THE LATE AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR WILLIAM MITCHELL.

House of Lords Deb 26 September 1944 vol 133 cc117-8 117

THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT SIMON)

My Lords, since the House last assembled, your Lordships will have been grieved to learn of the sudden death of a distinguished and important official of the House, Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell, who for the last three years has held the post of Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. Sir William was the first representative of the Air Force to hold this position, as it had previously been occupied either by a distinguished soldier or a distinguished sailor. His association with the Air Force went back to the very beginnings of the Royal Flying Corps; he gained his certificate as a qualified pilot in the summer of 1913; and when, at the outbreak of the last war, the four squadrons of the original Air Force went to France, he took part in No. 4 Squadron. By 1916 he was commanding a newly-raised squadron in the Battle of the Somme. In 1917 he was promoted to become what would now be called a Wing Commander, and served in the Battle of Arras, where he gained his D.S.O., and he rendered eminent flying service in various capacities right through the war.

Between the wars Sir William had a most distinguished career in India and at Aden and then, in 1933, he became Commandant of the newly-formed R.A.F. College at Cranbrook. His service in the Air Force carried him to the position of Inspector-General, which he held until his appointment three years ago to official service in connexion with this House. Although his services as Black Rod were so regrettably short, Sir William Mitchell had impressed us all with his attention to duty, his dignified bearing and his in-variable courtesy. We sincerely deplore the loss of the official and friend who was always ready to be kind and helpful in arranging for the accommodation of visitors and in other ways, and who has now passed from the world at the early age of fifty-six. Your Lordships will, I feel sure, wish that a message of condolence and sympathy should be sent to his widow and his relatives.

LORD ADDISON

My Lords, I should like, on behalf of my noble friends to support the suggestion made by the noble and learned Viscount. It was not my good fortune, as it was of the noble Viscount sitting beyond the Gangway just below me (Lord Trenchard), to know at first hand the record of his service in the Air Force of one for whose loss we express our regret to-day, but I do know that all my friends feel that we received from him constant and tactful helpfulness. We should like to testify how much we appreciated the ability and kindliness with which he discharged his duty to this House, and to associate ourselves with what the noble and learned Viscount has said.

VISCOUNT SAMUEL

My Lords, in every quarter of the House the sudden and unexpected death of our late Black Rod is deeply regretted. After many years in the highest posts of the Royal Air Force, Sir William Mitchell entered the service of this House, and it is pleasant to think that one of the Houses of the Imperial Parliament should have had as one of its principal officers a man who was Australian born. All of us have had experience on many occasions of his helpfulness and courtesy, and we all join in the expression of sympathy which the Lord Chancellor has proposed to send to his relatives.

AN APPRECIATION

Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke - Popham writes:

It was only on strictly official occasions that anyone referred to Air Chief Marshal Sir William Mitchell, he was always known, and known affectionately, as Mitch, with or without the prefix Ginger. Perhaps it would be truer to say that it was as the Mitches that he and his wife were known, for one always coupled them together. Mitch was one of that small and dwindling band of pioneers that took up flying before the last war, joining the Central Flying School at Upavon in September, 1913. His preference, shared with many flying officers of those days, for cars with big bonnets and no silencers lasted for several years; his love of flying persisted throughout his life.

From the start of his service he was known for his sound common sense, his loyalty to his subordinates as well as to his superiors, and his unfailing dry humour. But it was his capacity for true friendship that endeared him to so many, a capacity that was enriched and developed by his marriage.

It was not for some time after the 1914-18 war that he got the opportunity of displaying his talent for handling youth, first as O.C. of a flying training school at Netheravon, then at Halton with aircraft apprentices, and later at the Cadet College, Cranwell. This talent sprang from his genuine affection for those of the generation and his sympathetic understanding next of their outlook on life. At Halton he grasped the opportunity to hunt, as later at Cranwell, and play polo. A critic might have found fault with his seat, but his enthusiasm was bound less. And it was characteristic of him that he loved to ride with the farmers' drag as much as with a fashionable pack.

Later in life and he left his mark in the shape of a host of friends and he finished his career as Commandant of the Air Training Corps in London and Essex. So up to the day of his death he was once more Carrying out the job he loved that of training youth, of inspiring them with the sense of fury and discipline, the spirit of service and cam work. The memory of this will bring some comfort to the many of us that will miss him. On the very day he died he was watching his cadets playing those of the Army at Lords: and surely we may think of him on the second day of the match looking at them again from the other side and rejoicing in their victory.