FH Maynard

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Forster Herbert Martin "Sammy" Maynard CB AFC (born May 1, 1893 in Waiuku , New Zealand ; † January 26, 1976 ) was a British flying ace and Air Vice Marshal of the Royal Air Force .

Life

Maynard was born to a Church of England clergyman in New Zealand and returned to England with his family as an infant. He studied at University College London and joined the Royal Naval Division as an engineer at the beginning of the First World War . He then worked as an instructor with the Royal Naval Air Service until 1916 . In 1917, he was then as a pilot of a Sopwith triplane of No. 1 Squadron deployed on the Western Front. On April 29, 1917, he shot down his first enemy plane; by the end of the war he was supposed to destroy 6 machines. He received the Air Force Cross for his services .

After the war, he attended the Royal College of Defense Studies and eventually became chief of the Royal Air Force Headquarters in Iraq as a staff officer .

During World War II he became the commander of the British Air Force on Malta . After the siege of Malta began in 1940, only four Gloster Gladiator aircraft were available for defense. Nevertheless, an invasion of the island by the Wehrmacht was averted. He later served with the RAF Coastal Command and No. 19 Group . He left the Royal Air Force in 1945 with the rank of Air Vice Marshal ( Major General ).

His son Nigel Maynard later became the RAF's Air Chief Marshal. Maynard died in 1976.

Awards

literature

  • Christopher F. Shores: Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920 . 1999.
  • Tony Spooner: Faith, Hope and Malta GC. Ground and Air Heroes of the George Cross Island . 2008.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ FH Maynard at The Aerodrome
  2. ^ Entry on Air of Authority