Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...

Arthur Kellam Tylee

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(24 April 1887 – 13 April 1961) was a Canadian officer who served in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the War, Tylee was the first Air Officer Commanding of the

Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Cana ...

Early life

Tylee was born on 24 April 1887 in

Lennoxville, Quebec Lennoxville () is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lenn ...

(now

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

),Compton Cemetery
the son of Arthur Mailland Tylee and his wife Harriet F. Kellam. Tylee later studied at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Technology's war record
/ref> from around 1910 to 1913.

Military career

Tylee enlisted in the

in August 1915, and was commissioned as a probationary second lieutenant in December of that year; he had previously held the rank of lieutenant in the

Canadian Militia The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Ca ...

. At least some of his junior years in the RFC were spent flying the Martinsyde G.100 on No. 23 Squadron on the Western Front. Tylee was made a flight commander in February 1917 and in March he was made a squadron commander and given the temporary rank of major. It was also in 1917 that Tylee was sent back to Canada, to command

Camp Borden Canadian Forces Base Borden (also CFB Borden, French: Base des Forces canadiennes Borden or BFC Borden), formerly RCAF Station Camp Borden, is a large Canadian Forces base located in Ontario. The historic birthplace of the Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

before being posted to England to carry out advanced work. On 1 April 1918 Tylee was transferred from the Royal Flying Corps to the newly created

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

in the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel and returned to Canada to serve as the Inspector of Training for the Royal Air Force in Canada. He continued in this role until the end of World War I. In June 1918 Tylee was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

for valuable war service and he was also made an officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

. After the War, Tylee returned to Canada. By 1920 Tylee was selected to be the first Air Officer Commanding the Canadian Air Force and granted the rank of air commodore. Tylee established a small headquarters at

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

under the oversight of the Air Board on which

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometime ...

Sir

Willoughby Gwatkin Lieutenant-General Sir Willoughby Garnons Gwatkin, (11 August 1859 – 2 February 1925) was a British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Militia during the First World War. Military career The son of a barris ...

served. In October 1920 Tyle, accompanied by Flight Lieutenant George Thompson, set out to complete the last leg of the first trans-Canadian flight (which had started in Halifax in July), departing from

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

in a de Havilland DH-9A. They arrived in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

after 4 days of flying. In February 1921 Tylee turned his attention to the matter of what might make a suitable flag for the Canadian Air Force. In a note he wrote to Gwatkin, Tylee proposed that the

RAF Ensign The Royal Air Force Ensign is the official flag that is used to represent the Royal Air Force. The ensign has a field of air force blue, with the United Kingdom's flag in the canton and the Royal Air Force's roundel in the middle of the fly ...

be adopted with a maple leaf at the centre of the

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of differ ...

. Gwatkin in turn applied to Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, the British Chief of the Air Staff, who rejected the proposal on the basis that "the sentiment of unity between the Air Services of the Empire" ought to be maintained. It was not until 1940 that Tylee's proposed design was adopted. Later in 1921 Tylee was replaced as commander of the Canadian Air Force by

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Ronald RedpathCanadian Forces
/ref> Tylee died on 13 April 1961 and was buried in the Compton Cemetery in Quebec.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tylee, Arthur Kellam 1887 births 1961 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni People from Sherbrooke Military personnel from Montreal Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Air Force officers Canadian Militia officers Canadian Air Force personnel Canadian Officers of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War I Canadian military personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I