Edmund Hudleston

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Sir Edmund Cuthbert Hudleston GCB CBE (born December 30, 1908 in Kalgoorlie , Western Australia , † December 14, 1994 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was last in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) between 1964 and 1967 as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces of NATO in Central Europe was AFCENT ( Allied Forces Central Europe ).

Life

Pilot training and officer in British India

Hudleston completed his education at the Guilford School in Western Australia and began his aviation training as a Flight Cadet of the B-Squadron at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the RAF after his arrival in Great Britain on January 20, 1927 . During his training he was a member of the college teams in cricket and squash . After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF on December 15, 1928 as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) and promoted to Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ). At the same time he found his first use as a pilot in the No. 25 Squadron RAF and then completed the 31st course at the Central Flying School (CFS ) from February 1930 . He then returned to the RAF College Cranwell on April 26, 1930 as a QFI ( Qualified Flying Instructor ) flight instructor and was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) there on June 15, 1930 .

After Hudleston had completed a course at No. 1 Air Armament School RAF from February 29, 1932 to March 3, 1933, he was transferred to No. 1 on March 3, 1933 for practical armament tasks. 1 Armament Practice Camp RAF moved to the RAF Catfoss military airfield . Subsequently, on November 24, 1933, he became an armaments officer of No. 1 (Indian Wing) RAF station in Kohat in British India and was promoted to Captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on February 1, 1934 . Thereupon he was on November 20, 1935 armaments officer of No. 2 (Indian Wing) RAF station in Risalpur in British India and on October 26, 1936 an armaments officer at the headquarters of No. 1 (Indian) Group RAF . During this time he was mentioned in the war report on May 8, 1936 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) and promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on December 1, 1937 .

Uses in World War II

After attending RAF Staff College, Andover from January 24, 1938, Hudleston was seconded to the Air Force Staff College of the Air Forces of Turkey in January 1939 as an instructor . Later he was mentioned during the Second World War on May 21, 1941 staff officer at the headquarters of the armed forces in the Middle East ( Middle East Command ) and because of his services there on January 1, 1943 again in the war report. In May 1943 he became a member of the Joint US-British Planning Staff for Operation Husky , the Allied invasion of Sicily and on June 2, 1943 Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

After the end of Operation Husky , Hudleston took over as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) on September 26, 1943, the post of Chief of Staff of the North African Tactical Air Force NATAF ( North African Tactical Air Force ) and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 1, 1943 ( Wing Commander ) promoted. On June 8, 1944, he was mentioned again in the war report and on September 26, 1944 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Legion of Merit . Most recently, on November 10, 1944, he was appointed Commander AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) of No. 84 (Composite) Group RAF as well as on January 1, 1945 its elevation to the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

Staff officer in the post-war period

After the war ended, Hudleston was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1946 , and was mentioned for the fourth time in the war report. He attended from April 2, 1946 a course at the Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London and was during this time on October 15, 1946 commander of the Legion of Merit. In addition, on July 11, 1947, he became commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown and the Belgian Croix de guerre . In addition, on November 18, 1947, he was appointed Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau .

On May 5, 1948 Hudleston became head of the British military delegation in the staff committee of the Western European Union (WEU) and received as such on July 1, 1948 his promotion to Air Commodore . In the following years he became Chief of Staff of No. 1 Group RAF .

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

On April 1, 1951, Hudleston took over as deputy chief of staff for planning and policy at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe SHAP ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ). On January 1, 1952, he was promoted to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ) and then took over on September 1, 1953 from Air Vice Marshal William Brook as commander of No. 3 Group RAF . On September 2, 1956, Air Commodore Kenneth Cross followed him as Air Officer Commanding this Air Force Group. On February 24, 1956, he became an air force lecturer at Imperial Defense College, before becoming Chief of Staff for the Air Force at the Commander-in-Chief for Operation Musketeer , the military operation in the Suez War, in the wake of the beginning Suez Crisis . For his services there he was mentioned again in the war report on June 13, 1957.

Hudleston became Vice Chief of the Air Staff on September 16, 1957 and thus successor to Air Marshal Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman . He held this post until his replacement by Air Marshal Wallace Kyle on March 2, 1962. During this multi-year service he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on January 1, 1958 and at the same time knighted commander of the Order of the Bath, so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". On April 15, 1958, he was awarded the French Croix de guerre with palm trees and, at the same time, the Officer's Cross of the French Legion of Honor . On March 1, 1961, he was also promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ).

On April 30, 1962, Hudleston succeeded Air Marshal Denis Barnett as Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) of the RAF Transport Command . On January 1, 1963, he was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. On December 1, 1963, Air Marshal Kenneth Brian Boyd Cross followed him as commanding general of the transport command. In addition, he acted between September 18, 1962 and March 1, 1967 as aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II for the Air Force.

Most recently, Hudleston succeeded Air Chief Marshal Percy Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon as commander of the Allied Air Forces in Central Europe AIRCENT ( Allied Air Forces Central Europe ) on December 1, 1963 . His deputy and chief of staff was Lieutenant General Johannes Steinhoff between 1965 and 1966 . Between 1965 and March 1, 1967, he was also Deputy Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces of NATO in Central Europe AFCENT ( Allied Forces Central Europe ). His successor as Deputy Commander in Chief of AFCENT was Air Chief Marshal Augustus Walker . On June 5, 1967, he retired from active military service.

In 1971 Hudleston became director of the optical division of the Pilkington Group Limited glass company and worked there until 1979. He was married twice. His first marriage to Nancye Davis in 1936 resulted in a daughter and a son. After the death of his first wife in 1980, he married Brenda Withrington in 1981. This marriage remained childless.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33458, HMSO, London, January 18, 1929, p. 466 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33618, HMSO, London, June 24, 1930, p. 3961 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34020, HMSO, London, February 2, 1934, p. 758 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34461, HMSO, London, December 7, 1937, p. 7661 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36033, HMSO, London, June 2, 1943, p. 2430 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37758, HMSO, London, October 15, 1946, p. 5079 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 38013, HMSO, London, July 11, 1947, p. 3207 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 38125, HMSO, London, November 18, 1947, p. 5423 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  9. ↑ Vice Chief of the Air Staff on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41268, HMSO, London, January 1, 1958, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  11. ^ RAF Transport Command on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  12. ↑ On March 1, 1967, the function as commander of AIRCENT was combined with the post of deputy supreme commander of AFCENT.
personal data
SURNAME Hudleston, Edmund
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hudleston, Sir Edmund Cuthbert (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Kalgoorlie , Western Australia
DATE OF DEATH December 14, 1994