Andrew Humphrey

Sir Andrew Henry Humphrey GCB OBE DFC AFC (born January 10, 1921 in Edinburgh , Scotland , † January 24, 1977 in Halton , Buckinghamshire ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who became Marshal of the Royal Air on August 6, 1976 Force , the highest rank in the RAF. He was 1974-1976 Chief of Air Staff ( Chief of the Air Staff ), and most recently from 1976 until his death in 1977 Chief of Defense Staff of the Armed Forces ( Chief of the Defense Staff ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Humphrey began his military training as a flight cadet on January 12, 1939 at Royal Air Force College Cranwell and, after completing his training at the beginning of the Second World War , was accepted into the RAF as a permanent commission on April 30, 1940 and on May 1 Promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ) in 1940 . Immediately afterwards, on May 4, 1940, he became a staff pilot at No. 9 Bombing and Gunnery School RAF and then moved to No. 7 RAF Operational Training Unit at the RAF Hawarden military airfield . He took with this unit as well as from 16 September 1940 as the pilot of a fighter plane type Supermarine Spitfire of No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF took part in the Battle of Britain .

After his promotion to Lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on May 1, 1941 Humphrey was also appointed on July 19, 1941 Pilot with Supermarine Spitfires, the Royal Australian Air Force belonging No. 452 Squadron RAAF at RAF Kenley Air Force Base. For his services he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on May 30, 1941 . As early as August 17, 1941, he switched to No. 58 Operational Training Unit RAF at the RAF Grangemouth military airfield and then served from March 3 to July 18, 1942 as the aviation commander of the Hawker Hurricane equipped with fighter aircraft of the type No. 175 Squadron RAF , before becoming a flight instructor for No. 58 OTU RAF returned. After attending a special course for low-level attacks at the Specialized Low Attack Instructor's School on the RAF Milfield Air Force Base on January 3, 1943, he became a low-level flight instructor with the Air Force in the Middle East ( RAF Middle East Command ) on April 12, 1943 . During this service he was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on June 1, 1943 .

After his return to Great Britain, on July 19, 1943, he became the aviation commander of No. 1 , based at RAF Lossiemouth . 6 Squadron RAF and then on January 10, 1944 flight instructor at No. 5 Middle East Training School RAF at the RAF Shallufa Air Force Base in Egypt , before he became an officer on the staff of the RAF Nicosia Air Force Base in Cyprus on June 20, 1944 . In his last employment during the Second World War he was from November 20, 1944 to August 4, 1945 in the staff of the RAF Ranchi military airport in India . On January 1, 1945, he was awarded his first clasp ( bar ) for the Air Force Cross.

Staff officer in the post-war period

Andrew Humphrey (center) with his two navigators, later Air Vice Marshal Douglas Bower (left) and R. Powell (right) on a flight from London to Cape Town (1953)

After the end of the war, Humphrey became an officer in the headquarters of the Air Forces in Southeast Asia ( RAF South Eastern Area ) on August 4, 1945 and was promoted to captain ( flight lieutenant ) on May 21, 1946 , which retroactively dated September 7, 1943 has been. He then moved on 21 August 1946 as an officer in the staff of the command of the Coast Air Force ( RAF Coastal Command belonging) No. 106 Group RAF and was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on August 1, 1947 . He then took over on September 1, 1948, the role of aviation commander of No. 82 Squadron RAF and worked as a flight instructor at the RAF Flying College after May 28, 1951 . During this time he took part in aerial reconnaissance flights over Africa , which were used to survey regions. During this time he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire on January 1, 1951 .

Shortly thereafter, on July 1, 1951, Humphreys was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ). As such, he was on 16 February 1953 Chief Flight Instructor at the RAF Flying College and introduced in 1953 with his two navigators, later Air Vice Marshal Douglas Bower and R. Powell, on a flight with a fighter aircraft of type English Electric Canberra from London to Cape Town set a speed record. On October 14, 1954, he made British aviation history when he again flew the RAF's first jet aircraft to the North Pole in an English Electric Canberra . He began staff training on January 10, 1955 at the Royal Air Force Staff College Bracknell , the RAF leadership training center. On June 9, 1955, he received a second clasp for his Air Force Cross. He then took from February 1, 1956, using as a staff officer in the department of operational requirement ( Directorate of Operational Requirements ) of the Air Ministry ( Air Ministry ) and became deputy on January 18, 1957 head of this department. In this role he was instrumental in the introduction of the English Electric Lightning interceptor . He was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1957 .

