Stephen Melville
General Stephen Alexander Melville General | |
---|---|
Commands held | |
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | J.G. Strijdom (brother in law) |
Other work | Armaments Board of South Africa |
Early life
Melville was born in Matatiele, Natal, on 31 December 1904, and was educated at Grey College, Bloemfontein. He then worked in a bank, and later joined the Merchant Navy as a stoker. He joined the South African Mounted Rifles in 1924 as a trooper before transferring to the Artillery. In 1929, after a short boxing career in South Africa and the United States,[2] Melville was trained as a pilot and transferred to the South African Air Force.[1]: 152
Air Force career
Melville commanded air force formations in the
Melville served as Air Chief of Staff from 1954 to 1956, as Inspector-General from 1956 to 1958, and as Commandant General,[4] the head of the Union Defence Force, from 1958 to 1960. He was awarded the Star of South Africa in June 1960.
Melville later served on the Armaments Board until 1974. He was also the Government's representative on the Rand Water Board.[1]: 153
Awards and decorations
Star of South Africa (1952) (SSA)
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
Union Medal
Order of the British Empire (OBE)
- 1939–45 Star
Africa Star (NORTH AFRICA 1942–43 clasp)
Italy Star
War Medal 1939 – 1945 (Mentioned in Dispatches) (MID)
Africa Service Medal (WWII)
- Order of St. Annewith Swords (Russia)
References
- ^ ISBN 0-9583173-3-X.
- ^ "Eastern Cape Newsletter – January 2017 – South African Military History Society". Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "No. 36083". The London Gazette. 6 July 1943. p. 3092.
- ^ Nöthling, C.J.; Meyers, E.M. (1982). "Leiers deur die Jare (1912–1982)" [Leaders through the years (1912–1982)]. Scientaria Militaria (in Afrikaans). 12 (2): 95.