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Claude Pelly
Air Marshal Pelly (centre) with Air Marshal Hardman (left) and Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten (right) at a ceremonial parade for No. 78 Wing RAAF on its departure from garrison duty on Malta, 1954
Born	(1902-08-19)19 August 1902 Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England
Died	12 August 1972(1972-08-12) (aged 69) Deben, Suffolk, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1920–1959
Rank	Air chief marshal
Commands	RAF Middle East Air Force (1953–56) Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (1946–48)
Battles / wars	Second World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Military Cross Mentioned in dispatches (3)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly, GBE, KCB, MC (19 August 1902 – 12 August 1972) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the middle of the 20th century.

RAF career

Claude Pelly started his Air Force career at the RAF College Cranwell in 1920. In 1931 he was deployed to Iraq where he became Air Liaison Officer earning the Military Cross "for distinguished service rendered in the field in connection with military operations in Northern Kurdistan, Iraq during the period December 1931 to June 1932." He served in World War II initially as Head of Intelligence at Headquarters Air Component of the British Expeditionary Force and then as Senior Air Staff Officer for the Desert Air Force.

After the War he became Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and then Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Technical/Operational Requirements) before joining the Directing Staff at the Imperial Defence College in 1951. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East Air Force in 1953 and Controller of Aircraft at the Ministry of Supply in 1956. Pelly was appointed Aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1957 and retired as an air chief marshal in 1959.

In retirement he was a Board Member of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority from 1960 to 1964.

Family

In 1930 he married Margaret Ogilvie Spencer; they had three sons and one daughter.

References

1. Rowe, M. W. (2023). J. L. Austin: Philosopher and D-Day Intelligence Officer. Oxford University Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-19-870758-5.
2. New Air Chief Marshals Flight International, 15 March 1957
3. "No. 33984". The London Gazette. 6 October 1933. p. 6426.
4. ^ Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Pelly
5. The Peerage.com – Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly

v t e The Pelly/Lucas family tree
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John Pelly (1711–1762) Henry Hinde Pelly (1744–1818) John Pelly (1754–1809) Sir John Pelly, 1st Baronet (1777–1852) John Hinde Pelly (1786–1852) Sir John Henry Pelly, 2nd Baronet (1809–1864) Raymond Pelly (1810–1886) Richard Wilson Pelly (1814–1890) Saville Marriott Pelly (1819–1895) Sir Lewis Pelly M.P. (1825–1892) Sir Henry Carstairs Pelly, 3rd Baronet (1844–1877) Sir Harold Pelly, 4th Baronet (1863–1950) Rev. Raymond Percy Pelly (1841–1911) Sir Henry Bertram Pelly (1867–1942) Kathleen Emma Pelly (1856–1912) Richard Clement Lucas (1846–1915) Sir Harold Alwyne Pelly, 5th Baronet (1893–1981) Douglas Raymond Pelly (1865–1943) Raymond Theodore Pelly (1881–1952) Richard Saville Clement Lucas (1896–1968) Charles Clement Lucas (1897–1917) Sir John Alwyne Pelly, 6th Baronet (1918–1993) Richard Heywood Pelly (1920–1988) Sir Claude Bernard Raymond Pelly (1902–1972) Peter Douglas Pelly (1904–1980) Sir Richard John Pelly, 7th Baronet (b. 1951)
Notes
Family tree of the Pelly family

• 1902 births
• 1972 deaths
• Military personnel from Worcestershire
• Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell
• Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
• Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at Rugby School
• Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies
• People from Upton-upon-Severn
• Recipients of the Military Cross
• Royal Air Force air marshals
• Royal Air Force personnel of World War II