Air Commodore Sir Arthur Dennis Mitchell (26 May 1918 – 25 December 2001) was a British military pilot and commander. Dennis Mitchell was educated at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school of the British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 km) from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshir ...

and

Pangbourne College Pangbourne College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, in the English county of Berkshire. It is set in 230 acres, on a hill south-west of the village, in an Area of Outstanding Nat ...

before becoming an air cadet at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which tra ...

ad commissioning into the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

. He flew multiple missions during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. During the post-war 1940s Mitchell served at No 2 Group headquarters, British Air Forces of Occupation, No 84 Group and the Air Ministry, before learning to fly the Gloster Meteor, the RAF's first jet fighter. Following brief command of

No. 26 Squadron RAF No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976. The squadron's motto is ''N Wagter in die Lug'' (Afrikaans) (A guard in the sky), and the badge is a springbok's head couped. History 1915 ...

, a Hawker Tempest squadron in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he was posted to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1948 as a member of an RAF delegation responsible for determining the needs of the future Belgian Air Force. In this period Mitchell met and married Comtesse Mireill Cornet de Ways Ruart. He was decorated on several occasions, most notably being awarded a DFC and Bar in 1944 for his courageous leadership of squadrons under his command in the north-west Europe Campaign. From 1956 to 1959, he was Deputy Captain of the Queen's Flight and Captain from 1962 to 1964. In 1958, Mitchell was appointed Aide-de-Camp to

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

; he had been extra equerry since 1962. Mitchell was appointed KBE in 1977 and CVO in 1961. He was awarded the AFC in 1943 and French Croix de Guerre in 1945. Mitchell died in 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, (Arthur) Dennis People educated at Bloxham School 1918 births 2001 deaths Royal Air Force air commodores Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British World War II pilots English aviators Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)