ministry ( Air Ministry to help). On January 3, 1918, he was in the rank of Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) Finally, the first Deputy Chief of Air Staff ( Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ) and representatives of Major General Hugh Trenchard , the first Chief of the Air Staff ( Chief of the Air Staff ) . In this role he played a key role in founding the Royal Air Force, which emerged from the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) on April 1, 1918. Immediately after the founding of the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918, Brigadier General Robert Marsland Groves succeeded him as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

Kerr himself took over the post as commander of No. 2 Area RAF , which was renamed the South-Western Area RAF on May 8, 1918 , and remained in this function until it was replaced by Brigadier General Philip Game . In the meantime, he was promoted to Vice Admiral ( Vice Admiral ) on April 26, 1918 and retired on October 1, 1918 from active military service. On April 8, 1922, he was retired as an admiral .

For his military services in the First World War in the Mediterranean area , he was made Grand Officer of the Italian Order of St. Mauritius and Lazarus were also awarded the Military Order of Savoy on August 7, 1918 . He was also Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).

After his departure, Kerr wrote numerous, partly autobiographical books on naval history and naval officers, but also volumes of poetry. On July 10, 1906, he married Rose Kerr , a pioneer of the Girl Guide movement , and had two daughters with her, including Alix Liddell , who was also involved in the Girl Guide movement and wrote numerous books.

Publications

Non-fiction books and biographies

  • Flygning i fred och krig , (Flight in Peace and War), Stockholm: Svensk Motortidnings, 1922
  • Land, Sea and Air , London: Longmans, Green, 1927
  • The Sailor's Nelson , London: Hurst & Blackett, 1932
  • The Navy in My Time , London: Rich & Cowan, 1933
  • Prince Louis of Battenberg: Admiral of the Fleet , London: Longmans, 1934

Volumes of poetry

  • The Destroyer and A Cargo of Notions , London: Hatchards, Piccadilly, 1909
  • Nelson: A Poem , Portsmouth: Gale & Polden, 1910
  • The Rubaiyat of Kram Rerk , London: Longmans, 1927

Web links

  • Biography on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 25620, HMSO, London, August 27, 1886, p. 4176 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 26983, HMSO, London, July 1, 1898, p. 3984 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 27512, HMSO, London, January 2, 1903, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 27604, HMSO, London, October 9, 1903, p. 6149 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 27817, HMSO, London, July 14, 1905, p. 4900 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 28626, HMSO, London, July 12, 1912, p. 5082 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 28725, HMSO, London, June 3, 1913, p. 3913 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  8. ↑ London Gazette . No. 28720, HMSO, London, May 20, 1913, p. 3591 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 28724, HMSO, London, June 3, 1913, p. 3903 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 12570, HMSO, London, June 6, 1913, p. 599 ( PDF , accessed February 26, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Kerr, Mark
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kerr, Mark Edward Frederic (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force and Navy officer of the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1864
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1944