Denis Smallwood

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Sir Denis Graham Smallwood GBE KCB DSO DFC FRSA FRAeS (born August 13, 1918 in Birmingham - † July 26, 1997 in Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , most recently in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) from 1974 to 1976 commanding general of the attack command ( RAF Strike Command ) and at the same time between 1975 and 1976 Supreme Commander of the Air Forces ( UK Air Forces ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Picture of Smallwood in his fighter aircraft of the type Hawker Hurricane during the Second World War

After attending the King Edward VI School in Birmingham, Smallwood joined the RAF on March 26, 1938 as a Short Service Commission and began his aviation training at No. 10 Flying Training School RAF . After graduation he attended a course for flight instructors at the Central Flying School at the RAF Upavon military airfield from October 23, 1938 and was then himself as a flight training assistant and, most recently, as a qualified flying instructor at the zur Royal from December 23, 1938 Auxiliary Air Force belonging to No. 605 Squadron (County of Warwick) RAF . The focus was on training bomber pilots to become fighter pilots. Early in his tenure there was Season with biplane - bombers of the type Hawker Hind equipped before shortly afterwards with biplane fighter aircraft of the type Gloster Gladiator , and soon after with fighter aircraft of the type Hawker Hurricane was equipped.

During this time, Smallwood was born on January 17, 1939, first to Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ) and on July 17, 1940. Lieutenant ( Flying Officer transported) and changed in 1940 as a pilot of Hawker Hurricane -Jagdflugzeugen as well as a flight commander for No. 247 Squadron RAF . On July 17, 1941 he was promoted to captain ( flight lieutenant ) there. In November 1941, when only 23-year-old Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the equipped also with Hawker Hurricanes No. 87 Squadron RAF . For his services there he was mentioned in the war report on June 11, 1942 ( Mentioned in dispatches ). On August 19, 1942, he and his unit took part in Operation Jubilee near Dieppe, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on September 22, 1942 . On April 29, 1943 he was temporarily used as commander of a group of Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes in Cornwall and remained in this position until shortly before the end of the Second World War . For his services there he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on September 1, 1944 .

Staff officer in the post-war period

From March 24, 1945 Smallwood was one of the participants in the 14th staff course at the RAF Staff College (Overseas) in Haifa and stayed after the course on August 9, 1945 as a member of the management staff of this college there. After returning to Great Britain, he was promoted to Vice-Secretary of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff in October 1946 and promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on December 10, 1946 , this promotion being retrospectively dated September 1, 1945. In July 1948 he became the commanding officer of No. 1 , stationed in Germany and equipped with Hawker Tempest . 33 Squadron RAF , but handed over the command two months later in September 1948. After another assignment he became an officer in the management staff of the Joint Staff Services College in Latimer in 1950 and during this time became a member of the Order of the British Empire on June 17, 1951 (MBE). He was also promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on July 1, 1951 .

In February 1953 Smallwood became Commanding Officer of the RAF Biggin Hill Air Force Base and led a larger flight formation on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation procession on June 2, 1953. During the visit to Imperial Defense College he was first planning officer of the air forces in July 1956 during the preparations for Operation Musketeer in the Suez Crisis and on December 19, 1956, deputy director of the Department of Air Defense Operations in the Air Force Staff. In this application he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1957 .

Smallwood was Queen Elizabeth II's aide-de-camp between June 9, 1959 and January 14, 1964, and on November 30, 1959, he was commander of RAF North Coates , a long-range , radar -guided, surface-to-air guided missile developed in 1958 type Bristol Bloodhound equipped air Force base. After the end of its use there acted between February 21, 1961 and February 4, 1963 as commander of the School of Air Warfare ( College of Air Warfare ) and was promoted to Air Commodore on July 1, 1961 . Shortly before, on June 10, 1961, he was also Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

On September 4, 1963, Smallwood became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations ) and received his promotion to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on January 1, 1964 . Subsequently, on November 26, 1965, he took over from Air Vice Marshal Denis Spotswood as Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of No. 3 Group RAF at the RAF Mildenhall Air Force Base . He stayed at this post until the dissolution of this association on November 3, 1967 and then moved to the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) as SASO ( Senior Air Staff Officer ). In the meantime, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on January 1, 1966 .

Smallwood, who on 1 January 1969, Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal was promoted), was on May 6, 1969 as the successor to Air Marshal Edward Gordon Jones new commander of the British forces in the Middle East ( Commander-in-Chief Near East Air Force ) and Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief ) of the Air Force in the Middle East ( RAF Near East Air Force ). On June 14, 1969 he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". At the same time he was also the administrator of the Royal Air Bases Akrotiri and Dekelia in Cyprus and Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces Cyprus . In this post he was replaced on July 2, 1970 by Air Marshal Derek Hodgkinson .

Smallwood himself then took over on August 1, 1970 from Air Marshal Peter Fletcher the post as Deputy Chief of the Air Force Staff ( Vice Chief of the Air Staff ). He was until February 1, 1974 deputy of the then Chiefs of the Air Staff , Air Chief Marshal John Grandy and from April 1, 1971 Air Chief Marshal Denis Spotswood.

In this employment Smallwood was finally promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ) on July 30, 1973 and was replaced on February 1, 1974 as Vice Chief of the Air Staff by Air Marshal Ruthven Wade . He was then on February 1, 1974 successor to Air Chief Marshal Andrew Humphrey Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief ) of the Air Force Strike Command ( RAF Strike Command ). On June 10, 1975 he was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). At the same time he took over the function of Commander in Chief of the UK Air Forces in 1975 . He remained in these functions until he was replaced by Air Chief Marshal Nigel Maynard on May 21, 1976 and officially retired on June 30, 1976.

Smallwood, who was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS), then worked as a military advisor to the aviation and armaments company British Aerospace between 1976 and 1983 . In addition, he was involved in the airline Air League , of which he was chairman from 1978 to 1981 and president between 1981 and 1984, before he became vice-president of the Air League for life in 1984.

His marriage to Frances Jeanne Needham in 1940 resulted in a son and daughter.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44863, HMSO, London, June 14, 1969, p. 5963 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45143, HMSO, London, July 7, 1970, p. 7479 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46593, HMSO, London, June 14, 1975, p. 7375 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 46972, HMSO, London, July 27, 1976, p. 10273 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Smallwood, Denis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Smallwood, Sir Denis Graham (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH August 13, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Birmingham
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1997
Place of death Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire