W. Farrell; Marine Commander, Pioneer Aviator

Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Walter Greatsinger Farrell, a pioneer naval aviator who served in World Wars I and II, has died. He was 93.

Farrell died Thursday at San Diego Naval Hospital.

He was the oldest living naval aviator in the world and held two of the very few licenses signed by Orville Wright, according to his son, Patrick, of Newport Beach.

Born in San Francisco on Oct. 4, 1897, the son of Gen. and Mrs. 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 American 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 Marine Air Station in Orange County as deputy commander of the 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.

In addition to his son Patrick, Farrell is 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.