Christopher Foxley-Norris

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Sir Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris GCB DSO OBE CCMI FRSA (born March 16, 1917 in Birkenhead , Cheshire , † September 28, 2003 in Northend Common , Oxfordshire ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served from 1971 to 1974 in the range of a General ( Air Chief Marshal ) was Head of Human Resources and Logistics for the Defense Staff at the Ministry of Defense .

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Foxley-Norris was a grandson of the Anglican clergyman William Foxley Norris , who was Dean of York Minster from 1917 to 1925 and Dean of Westminster from 1925 to 1937 . He began by visiting the Winchester College to study law at Trinity College of the University of Oxford . During his studies he joined the flight squadron of the university ( Oxford University Air Squadron ) and was accepted on December 22, 1936 as a lieutenant ( pilot officer ) in the RAFO ( Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ). He completed his aviation training at No. 9 (Advanced) Flying Training School RAF and was promoted to Oberleutnant ( Flying Officer ) on November 3, 1939 after the beginning of the Second World War .

After further training at No. 1 School of Army Co-operation RAF Foxley-Norris was promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on March 17, 1941 and was used in No. 1 from May 1940 . 13 Squadron RAF at the RAF Waddington military airfield , from where he participated in operations in France as a pilot of a Westland Lysander liaison aircraft . After the fall of France and the beginning of the Battle of Britain , he was first pilot of the No. 3 Squadron RAF on the Air Force Base RAF Coningsby where he a fighter type Hawker Hurricane flew. However, on November 19, 1940, he already switched to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAAF) No. 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron and took part in air missions in the south of England. In February 1941 he was shot down and briefly arrested as an alleged pilot in the German Air Force .

In the following years Foxley-Norris himself worked as a qualified flying instructor at the Central Flying School and in Canada . During this time, he was briefly arrested after giving operational details in a letter to a colleague. After each short-term uses in 1943 as a pilot of the Atlantic Ferry Unit he flew as a flight training commander with combat aircraft of the type Bristol Beaufighter equipped No. 143 Squadron RAF and as a flight training commander also with Bristol Beaufighter equipped No. 252 Squadron RAF attacks on ships in the Middle East . He was then from September 23, 1944 to December 26, 1944 Commanding Officer of the RAAF No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron . His last return was in February 1945 as a commander for No. 143 Squadron RAF back, which now with fighter-bombers of the type de Havilland Mosquito DH.98 equipped, and remained there until the end of World War II.

Staff officer in the post-war period

After the war ended, on May 25, 1945, Foxley-Norris became the commander of No. 14 Squadron RAF and then moved to the headquarters of No. 2 Group RAF at RAF High Wycombe base. For his military services he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on May 29, 1945 . In addition, it was mentioned in the war report on June 14, 1945 ( Mentioned in dispatches ). On March 26, 1946, he was also promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ), the promotion was dated back to September 1, 1945. After attending RAF Staff College Bracknell in 1947, he became command of the University of Oxford's flight squadron in 1948.

After he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on July 1, 1951 , he returned as a member of the command staff at RAF Staff College Bracknell and then became a staff officer for air planning at the headquarters of the Air Force in the Far East ( RAF Far East Air Force ). Because of his services there, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on January 2, 1956 . After his return to Great Britain Foxley-Norris was on December 3, 1956 head of the planning group in the headquarters of the attack command ( RAF Fighter Command ) and received in this use on July 1, 1957 his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ). He then became the commander of the RAF Stradishall air base in November 1958 and then on August 4, 1959, the commanding officer of the RAF West Malling base.

During this time he completed a warfare course at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich in 1960 and was also a graduate of Imperial Defense College in 1961 . After his promotion to the Air Commodore on July 1, 1961, he became head of the Organization and Administrative Planning Department in the Air Force Staff on February 1, 1962.

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

Christopher Foxley-Norris-Memorial Wall at the Battle of Britain Memorial

On April 1, 1963 Foxley-Norris was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) and took over the role of Assistant Chief of the Defense Staff (General) until November 30, 1964 . He was then on November 30, 1964 as the successor to Air Vice Marshal Frank Headlam Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of No. 224 Group RAF and remained on this post until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal Brian Eaton on April 14, 1967. He then became Director-General Organization of the RAF in the reorganized Ministry of Defense and remained there until his replacement Air Commodore Frank Bird on April 11, 1968. During this time, on June 11, 1966, he was also appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

After his promotion to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on 1 July 1968 Foxley-Norris was born on 16 July 1968 successor to Air Marshal Denis Spotswood Supreme Commander ( Commander in Chief ) of the British Air Force in Germany ( RAF Germany ) and has held this position until his replacement by Air Marshal Harold Brownlow Martin on January 9, 1971. At the same time he was commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ). On January 1, 1969, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir".

During this time he was promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ) on December 1, 1970 . With this rank Foxley-Norris was then on January 9, 1971 successor to General Charles Harington as head of the personnel and logistics department of the Defense Staff in the Department of Defense ( Chief of Personnel and Logistics, Defense Staff ). He remained in this post until his retirement on April 22, 1974 and was then replaced by General Richard Erskine Ward . In the meantime, on January 1, 1973, he was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).

After retiring from active military service, he worked in the private sector and, among other things, was CEO of the insurer General Portfolio Life Assurance and a board member of Brookdale Hutton Associates . In 1974 he became a Fellow and later a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI). In addition, Foxley-Norris, who was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), was active as chairman from 1974 to 1982 and then between 1982 and his death in 2003 as age president of the Leonard Cheshire Disability , a foundation named after the former pilot Leonard Cheshire for people with disabilities. At the same time he was chairman of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association between 1978 and his death and from 1980 to 2003 chairman of the disabled organization Gardening for the Disabled .

To commemorate the Battle of Britain, Michael of Kent unveiled the Christopher Foxley-Norris Wall at the Battle of Britain Memorial in July 2005, listing the names of all those (almost 3000) who took part in the Battle of Britain.

Publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Foxley Norris on the homepage of Westminster Abbey
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34887, HMSO, London, July 2, 1940, p. 4021 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35119, HMSO, London, March 28, 1941, p. 1814 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37099, HMSO, London, May 29, 1945, p. 2713 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37511, HMSO, London, March 26, 1946, p. 1532 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 40669, HMSO, London, January 2, 1956, p. 9 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44565, HMSO, London, April 16, 1968, p. 4391 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44004, HMSO, London, June 11, 1966, p. 6531 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44625, HMSO, London, July 2, 1968, p. 7352 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45228, HMSO, London, November 10, 1970, p. 12330 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  11. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45240, HMSO, London, December 1, 1970, p. 13115 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  12. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45278, HMSO, London, January 12, 1971, p. 386 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  13. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46306, HMSO, London, June 4, 1974, p. 6585 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  14. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45860, HMSO, London, January 1, 1973, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 10, 2016, English).
  15. ↑ Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall on the homepage of the Battle of Britain Memorial
personal data
SURNAME Foxley-Norris, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Foxley-Norris, Christopher Neil (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Birkenhead , Cheshire
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 2003
Place of death Northend Common , Oxfordshire