| Harold Thomas Mellings | |
| Birth Date: | 5 August 1899[1] |
| Death Date: | 22 July 1918 |
| Birth Place: | Bromfield, Shropshire, England |
| Death Place: | Ostend, Belgium |
| Placeofburial: | Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery, Nieuwpoort, Belgium |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | Royal Navy Royal Air Force |
| Serviceyears: | 1915–1918 |
| Rank: | Captain |
| Unit: | No. 2 Wing RNAS No. 10 Squadron RNAS/No. 210 Squadron RAF |
| Battles: | World War I Macedonian front Western Front |
| Awards: | Distinguished Service Cross & bar Distinguished Flying Cross |
Captain Harold Thomas Mellings was a British World War I flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.[1]
Mellings was granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 2028 at the Beatty Flying School in Hendon on a Caudron biplane on 11 November 1915,[2] having joined the Royal Naval Air Service as a temporary probationary flight sub-lieutenant, and was confirmed in his rank on 3 April 1916.
Mellings began his career as a fighter ace on 30 September 1916, when he flew a Bristol Scout to victory over an LVG near Smyrna. He sent the observation plane spinning down out of control. It would be exactly a year until victory number two,[1] by which time he had been promoted to flight lieutenant (June 1917). This second action was a clash between polyglot forces. Mellings was flying a recently rebuilt Sopwith Triplane equipped with an extra gun, and was accompanied by John Alcock in a Sopwith Camel and a third pilot in a Sopwith Pup. The opposing Germans were a two-seater observation plane escorted by two Albatros W.4s. The ensuing dogfight resulted in Mellings shooting away the upper left wing of Walter Kreuger's W.4; Kreuger crashed into the Aegean Sea.[3] In November, Mellings destroyed enemy aircraft on the 19th, 25th, and 29th, becoming an ace while still flying Sopwith Triplane No. N5431. Soon afterwards, he was transferred out of No. 2 Wing to No. 10 Naval Squadron on the Western Front in France.[1]
Mellings's new assignment put him in the cockpit of a Sopwith Camel. He used it to score his sixth triumph on 28 February 1918. He tallied four more wins in March, including a double victory on 24 March, to become a double ace. After one more win, on 9 April, he was wounded in action on the 15th. He would not score again until 9 July 1918. He then notched two victories each on 20 and 22 July. Later in the day of the 22nd, he was killed in action by Ludwig Beckmann.[1]
Mellings's final tally was ten enemy aeroplanes confirmed destroyed, five driven down out of control, and two unconfirmed victories.[1]
He is buried in Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery, Nieuwpoort, Belgium.[4]
Mellings was also awarded the Silver War Medal by Greece on 21 September 1916.