# Frederick Charles Hurrell

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{{Short description|British aviation medic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Frederick Charles Hurrell
|image= Frederick Charles Hurrell.jpg
|image_size= 
|alt= 
|caption= Air Vice Marshal Frederick Charles Hurrell
|birth_date= {{birth date|1928|04|24|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Lady Ozanne Maternity Hospital, [Guernsey](/source/Guernsey)
|death_date= {{death date and age|2008|10|03|1928|04|24|df=yes}}
|death_place= [Farnham](/source/Farnham), Surrey
|burial_place= 
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force)
|service_years= 1953–1988
|rank= [Air Vice Marshal](/source/Air_Vice_Marshal)
|unit= 
|commands= [RAF Medical Services](/source/RAF_Medical_Services) (1986–88)<br/>[RAF Princess Alexandra Hospital](/source/RAF_Wroughton) (1980–82)
|battles= 
|awards= [Companion of the Order of the Bath](/source/Companion_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath)<br/>[Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire)<br/>[Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem](/source/Order_of_Saint_John_(chartered_1888))
|relations= 
|other_work=
}}
[Air Vice Marshal](/source/Air_Vice_Marshal) '''Frederick "Freddie" Charles Hurrell''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|OBE|CStJ|QHP|MRCS|FRAeS}} (24 April 1928 – 3 October 2008) was a senior medical officer in the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) who spent his 35-year military career in aviation medicine and served as Director-General of the [RAF Medical Services](/source/RAF_Medical_Services) from 1986 to 1988.<ref name=Telegraph/>

==Early years==
Hurrell was born in the Lady Ozanne Maternity Hospital in [Guernsey](/source/Guernsey) in 1928, the son of Alexander John Hurrell (1884–1933), a [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer, and a Spanish mother, Maria Del Carmen Bierma Cordero (1887–1968).<ref>[http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/50237222/person/13096937521 Frederick 'Freddie' Charles Hurrell on the Hurrell Family Tree] – [Ancestry.com](/source/Ancestry.com) – pay to view</ref> His father died in 1933 and from the age of eight Hurrell was educated at the [Royal Masonic School for Boys](/source/Royal_Masonic_School_for_Boys) in [Bushey](/source/Bushey) in [Hertfordshire](/source/Hertfordshire) where he enjoyed various sports and played rugby for England Schoolboys against Scotland and Wales Schoolboys.<ref name=Telegraph>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3205032/Air-Vice-Marshal-Freddie-Hurrell.html Obituary for Air Vice-Marshal Freddie Hurrell] – ''[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)'' – 15 October 2008</ref>

==Medical training==
He began his medical training at [St Mary's Hospital Medical School](/source/St_Mary's_Hospital_Medical_School) in [Paddington](/source/Paddington) in October 1946, one of only six teenage schoolboys – the others on the course being more than 50 recently [demobilised](/source/Demobilization) ex-servicemen. He qualified as a doctor in 1952 and worked at Paddington Green Children's Hospital in both medical and surgical house positions, intending to become a [paediatrician](/source/Pediatrics). On being called up to do [National Service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom) in 1953 he joined the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) on a four-year short service commission, but went on to serve for 35 years until retiring in 1988.<ref name=Telegraph/>

==Military career==
From 1953 to 1965 Hurrell served as medical officer on RAF flying stations in England, Australia and Singapore; during this period he was promoted to [squadron leader](/source/squadron_leader) (1960), [wing commander](/source/Wing_commander_(rank)) (1965) and learned to fly.<ref name=Biog/> While working in a bomber base he flew as a member of the crew to gain experience of the stresses of flying. He completed the Diploma of Aviation Medicine in 1972, and as a wing commander he served as a medical adviser to the Inspector of Air Transport. He co-ordinated the RAF's worldwide aero-medical evacuation service which every year transported more than 3,000 patients from all three services as well as their dependants.<ref name=Telegraph/>

