Pioneer Marine Aviator Maj. Gen. Farrell Dies at 93

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Walter Greatsinger Farrell, a pioneer naval aviator and former deputy commander at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, has died. He was 93.

Farrell died Thursday at San Diego Naval Hospital.

He was the oldest living naval aviator and held two of the very few pilot’s licenses signed by Orville Wright, according to Farrell’s son, Patrick, of Newport Beach.

Born in San Francisco on Oct. 4, 1897, the son of Army Gen. P.J.H. Farrell, he joined the Army in 1916, but soon switched to the Marines.

“I didn’t know anything about the Marines except they had a red stripe on their pants and they wore a funny kind of hat,” he recalled in 1988.

The young Marine lieutenant served in France during World War I, leading replacement companies through combat training.

In 1921, he won his wings as a Navy pilot. Between the world wars, he served in Haiti and Nicaragua, and briefly as assistant naval attache at the U.S. Embassy in London.

After reorganizing and training a wing group in San Diego at the outset of World War II, Farrell went to Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands, earning a Silver Star for “exceptional heroism” in action against the Japanese.

Promoted to brigadier general, he commanded the 3rd Marine Air Wing and later served in China.

Early in 1945, Farrell reported for duty at El Toro as deputy commander, 11th Naval District Air Bases.

He retired in 1946 as a major general, after 30 years of service. At that time, he was commanding all Marine Corps air bases on the West Coast.

Farrell is also survived by another son, Thomas, of Charlottesville, Va.; a daughter, Mary (Micki) of San Diego; a stepson, Frederick Trapnell, of Los Altos; eight grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

Services are scheduled Wednesday at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.