On February 10, 1959, Humphrey took over the role of Commanding Officer of the RAF Akrotiri air base in Cyprus and was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on June 13, 1959 . He was then from January 8, 1962 a graduate of the Imperial Defense College in London . After his promotion to the Air Commodore on July 1, 1962, he was on November 26, 1962 head of the department for joint planning in the Ministry of Aviation, before he was head of the department of aviation planning in the newly created Ministry of Defense on April 1, 1964 . During this time, after December 1, 1964, he also completed aviation secondary schools and was deployed for special tasks.

Promotion to Marshal of the Royal Air Force

Humphrey, who on January 1, 1965. Major General ( Air Vice Marshal was promoted), took over on 15 December 1965 by Air Vice Marshal Johnnie Johnson the post of Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of the Air Force in the Middle East ( Air Forces Middle East ) in Aden and remained in this function until March 18, 1968. For his services in the South Yemeni conflicts in the Protectorate of South Arabia , he was mentioned in the war report on January 23, 1968 ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

On his return to Britain, he was on 18 March 1968 by Air Vice Marshal David Lee as Air Member for Personnel . Until his replacement by Air Marshal Lewis Hodges on January 5, 1971, he was Head of Staff Department in the Air Force Staff and at the same time one of the representatives of the RAF in the Air Force Board of the British Defense Council ( Defense Council of the United Kingdom ). On June 8, 1968 he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". Six months later he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on January 1, 1969 .

After Humphrey on 1 December 1970, the General ( Air Chief Marshal had been promoted), he released on June 5, 1971, Air Chief Marshal Denis Spotswood as Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief ) of the Air Force attack commands ( RAF Strike Command ) from and as such was at the same time commander of the British air defense region. On February 1, 1974, Air Chief Marshal Denis Smallwood succeeded him as the commanding general of RAF Strike Command.

Humphrey himself was on April 1, 1974 again the successor of the now Marshal of the Royal Air Force Denis Spotswood, this time as Chief of the Air Staff . He held this position until his replacement by Air Chief Marshal Neil Cameron on August 7, 1976. As Chief of the Air Staff, he led the graduate entrance system proposed in 1968 by a commission chaired by Air Vice Marshal Derek Hodgkinson at the Air Force Officers School, the RAF College Cranwell. On January 1, 1974, he was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). He also served between 31 March 1974 and 6 August 1976 as aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II. For the Air Force.

On August 6, 1976 he was Marshal of the Royal Air Force, the highest rank of the British Air Force, and then replaced Field Marshall Michael Carver as Chief of the Defense Staff on October 24, 1976 . Almost three months later he died of pneumonia in the military hospital of the RAF Halton Air Force Base. His successor as Chief of the Defense Staff was then Admiral Edward Ashmore .

His marriage to Agnes Stevenson Wright in March 1952 remained childless.

Web links

• Biography on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34854, HMSO, London, May 21, 1940, p. 3033 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35196, HMSO, London, June 20, 1941, p. 3517 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35176, HMSO, London, May 30, 1941, p. 3096 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35841, HMSO, London, December 29, 1942, p. 34 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36866, HMSO, London, December 29, 1944, p. 58 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37571, HMSO, London, May 17, 1946, p. 2396 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 38035, HMSO, London, August 1, 1947, p. 3663 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 39104, HMSO, London, December 29, 1950, p. 9 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 39271, HMSO, London, June 26, 1951, p. 3544 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 40497, HMSO, London, June 3, 1955, p. 3292 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 1955, English).
11. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41111, HMSO, London, June 25, 1957, p. 3859 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
12. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41727, HMSO, London, June 5, 1959, p. 3699 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
13. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 42721, HMSO, London, June 29, 1962, p. 5299 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
14. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 43537, HMSO, London, December 29, 1964, p. 79 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
15. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44508, HMSO, London, January 19, 1968, p. 886 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
16. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44600, HMSO, London, May 31, 1968, p. 6301 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
17. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44760, HMSO, London, January 3, 1969, p. 203 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
18. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45240, HMSO, London, November 27, 1970, p. 13115 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
19. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46162, HMSO, London, December 28, 1973, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 1968, English).

predecessor	Office	successor
Denis Spotswood	Chief of the Air Staff 1974-1976	Neil Cameron
Michael Carver	Chief of the Defense Staff 1976-1977	Edward Ashmore