Air Marshal Sir Richard Carlyle Nelson, (November 13, 1907 – November 5, 2001) was a Canadian-born senior
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 ...
officer who acted as Director-General of the
RAF Medical Services
The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed Military operation, operations to Royal Air Force, RAF service personnel. Medical RAF officer, officers are the Physicia ...
from 1962 to 1967 and Honorary Physician to the Queen from 1961 until 1967.
Early life
Nelson was born in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada, on November 13, 1907 to Marcus Nelson and Jane Amelia Cartwright. He had two brothers:
Meredith and Francis, both of whom served. He graduated from the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
with his MD and, In the 1930s, moved to the UK, where in 1934, he joined the
RAF.
Military service
Nelson joined the RAF in 1934 as a
Flying Officer
Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior 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.
Flying officer is immediately ...
. In 1936 he was promoted to the rank of
Flight Lieutenant which he held until 1940. When the RAF established a field hospital at Fuka in the Western Desert, he was the senior medical Flight Lieutenant in the Middle East and was appointed to command it. As the post was a Wing Commander's post, he went straight from Flight Lieutenant to
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 ...
. He remained in this rank until he was promoted to Group Captain in the 1950s. In 1957, he was promoted to
Air Commodore. Two years after, in 1959, he was promoted to the acting rank of
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 ...
. During Nelson's tenure as Air Vice-Marshal, he was made Honorary Physician to the Queen (
QHP) in 1961. His final promotion in 1962 made him an
Air-Marshal as Director-General of the
RAF medical services
The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed Military operation, operations to Royal Air Force, RAF service personnel. Medical RAF officer, officers are the Physicia ...
, a post which he held until his military retirement in 1967.
Honours
In 1949 Nelson was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (
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 ...
). In 1961 he was created Honorary Physician to the Queen (
QHP). One year later, in 1962, he was created Commander of the Order of Bath (CB). In 1963 he was knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of Bath (
KCB). In 1964, Nelson was made a Commander of the order of Saint John (
CStJ
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...
).
After Service
After his retirement from the RAF in 1967, Nelson joined the Nicholas Research Institute in
Slough
Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...
, as Medical Director and Director of Research until his retirement in October 1972. He died in 2001 at his home in Hampshire, UK.
[https://www.blatherwick.net/documents/British%20Orders%20to%20Canadians/03%20-%20CB%20Order%20of%20the%20Bath.pdf]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Samuel
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
University of Alberta alumni
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Royal Air Force air marshals
Non-British Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Commanders of the Order of St John
People from Ponoka, Alberta
1907 births
2001 deaths