Francis John Linnell Air Marshal Sir Francis John Linnell KBE CB ( born 16 March 1892 , Died 3 November 1944 ) was a British military officer who saw active service in World War I and World War II . He was Controller of Research and Development of the Ministry of Aircraft Production during the development of the Bouncing bomb , the weapon eventually employed in Operation Chastise . ' Jack ' was Dubbed Sir Francis in the desert in front of the British press by King George VI and posthumously invested as a Commander in the Legion of Merit by U . S . President Franklin D . Roosevelt . Career . Francis John Linnell was born on Isle of Thanet , Margate and was educated at Bloxham School . World War I . " Jack " joined the Royal Naval Reserve as temporary warrant - telegraphist in September 1914 , serving with the Royal Naval Air Service in France and Belgium . He learnt to fly at the Grahame - White Flying School Hendon . Flying a Grahame - White Biplane he gained Royal Aero Club Certificate No . 1338 in June 1915 . Flt Sub - Lt Linnell was responsible for carrying out trials in a special Blackburn - built B . E . 2c . The unique aircraft No . 3999 was ordered by Admiralty for W / T experiments , it was fitted with a 70 hp Renault engine and had a top speed of 72 mph . Blackburn - built B . E . 2cs are recognisable by the ringed airscrew motif on the fin and saw active service in every theatre during the war . From March 1916 till the end of 1919 he served with the Grand Fleet as a pilot on HMS Campania , HMS Repulse and HMS Furious and was Mentioned in Despatches twice . He ended the Great War with a permanent commission of Captain in the newly formed Royal Air Force . The Dunning Memorial Cup , given annually to the officer that has done the most to further aviation in connection with the fleet , was awarded Linnell in 1920 " . . . for flights which led to important developments in artillery and reconnaissance observation . " Inter war years . From 1920 he worked as a Royal Air Force ( RAF ) Communications Officer at the Department of Civil Aviation , then transferred to Signals Staff duties at the Air Ministry in 1925 . He was awarded the OBE in June 1923 , the citation reads , " This officer has done exceptionally good work in connection with Signals . His liaison with the Navy and the Army has been excellent . " He received special thanks from the Air Council for preparing the handbook on air communications and intelligence systems for the air defence of Great Britain . His first command in October 1930 was No . 9 Squadron RAF located at RAF Manston and then in September 1931 Wg Cdr Linnell was Officer Commanding RAF Malta . He spent 1933 attending the course at RN Staff College Greenwich after which he took command of No . 99 Squadron RAF He became the first Station Commander at RAF Mildenhall four days before it hosted 70 , 000 people for the start of the RAeC MacRobertson Air Race ( England to Australia ) of 1934 . Then in July 1935 , the year of the Silver Jubilee , RAF Mildenhall welcomed King George V for the first ever Royal review of the RAF . Linnell returned to the Air Ministry in July 1935 as Deputy Director of Organisation , Department of A . M . S . O . World War II . After attending Imperial Defence College from the beginning of 1939 until August , he was attached to HQ RAF Bomber Command as Air Officer Administration and Mentioned in Despatches in 1940 . In February 1941 he joined the Air Ministry as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in charge of Training . On March , 1941 he was awarded the Companion of the Order of the Bath ( C . B . ) . He was appointed Controller of Research and Development Ministry of Aircraft Production and an additional Member of the Air Council in June of the same year . From May 1943 Air Marshal Linnell was Deputy AO C - in - C , RAF Mediterranean and Middle East and He rejoined the Air Ministry in July 1944 for special duties . He died on active service , 3 November 1944 , in a car accident in Oxfordshire , aged fifty - two . He was cremated at Charing ( Kent County ) Crematorium . Project " Upkeep " . Linnell was apparently against the idea of a bouncing bomb reasoning that it was drawing development resources away from the prototype high altitude bomber Vickers Windsor , his thinking may have been influenced by Charles Craven , the Chairman at Vickers . Early in 1943 , tests authorised by Linnell in June 1942 at the instigation of Sir Henry Tizard , indicated that a bouncing bomb was technically feasible . A meeting between the Air Ministry , RAF Bomber Command and MAP decided to continue development of project " Upkeep " with a proposal to have a fully trained squadron ready by May . AOC - in - C of RAF Bomber Command Harris thought differently and saw the project as a waste of precious Lancasters . However Chief of the Air Staff Portal was convinced by film footage of the tests and ordered three Lancasters allocated to the project . One week later , at a meeting convened by Linnell , the number of Lancasters ordered had risen to a squadron and Operation Chastise was planned for that spring . Personal life . Only son of William Henry and Kate Linnell , he had one sister , Marjorie Clare . On 26 May 1917 , ' Jack ' married Margaret Christabel Carpenter of St Leonards - on - Sea , Sussex , at Christ Church , Turnham Green . They had no children . Honours . Linnell was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) in June 1923 , and during March 1941 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) . Knighted . In a ceremony that had not been performed for many years , Linnell was Knighted in the field by King George VI , at an operational airport in the Tunisian desert . He was advanced from an Officer to a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( KBE ) Legion of Merit . He was posthumously invested as a Commander of the Legion of Merit ( U . S . A . ) in recognition of his outstanding services in the Mediterranean theatre of operations from 29 February – 29 June 1944 . The decoration was presented to his widow , Lady Linnell , by Brig . Gen . E . F . Koenig , U . S . A . A . F . , at a special ceremony in London .