Sir John Cotesworth Slessor (1897 – 1979)
Inscribed on the Toot Baldon roll of honour are three members of the Slessor family; Arthur K Slessor Major OBLI, John C Slessor MC. Major RAF, W. Rodney Slessor, Cadet.
Adelaide Constance Jane Cotesworth married Captain Arthur Kerr Slessor on June 10th 1896 at Kingsworthy, near Winchester. Children recorded in the 1911 census are; John (13), William (11), Adelaide (7) and Anthony (6).
During the First World War some of the family resided at Court Leys, Toot Baldon. We know this from snippets of information gleaned from the Oxford papers, for example:-
The Oxford Times reported on 7 February 1917 that “Capt. John Slessor RFC, son of Mrs Slessor, of Court Leys, Toot Baldon, whose brave flying deed in East Soudan, Africa, was reported on this page last week, had the honour of being received by the King, at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, and was decorated with the Military Cross.”
Air Marshal Sir John Slessor, 1943
John Slessor was unable to serve in the army, due to polio as a child, which left him with a permanent limp. Despite this his application to the Royal Flying Corps was successful and he went on to serve with distinction in the RAF.
“Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF) Sir John Cotesworth Slessor GCB, DSO, MC, … was born on 3 June 1897 in Ranikhet, India. He was educated at Haileybury College, Hertfordshire. During the war of 1914-1918 he served in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), seeing action in France and North Africa and was awarded the Military Cross (MC). In 1920 he was commissioned into the RAF and served for two years in India, followed by a succession of varied home appointments.
During the period 1935-1937 he commanded a wing in the Indian army in Waziristan, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Returning to the UK, he served as Director of Plans at the Air Ministry.
During the war of 1939-1945, Slessor served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) [1942], Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command [1943], Deputy Air Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces [1944] and, in 1945, Air Member for Personnel on the Air Council. He was knighted for his work as commander-in-chief of Coastal Command in 1943 and retired in 1953. Sir John Slessor died on 12 July 1979.”
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/13480a5e-065d-3834-a5ea-d0b291b91a36
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Slessor
William Rodney Slessor served in the Royal Navy. He gained the rank of Commander, H.M.S. President, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He died on 14 April 1945. Aged 45. He is buried in the south-east corner of Kings Worthy (St Mary) Churchyard, Hampshire.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2438907/william-rodney-slessor/
Plaque in Christ Church College, Oxford, commemorating Major Arthur Kerr Slessor.
This article was written by Sue Wright.