Donald Randell Evans

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Donald Randell Evans KBE CB DFC (born January 31, 1912 - † April 9, 1975 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) between 1968 and 1970 in command of the Imperial Defense College ( IDC) was in London . He was mentioned twice in the war report for his bravery and services in World War II ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Evans was the son of Colonel Percy Evans, who was Vice Director of Medical Services ( Assistant Director Medical Services ) of the Expeditionary Force BFP ( British Expeditionary Force ) during World War I from 1915 to 1917 . After completing his schooling at Wellington College, founded in 1859, he began his aviation training as a flight cadet in the B-Squadron Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force. On completion of his training on July 23, 1932, he was awarded the Humanities Prize , accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) and promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ).

On February 28, 1933 Evans became a pilot in No. 45 Squadron RAF and received there on January 23, 1934 his promotion to first lieutenant ( flying officer ). He then attended from April 27, 1936 the Electrical and Wireless School and was promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on October 1, 1936 during this time . In the period from March 30 to March 31, 1937, his salary was halved ( Half-pay List / Scale B ). He then became a telecommunications officer on June 30, 1937 at the RAF North Weald military airfield and then on January 24, 1939, telecommunications officer at the headquarters of the RAF Fighter Command , where he was promoted to major ( Squadron Leader ) on April 1, 1939 .

During the Second World War , Evans took over his first command post in 1941, as commander of an FIU ( Fighter Interception Unit ) and was mentioned for the first time in the war report on March 17, 1941 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) for his services there . In 1942 he moved to the headquarters of the RAF Fighter Command as a group leader for night fighter operations . 11 (Fighter) Group RAF . Due to his military merits in this use, he was mentioned on June 11, 1942 for the second time in the war report and on July 14, 1942 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

In 1943 Evans moved to the special telecommunications planning group of the headquarters of the Allied Air Force Command in the Mediterranean area MAC ( Mediterranean Air Command ) and then in 1943 as an officer in the communications planning staff of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF ), where he was active until the end of the war. On January 1, 1944, he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

Post-war staff officer and promotion to Air Chief Marshal

After the end of the Second World War, Evans graduated from RAF Staff College Bracknell and then took over the post in 1946 as commander of the telecommunications flying unit TFU ( Telecommunications Flying Unit ) at the RAF Defford air base. During this time he was awarded the US Bronze Star Medal (BSM) on March 15, 1946 and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on October 1, 1946 .

After his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1949 Evans was head of the planning group at Fighter Command Headquarters and later changed officer in the command staff of the Joint Service Staff College . On September 10, 1952, he took over the function of head of the department for operational requirements in the Air Force Staff and was promoted to Air Commodore on January 1, 1956 . In the meantime, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) on January 1, 1955 .

After attending the Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London in 1956, he took over the position of Chief of Staff of the RAF Fighter Command on January 10, 1957 as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO). There he was promoted to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ) on January 10, 1957 . In 1959 he took over the post of Air Vice Marshal George Lott as commander of the School of Land / Air Warfare in Old Sarum and remained there until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal Cecil Weir on May 15, 1961. He himself was then Assistant Chief of the Defense Staff and was as such from April 1963 chairman of a working group of the chiefs of staff to reorganize the defense. As a result, the working group proposed the establishment and organization of a single Ministry of Defense before that the former Admiralty ( Admiralty ) for the Royal Navy , the Ministry of War ( War Office ) for the British Army and the Air Ministry ( Air Ministry ) for the Royal Air Force under the Management of a single minister summarized. For his many years of service, he was beaten on January 1, 1964 to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) and since then has had the suffix "Sir".

After Evans had been promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on January 1, 1964 , he took over from Air Marshal Alfred Earle on January 15, 1964 as Commanding General AOC-in-C ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) of the Technical Training Command ( RAF Technical Training Command ). On May 18, 1966, Air Vice Marshal William Coles succeeded him as Commanding General of the Technical Training Command.

Subsequently, Coles himself succeeded Air Chief Marshal William MacDonald as Air Secretary on July 14, 1966, and was thus responsible for career planning, promotions and appointments of officers of the RAF in the Aviation Ministry. In this role he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal on March 1, 1967. On December 7, 1967, he was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal Brian Burnett as aviation secretary.

Most recently, Coles took over from General John Anderson on January 8, 1968, as commandant of Imperial Defense College in London. At the beginning of January 1970 he was followed by Alastair Francis Buchan , during whose tenure this training, further and advanced training facility of the British armed forces was restructured and renamed the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS). On February 28, 1970 he retired from active military service.

After his retirement, Coles became involved in business and was an aviation consultant to electrical company Ferranti Limited between 1971 and his death in 1975 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33858, HMSO, London, August 26, 1932, p. 5500 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34030, HMSO, London, March 6, 1934, p. 1533 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34461, HMSO, London, December 7, 1937, p. 7661 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34613, HMSO, London, April 4, 1939, p. 2263 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 35630, HMSO, London, July 14, 1942, p. 3091 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36309, HMSO, London, January 1, 1944, p. 17 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37501, HMSO, London, March 15, 1946, p. 1380 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 43200, HMSO, London, January 1, 1964, p. 8 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Evans, Donald Randell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1912
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1975