What does this sentence mean?

Question

Hi.
I'm a student who is learning English.
While I'm reading a text from Reader's Digest,
I got a question.
In this text, can you tell me what does this sentence 'had just become probably the first naval officer to qualify for...' mean?

By the time Dazel-Job walked into Commander Ian Fleming's Admiralty office one day in 1944 looking for a new assignment, he had already seen service as a seaman, commando, submariner and spy, and had just become probably the first naval officer to qualify for army parachute wings.

Does that sentence mean 'He was probably the first naval officer who was qualified for army parachute wings'?
If this translation is correct, why does 'to infinitive' appeared in that sentence?

Answer 1

Yes, you're right and...can't explain why. "The first" (also the second, the last) is very often followed by to-infinitive, it sounds crisper than "who"

I was the first to leave the party.
You are the first to ask this question.
The first number to call in an emergency is...

Answer 2

In the fixed phrases "to be the first/second/etc. to... + simple form of the verb" "to" is an element of the phrase or expression acting simply as a preposition.

Languages use certain prepositions in this kind of expressions that might be the same of different than the ones other language use.

In Spanish, for example, the equivalent of this set phrase is "Ser el primero/segundo/etc. en", or "To be the first one in..." instead of "to".

In other words, the word "to" in this particular context does no express an infinitive with the verb following it, but rather, it is a preposition like "in, on, for, from, etc."

Answer 3

Yes, you are correct. I'm not sure what you mean though by "to infinitive."

Answer 4

Yes, that's what it means. "First person to qualify" means the same as "First person who qualified"...I can't really explain why.