Dermot Boyle

Dermot Boyle (1956)

Sir Dermot Alexander Boyle , GCB , KCVO , KBE , AFC (born October 2, 1904 in Rathdowney , County Laois , Ireland , † May 5, 1993 in Sway , Hampshire ) was a British Marshal of the Royal Air Force , who among other things between 1953 and 1956, commander in chief of the air Jagdkommandos ( RAF Fighter Command ) , and most recently from 1956 to 1960 chief of the air Staff ( chief of the air Staff ) was.

Life

Military training and time before World War II

After attending St Columba's College, which was founded in Dublin in 1843, Boyle began his officer training at RAF College Cranwell on September 14, 1922 as a flight cadet . After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF on July 31, 1924 as a professional soldier (Permanent Commission) with the rank of Lieutenant (Pilot Officer) and was initially employed as a pilot in No. 17 Squadron RAF . On December 15, 1925, he switched to No. 1 Squadron RAF , in which he was promoted to first lieutenant (Flying Officer) on January 31, 1926 .

With a training aircraft of the type Hawker Tomtit Boyle suffered in 1929 a Flugzeugabsturzden he survived due to the fabric-covered metal structure of the aircraft without major injuries

After a subsequent use from November 1, 1926 to March 12, 1927 as a pilot in No. 6 Squadron RAF , Boyle completed a flight instructor course at the Central Flying School , where he himself then worked as a qualified flight instructor himself between April 26, 1927 and October 5, 1929 . During this time he was part of the school's flight show team, the Genet Moths, alongside the later Air Marshal Richard Atcherley . He suffered a crash with his trainer aircraft of the type Hawker Tomtit , but he survived due to the fabric-covered metal structure of the aircraft without major injuries. Following 1930 deputy adjutant and flight instructor was from 5 October 1929 to 16 January in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force belonging No. 601 (County of London) and received there on November 13, 1929 his promotion to captain (Flight Lieutenant) .

After Boyle was then flight instructor at RAF College Cranwell, he returned on January 5, 1931 to No. 601 (County of London) AuxAF and was adjutant and flight instructor there until April 7, 1933. He then served as staff officer at the Air Force Headquarters in British India (RAF India) between April 7, 1933 and January 21, 1936, and in 1935 flew in a De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth passenger plane Elizabeth , Duchess of York , on their first flight over the property of Philip Sassoon . He was then from January 21, 1936 to January 2, 1937 graduate of the RAF Staff College, Andover and was promoted there on October 1, 1936 to Major (Squadron Leader) . He then took between 2 January and 19 July 1937 his first command, as a commander ( Commanding Officer ) of No. 83 Squadron RAF , and was then Chief Flight Instructor at RAF College Cranwell from July 19, 1937 to November 21, 1939. During his use there he was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on June 8, 1939 .

Second World War

After the beginning of the Second World War , Boyle became a staff officer on November 21, 1939 in the No. 1 Group RAF formed RAF Advanced Air Striking Force , which flew air missions from France against the German Reich . Shortly after the Battle of Britain began on June 28, 1940, he became a staff officer for operations at the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) , before he was later commander of No. 21 November 1940 to February 17, 1941 . 83 Squadron RAF was. During this time he was first mentioned in the war report on January 1, 1941 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) . He held the post of Assistant Secretary of the Defense Committee from February 17, 1941 to January 17, 1942 and was mentioned again in the war report on September 24, 1941.

Thereafter, Boyle acted between January 17, 1942 and May 17, 1943 as the commander of the RAF Stradishall air base and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (Wing Commander) on April 14, 1942 , which was dated back to January 1, 1940. He was then from May 17 to August 26, 1943 Chief of Staff SASO (Senior Air Staff Officer) of No. 83 Group RAF and was mentioned in this usage for the third time in the war report on June 2, 1943. Most recently he was aide-de-camp of King George VI from August 26, 1943 until shortly before the end of the war on April 26, 1945 . for the Air Force. As such, he was promoted to Colonel (Group Captain) on December 1, 1944 , and on January 1, 1945, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Most recently, during the World War from April 26 to July 20, 1945, he held the post of Commander AOC (Air Officer Commanding) of No. 85 (Base) Group .

Uses in the Department of Aviation and RAF Fighter Command

After the end of the war, Doyle was commander of No. 11 Group RAF and during this time also became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He then graduated from the Imperial Defense College from April 2, 1946 to January 2, 1947 and then took over the post of commander of the RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park , which he held until July 26, 1948. During this time he was promoted to Brigadier General (Air Commodore) on July 1, 1947 and was awarded the Belgian War Cross with Palms on July 11, 1947 as Commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium .

Doyle served between 26 July 1948 to 2 August 1949 as Director General of the Human Resources Department at the Air Ministry ( Air Ministry ) and has been in this position on July 1, 1949 to Major General (Air Vice Marshal) transported. He was then from August 2, 1949 to April 5, 1951 Director General of the Department of Human Resources in the Ministry of Aviation and then until April 7, 1953, Commander of No. 1 (Bomber) Group RAF . As such, he put on a flight between London and Valletta with a fighter aircraft of type English Electric Canberra on a new speed record on this track. He also flew one of four English Electric Canberra in 1952 on a seven-week scenic flight that covered 24,000 miles and 14 countries in South America .

Boyle, who was knighted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on January 1, 1953 and thus had the suffix "Sir", took over on April 7, 1953 as the successor to Air Marshal Basil Embry, the post of Supreme Commander of the Air Fighting Command ( RAF Fighter Command ) . As such, he was beaten on July 16, 1953 to Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) and on January 1, 1954 also promoted to Lieutenant General (Air Marshal) . He remained in use as commander in chief of Fighter Command until January 1, 1956, when Air Vice Marshal Hubert Patch took his place.

Chief of the Air Staff and Marshal of the Royal Air Force

After his promotion to General (Air Chief Marshal) Boyle was on January 1, 1956 successor to Marshal of the Royal Air Force William Dickson as Chief of the Air Staff ( Chief of the Air Staff ) . In this service he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on January 1, 1957 and promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on January 1, 1958 , the highest rank in the Royal Air Force. As chief of the Air Force Staff, he went on an inspection trip to the RAF air force bases in the Middle and Far East , during which he covered a further 20,000 miles as a pilot of an English Electric Canberras . He held the post of Chief of the Air Staff until his resignation on January 1, 1960, whereupon he was replaced by Air Chief Marshal Thomas Pike . He finally retired on February 1, 1960, a month later.

After retiring from the military, Boyle worked in business and between 1962 and 1971 was Vice Chairman of the Board of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). He also served from 1965 to 1966 as a master (Master) of the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators ( Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators ) and from 1965 to 1974 as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Air Force Museum . He was also active from 1971 to 1980 as vice chairman of the Air Force Charity Fund (RAF Benevolent Fund) .

Web links

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

predecessor	Office	successor
Sir William Dickson	Chief of the Air Staff 1956-1960	Sir Thomas Pike