Gareth Clayton

Sir Gareth Thomas Butler Clayton , KCB , DFC & Bar (born November 13, 1914 - † February 5, 1992 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served from 1970 to 1972 in the rank of Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) Air Secretary ( Air Secretary ) was at the Ministry of Aviation.

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Gravesite of Air Marshal Sir Gareth Clayton in St. Mary's Cemetery in Polstead .

Gareth Thomas Butler Clayton, son of Thomas Clayton and Katherine Clayton, joined the Royal Air Force as a Short Service Commission on January 6, 1936 after attending the Rossall School and became a pilot in the No. 83 Squadron RAF . However, just a week later on October 19, 1936, he switched to the No. 107 Squadron RAF and attended a flight navigation course at the School of Air Navigation and was promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ) on January 6, 1937 . He was then the navigator of on the military airfield stationed RAF Harwell No. 107 Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on July 6, 1938 . At the beginning of the Second World War , in April 1940, he was the leader of a sub-formation that carried out bombing raids on the Stavanger airfield , which was occupied by the German Wehrmacht . He carried out his attack at low altitude in the face of heavy anti-aircraft fire and attacks from enemy fighter planes and managed to drop his bombs on a number of German planes. On the return flight he was attacked by a Messerschmitt fighter for sixty-five minutes. He managed to get his plane safely to his base. For these services he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on May 7, 1940 .

Clayton then became Chief Ground Instructor of the 17th Operational Training Unit OTU (No. 17 Operational Training Unit) at RAF Upwood in June 1940 , where he was promoted to Captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on July 6, 1940. . In the further course of the war he was on January 31, 1941 aviation commander of No. 25 Squadron RAF and on January 6, 1942 initially transferred to the Reserve RAFO (Reserve of Air Force Officers) before he was recalled to active military service on November 11, 1942 and assigned to No. 30th Operational Training Unit was deployed to RAF Hixon Air Force Base. He was mentioned in the war report on January 1, 1943 for his services ( Mentioned in dispatches ) . On May 10, 1943, he was initially named No. 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit - a training unit for crews of heavy bombers - relocated to the air force base RAF Lindholme and then on June 14, 1943 briefly pilot in command of No. 100 Squadron RAF . Already in July 1943, he became commander of the flight crew to the site group RAF Hemswell and then in November 1943 as commander ( Officer Commanding ) of No. 576 Squadron RAF . After that he was on June 23, 1944, for a short time, deputy commander of the RAF Faldingworth Air Force Base and then on July 21, 1944, to the staff at the headquarters of No. 1 Group RAF .

In the further course of the Second World War, Gareth Clayton attended the RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park in 1944 and received a clasp (bar) for his Distinguished Flying Cross on October 13, 1944 . In February 1945 he was a staff officer in the planning department for future operations in the Cabinet Office ( Cabinet Office ) and later in 1945 a member of the operations staff of the Staff College of the Air Force of the Republic of China .

Post-war period and promotion to Air Marshal

On March 26, 1946 Clayton was accepted as a professional soldier (Permanent Commission) in the Royal Air Force and promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ), this promotion on February 25, 1947 was dated back to June 1, 1944. In the following period he was air force attaché at the embassy in Portugal between March 1946 and November 1948 and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) there on July 1, 1947 . On his return he became aviation commander of the RAF Upwood military airport in November 1948. He was then transferred to the planning staff at the headquarters of the bomber fleet ( RAF Bomber Command ) on April 5, 1951 , and after his promotion on January 1, 1954 to the position of Colonel ( Group Captain ) on April 14, 1954, commander of the RAF Cottesmore air base. He then took over the post of commander of the RAF Honington Air Force Base in October 1955 and was transferred to the staff of the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ) in 1956 .

After Gareth Clayton had attended Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London in 1959, he was promoted to Brigadier General ( Air Commodore ) on July 1, 1959 and on December 20, 1959 head of the Operations Department for Air Transport and Overseas Bases. On January 1, 1962, he was promoted to Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and at the same time to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ). Thereupon, on January 13, 1962, he became AOC (Air Officer Commanding) in command of No. 11 Group RAF . He then took over on June 15, 1963 the post of Chief of Staff of the Second Tactical Air Force ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ) and on March 19, 1966 as Director General of the Personnel Department at the headquarters of the Royal Air Force. Then he was on March 15, 1969 Chief of Staff of the Air Raid Command ( RAF Strike Command ) and received in this role on July 1, 1969, his promotion to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ). On January 1, 1970, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and has since had the addition of "Sir".

Most recently Air Marshal Sir Gareth Clayton succeeded Air Marshal Sir Brian Burnett as Air Secretary on March 27, 1970, and was thus responsible for career planning, promotions and appointments of officers in the RAF in the Air Ministry . In this post he remained until his replacement by Air Marshal John Barraclough on March 31, 1972. On June 10, 1972 he finally retired from active military service. He was married to Elisabeth Marian Keates since 1938.

publication

• And then there was one! , 1992

Web links

• Biography on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
• Clayton, Air Marshal Sir Gareth (Thomas Butler) in Who's Who (online version)