Frank Bird

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Frank Ronald Bird CB DSO DFC AFC FRAeS (born November 18, 1918 - January 20, 1983 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served as Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) between 1971 and 1973 as Assistant Chief of Staff for automated data processing in the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe was SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

After attending school in August 1935, Bird began training as an aircraft mechanic at the No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF at the RAF Halton military airfield . After graduating, he began his aviation training in 1938 as a flight cadet in the A-Squadron of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force. He was one of the so-called "Trenchard's Brats", a group of young pilots named after the former Chief of the Air Staff , Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard . He completed his training shortly after the beginning of the Second World War and was accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) on December 23, 1939 and promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ). He then completed an instructor course himself at the Central Flying School and, after its completion in 1940, became an instructor at No. 14 Service Flying Training School RAF . There he was promoted to Oberleutnant ( Flying Officer ) on December 23, 1940 .

After Bird 1941-1943 mainly as a test pilot had been employed, it was founded in 1943 as a flight training commander to with fighter-bombers of the type de Havilland Mosquito DH.98 equipped No. 105 Squadron RAF , of which he was commanding officer from July 30, 1944 to March 1945. On June 2, 1944, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and on February 16, 1945 for several combat missions in the Ruhr area of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

Post-war period and promotion to Air Vice Marshal

After the end of the war, Bird attended the Empire Test Pilots School from March 1945 and was then a test pilot at the Airplane and Aircraft Weapons Research Institute A & AEE ( Airplane and Armament Experimental Establishment ) before he moved to RAF College Cranwell as an officer in 1946. There he was promoted to captain ( flight lieutenant ) on May 21, 1946 , with this promotion being dated back to June 23, 1943, and to major ( squadron leader ) on October 1, 1946 . He then became a member of the Committee for the Recruitment of Professional Soldiers ( Permanent Commissioning Board ) in 1948 and graduated from RAF Staff College Bracknell in 1950 .

Bird was then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on July 1, 1951 staff officer for standardization at the British military mission in the United States and after his return in 1954 commander of the aircraft test squadron of the Airplane and Armament Experimental Establishment. During this time he led test flights to test the single- engine Hawker Hunter fighter , the twin- engine Gloster Javelin , the Supermarine Swift intercept and reconnaissance aircraft and the BAC Jet Provost training aircraft . On April 15, 1957, he moved as a planning officer to the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) and was later in 1957 commander of the military airfield RAF Gaydon, where he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1958 . At the same time he was honored on January 1, 1958 with the Air Force Cross (AFC). He then became Deputy Head of Operations for Bomber and Reconnaissance Units in the Air Force Staff on February 29, 1960 and attended the Canadian National Defense College after August 13, 1963 . In 1964 he became commander of the Airplane and Armament Experimental Establishment and was promoted to Air Commodore on July 1, 1964 .

On April 11, 1968, Bird became head of the RAF's Department of Defense . In this application, he was promoted to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ) just three months later on July 1, 1968 . most recently he was on May 3, 1971 Assistant Chief of Staff for Automated Data Processing at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ) and remained in this post until his retirement on November 18, 1973 this time he was raised on June 12, 1971 to the Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

After retiring from active military service, Bird became Treasurer of Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford University in 1973 , which made him a Fellow in 1978 . He was also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS).

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 34776, HMSO, London, January 13, 1940, p. 377 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35049, HMSO, London, January 21, 1941, p. 412 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36542, HMSO, London, June 2, 1944, p. 2535 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36942, HMSO, London, February 13, 1945, p. 929 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41268, HMSO, London, January 1, 1958, p. 34 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45384, HMSO, London, June 12, 1971, p. 5958 ( PDF , accessed February 17, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Bird, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bird, Frank Ronald (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1918
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1983