Background to the Sir Sefton Brancker Competition

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker KCB AFC. You may well wonder who Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker was, and why so much importance is attached to the Trophy which is awarded annually for Cross Country and Track & Field combined?

During the 1914-18 War, Sefton Brancker was a Major-General in the Royal Flying Corps. He was awarded the AFC and later transferred to the Royal Air Force. At the end of the First World War, he was Controller-General of Personnel on the Air Council in the rank of Air Vice-Marshal. On his retirement in 1919 he joined the Civil Service to head the department set up in the Air Ministry to encourage the development of civil aviation; it was for this work he was Knighted.

In 1928, Sir Sefton succeeded in arranging an annual Cross Country match between the Civil Service, Middlesex and the RAF. Sir Sefton initiated the event because of his great interest in the 3 Associations: being a retired senior Air Force officer, an eminent Civil Servant and the President of Middlesex County AA. The first event was held at RAF Uxbridge in January 1929, resulting in a win for Middlesex.

Sir Sefton was killed in the Airship R101 disaster at Beauvais in France in the early hours of 5 October 1930. The airship was the hope for lighter than air flying, and was on a trip to India to demonstrate its efficiency. After his unfortunate death, it was decided that the 3 Associations would jointly provide a Challenge Cup to commemorate Sir Sefton, and to include Track & Field events in addition to the Cross Country race already being held.