David William Lane

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David William Lane CBE ( 7 May 1907 - 2 June 1978 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was last in the rank of Air Commodore between 1954 and 1958 in command of the RAF Staff College, Andover .

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Lane began after school attendance in 1923 training as an aircraft mechanic at the Technical Training School 1 ( No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF ) on the military airfield RAF Halton. After graduating, he began his aviation training in 1927 as a flight cadet in the B-Squadron of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force, and was part of the college football team . After completing his aeronautical training, he was promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ) on July 27, 1929 and was initially employed as a pilot with No. 13 Squadron RAF at the RAF Kenley Air Force Base and then on January 31, 1930 as a pilot at No. 20 (R) Squadron . During this time he was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on January 27, 1931 and completed an engineering course for officers at the domestic aircraft depot ( Home Aircraft Depot ) between August 9, 1933 and August 6, 1935 . He received there on January 27, 1935 his promotion to captain ( flight lieutenant ).

He then became an engineer officer on August 6, 1935 at No. 1 Flying Training School RAF at the military airport RAF Leuchars and then switched to the staff of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell on January 24, 1938, where he was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on June 1, 1938 . He was then from December 31, 1938 to January 9, 1941 maintenance officer in the staff of the newly established Air Force Maintenance Command ( RAF Maintenance Command ) and then initially an employee and then deputy head of the organization department of the RAF Maintenance Command. In 1942 he took over his first command post, namely as Commanding Officer of the RAF Edgehill Air Force Base, before he assumed the function of Commander of the RAF Stradishall Air Force Base in July 1943. Most recently, on January 26, 1944, he became a staff officer for administrative tasks AOA ( Air Officer in charge of Administration ) of No. 2 Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ) . 85 Group RAF and stayed there until the end of World War II , where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on December 1, 1944 .

Post-war period and promotion to Air Commodore

After the end of the war, Lane became assistant staff officer for administrative tasks at the headquarters of the British Air Forces of Occupation, which had emerged from the 2TAF, and was mentioned in the war report on April 14, 1945 due to his military merits ( Mentioned in dispatches ). He was also Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on January 1, 1946 and was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on October 1, 1946 . He then moved to the Air Force Staff in 1946 as deputy head of the aviation policy department and was promoted to Air Commodore on January 1, 1952 .

Two days later, Lane became Head of Aviation Policy on January 3, 1952, and last took over on May 1, 1954 from Air Commodore George Philip Chamberlain as Commandant of RAF Staff College, Andover . In this post he stayed for almost four years until his replacement by Air Commodore Eric Nelson on April 21, 1958. On May 24, 1958, he retired from active military service and was still between 1958 and 1969 employees of the training department of the chemical company Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33529, HMSO, London, August 27, 1929, p. 5569 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34132, HMSO, London, February 12, 1935, p. 1023 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34515, HMSO, London, May 31, 1938, p. 3503 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 37407, HMSO, London, January 1, 1946, p. 33 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Lane, David William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1907
DATE OF DEATH June 2nd 1978