Meredith was born in
Wynberg, Cape Town, and attended
Wynberg Boys' High School. He was an electrical engineering student with South African Railways before becoming a cadet at
RAF Staff College, Andover and was then commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing) in October 1917. He was promoted to
Flying Officer in February 1918. After the First World War, in 1924, he joined the South African Air Force, and in 1937 was appointed Commanding Officer of the Aircraft and Artillery Depot. He was appointed Director of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia in 1939. He was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal during the War. ==Rhodesian Air Training Group==