Gerald Loxley

Gerald Loxley

Major Gerald Loxley
at Ledbury in 1946
Born (1885-01-31)31 January 1885
Fairford, Gloucestershire
Died 29 September 1950(1950-09-29)
Hereford, Herefordshire
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch RNAS; Royal Air Force
Years of service 1915-1920
Rank Major
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Légion d'honneur
Corona d'Italia
Other work United Nations
Loxley arms

Gerald Herbert Loxley (1885–1950) was a decorated British aviator of the First World War deployed in military intelligence,[1] before serving with the United Nations.[2]

Biography

Born on 31 January 1885 at Fairford, Gloucestershire, a vicar's son,[3] he was named after his godfather Sir Herbert Brewer. Loxley attended Summer Fields School and Malvern College before going up to read Jurisprudence at Oriel College, Oxford.[4]

His World War I service in the Royal Naval Air Service saw action as an air pilot before he was appointed to a distinguished position in aerial reconnaissance,[5] advising the director-general of aircraft production (Ministry of Munitions) in Paris.[6] He was confirmed in the rank of Major upon the creation of the Royal Air Force in 1919.

Later in life he worked as a diplomat at the United Nations Organization in Geneva.[7]

Family

Capt Loxley's Little Dog (1923)

The 5th child and 4th son of the Revd Canon Arthur Smart Loxley, son of John Loxley of Norcott Court, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire,[8] he was the only one of the Loxley brothers to survive the Great War.[9] In 1930 he married Alice Blundell Booth (died 1955, leaving no children), a descendant of that old Cheshire family.[10] Through Julia Maria Heath[11] a collateral ancestor of his was the poet Lord Byron; and, with Cornish ancestry, his family was also closely related to Lord Dover and the Duncombes.[12]

After suffering a severe stroke, Loxley died on 29 September 1950 at St. Mary's Hospital, Burghill, near Hereford.

Honours and awards

Loxley was invested as a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by Marshal Foch in 1919,[13] having been appointed Ufficiale of the Corona d'Italia in 1916.[2] He received many other military honours as well as being admitted as a Freeman of the City of London "for War Services".[14]

See also

Norcott Court, Hertfordshire
(Loxley family ancestral home)

References

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