In 1974 Hurrell became the deputy director of Aviation Medicine, was promoted to [group captain](/source/group_captain) in 1975,<ref name=Biog/> and from 1978 to 1980 he was Staff Officer Aerospace Medicine in Washington on the British Defence Staff.<ref name=Imperial>[http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/alumni/obituaries/newssummary/news_13-2-2009-11-38-40 Air Vice-Marshal Frederick C. Hurrell (St Mary's Hospital Medical School 1952) – Alumni of Imperial College, London – 13 Feb 2009]</ref> From 1980 to 1982 he was Officer Commanding [RAF Princess Alexandra Hospital](/source/RAF_Wroughton) at [RAF Wroughton](/source/RAF_Wroughton). This included the time of the [Falklands War](/source/Falklands_War), when the hospital was the primary destination for casualties from that conflict.<ref name=Imperial/>  In 1981 he was promoted to [air commodore](/source/air_commodore),<ref name=Biog>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Hurrell_FC.htm Hurrell on the RAF Biographies website]</ref> and on promotion to [air vice marshal](/source/air_vice_marshal) in 1984 he was appointed Principal Medical Officer at RAF Strike Command, where he had responsibility for the medical services provided to 51 [Royal Air Force station](/source/Royal_Air_Force_station)s across the world. In 1984 he was also appointed an [Honorary Physician](/source/Physician_to_the_Queen) (QHP) to [Queen Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II).<ref name=Telegraph/>

In 1986 Hurrell became the Director-General of the [RAF Medical Services](/source/RAF_Medical_Services), becoming responsible to the [Air Force Board](/source/Air_Force_Board) for all aspects of medical, dental and nursing care for the RAF and entitled dependants in [Royal Air Force station](/source/Royal_Air_Force_station)s in the UK and across the world.

After retiring from the Royal Air Force in 1988 after 35 years of service Hurrell became the Director of Appeals for the [RAF Benevolent Fund](/source/RAF_Benevolent_Fund), serving in that capacity for seven years.<ref name=Imperial/> From 1997 he was a vice-president of the [Royal International Air Tattoo](/source/Royal_International_Air_Tattoo), the largest air show in Europe and held each year at [Fairford](/source/Fairford) in [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire).<ref name=Telegraph/>

Hurrell died of primary brain cancer at his home in [Farnham](/source/Farnham) in [Surrey](/source/Surrey) in October 2008 aged 80 and was cremated at [Aldershot Crematorium](/source/Park_Crematorium%2C_Aldershot).

==Honours and awards==
In 1970 he received the Chadwick Gold Medal, awarded every five years and only once every 15 years to an RAF officer. He was appointed an [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) in 1968, and a [Companion of the Order of the Bath](/source/Companion_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath) (CB) in the [1986 Birthday Honours](/source/1986_Birthday_Honours).<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50551/supplement/2 Appointment to CB] – ''[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)'' – Publication date:13 June 1986 Supplement:50551 Page:2</ref> In 1986 he was appointed a [Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem](/source/Order_of_Saint_John_(chartered_1888))<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50457/page/3576  Appointment as Commander of the Order of St John of Jerusalem] – ''[The London Gazette](/source/The_London_Gazette)'' – Publication date:13 March 1986 Issue:50457 Page:3576</ref> and elected a [Fellow](/source/Fellow) of the [Faculty of Occupational Medicine](/source/Faculty_of_Occupational_Medicine_(United_Kingdom)) (FFOM) and a Fellow of the [Royal Aeronautical Society](/source/Royal_Aeronautical_Society) (FRAeS) in 1987.<ref name=Telegraph/>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.thetimes.com/article/air-vice-marshal-freddie-hurrell-former-head-of-rafmedical-services-6bd0d9ttwph  'Air Vice-Marshal Freddie Hurrell: former head of RAF medical services'] – ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'' – 27 November 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurrell, Frederick Charles}}
Category:1928 births
Category:2008 deaths
Category:Guernsey people
Category:Alumni of Imperial College London
Category:Royal Air Force air vice-marshals
Category:Royal Air Force Medical Service officers
Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Commanders of the Order of St John
Category:People from Farnham
Category:20th-century Royal Air Force personnel
Category:Deaths from brain cancer in England

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Frederick Charles Hurrell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Charles_Hurrell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Charles_Hurrell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.