Lives of the First World War

Major General William Sefton Brancker KCB. Unit: Royal Field Artillery, attached to Royal Flying Corps as GOC Royal Flying Corps's Palestine Headquarters. Death: 05 October 1930. Major General Brancker was born in 1877 at Woolwich, Kent and was educated at Bedford School. He joined the Army in 1896 where he received a commission in the Royal Field Artillery and saw active service during the Second Boer War in South Africa. After serving briefly as RFA Adjutant, he transferred to the Indian Army where he rose to the rank of Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General, Army Headquarters, India. At the same time, he developed an interest in aviation. By 1913, Brancker was a junior staff officer at the War Office under General Sir David Henderson. He learnt to fly and was appointed to the Royal Flying Corps reserve, serving as Deputy Director Military Aeronautics during 1914 - 1915 and Director of Air Organisation during 1916 - 1917. A strong administrator, Brancker was responsibl

Major-General Sir William Sefton Brancker (1877-1930), civil aviation pioneer, portrayed by Lieutenant Percival Anderson during the First World War when he was

aero club