Harold Brownlow Martin

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Sir Harold Brownlow "Mickie" Martin KCB DSO DFC AFC (born February 27, 1918 in Australia ; † November 3, 1988 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was last in the rank of Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) between 1973 and 1974 as Air Member for Personnel in the Air Force Staff and thus also a member of the Air Force Board of the Ministry of Defense . During the Second World War he was a pilot of the No. 617 Squadron , the so-called Dam Busters , played a key role in the destruction of the Möhne Dam in Operation Chastise and received the Distinguished Service Order for this .

Life

Second World War

Flight training at the beginning of the war, deployment as a bomber pilot

Martin came to Great Britain in 1939 to study medicine . However, he gave up this intention after the beginning of the Second World War and volunteered on August 28, 1940 in the RAF. He then began his flight training and was after its conclusion on June 17, 1941 Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ) and promoted the pilot with bombers of the type Handley Page Hampden -equipped No. 455 Squadron RAF . There he quickly developed into a low-level flight specialist who flew his bombing missions at an altitude of 1,300 meters in order to better capture the targets. Another advantage was that the air defense measures mostly concentrated on higher-flying aircraft.

After the No. 455 Squadron RAF coastal command pilots ( RAF Coastal Command was assumed), Martin moved in April 1942 to that on the military airfield stationed RAF Swinderby No. 50 Squadron RAF . There he initially continued to fly Handley Page Hampden bombers, but soon switched to Avro Manchester and Avro Lancaster bombers . He flew numerous missions and was promoted to Oberleutnant ( Flying Officer ) on December 17, 1941 . In October 1942 he himself became an instructor at No. 1654 RAF Heavy Conversion Unit and honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on November 6, 1942 .

Used by the Dam Busters

The destroyed Möhne dam

During this time, Martin joined Wing Commander Guy Gibson's request on March 31, 1943, of the newly built squadron . His main role in this No. 617 Squadron RAF was responsible for monitoring the training of the other crew members, especially during night low flights. He flew one of the nine Avro Lancaster bombers of the so-called No. 617 Squadron at the first wave of attacks on the Möhne Dam during Operation Chastise from May 16-17, 1943. After throwing his own rollerbombs , he helped Gibson guide the flak fire away from the other planes so that they could also drop their bombs . For this he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on May 25, 1943 . With this method, the No. 617 Squadron RAF also succeeded in bombing the Edertalsperre , while the attack flights on the Listertal , Sorpesee and Ennepetalsperre were unsuccessful.

After the attacks on the dams, he stayed in Gibson's squadron and, together with Leonard Cheshire , dealt with target marking during night low-flying missions. He also took part in other special missions. On the night of September 15-16, 1943, for example, he took part in an attack flight on the Dortmund-Ems Canal , in which new air mines with a weight class of 12,000 pounds ( 12,000lb High Capacity Bomb ) were used. During this operation, the new squadron captain George Holden was killed when his plane was hit by the air defense. Martin then took over the leadership of the attack group, although only his bombs and the bombs of another aircraft hit the target. He then acted between September and November 1943 as acting commander of No. 617 Squadron RAF before being replaced by Leonard Cheshire. Together they continued their testing of low-altitude flight marks and initially used Avro Lancaster bombers and fighter-bombers of the type de Havilland Mosquito DH.98 . For these test flights he was awarded the first clasp ( bar ) to the DFC on November 12, 1943 .

Other uses in World War II

Afterwards, Martin moved as an officer to the headquarters of No. 5 bomber group RAF and then on March 21, 1944 to the staff of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) No. 100 Group RAF . During this time he was also awarded a DSO clasp on March 31, 1944. Since he saw himself primarily not as a staff officer, but as a pilot, on June 6, 1944, he became pilot in command of the A swarm of No. 515 Squadron RAF . In this role he took part in numerous night flight missions in support of the bomber command with his unit consisting of de Havilland Mosquito fighter bombers. Due to his numerous other military services, he was awarded another DFC clasp on November 12, 1944. At the same time, however, he was released from active flight duty after participating in 83 missions, 49 of which were bomber missions.

From November 18, 1945, he then took part in the 13th staff course at the RAF Staff College (Overseas) in Haifa and after its completion on March 25, 1945 he was again an officer in the staff of No. 100 Group RAF .

Post-war period and making flight records

With a de Havilland Mosquito DH.98 - fighter-bomber "Mickie" Martin presented on May 1, 1947 a new speed record of 449 km / h during a flight from London to Cape Town on

After the end of the war in 1946 he became a pilot in No. 242 Squadron RAF and on February 11, 1947 as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) in the RAF. At the same time he was promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on February 11, 1947 , this promotion being dated back to September 1, 1945. During this time he and his navigator Edward Sismore set a new speed record with a de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber on May 1, 1947, when he covered a distance of 6,717 miles (10,800 kilometers) in 21 hours 31 minutes and an average speed of 449 km / h flew. For this he was awarded the Oswald Watt gold medal and the Britannia Trophy .

A few months later, Brown was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on August 1, 1947 . On July 14, 1948, he flew the de Havilland Mosquito meteorological escort aircraft on the first Atlantic crossing with a jet aircraft . Six jet aircraft of the type de Havilland DH.100 Vampire flew under the command of Wing Commander DS Wilson-MacDonald from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides via Iceland and Labrador to Montreal . On January 1, 1949, he was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC).

On July 10, 1951, he became the commander of a special task swarm consisting of jet-propelled bombers from the North American B-45 , but had to relinquish this command to another officer after medical tests.

Staff officer and aide-de-camp of the Queen

Thereupon he was on June 20, 1952 air force attaché at the embassy in Israel and was promoted to lieutenant colonel ( wing commander ) on July 1, 1959 . He then became an officer in the department for operational planning at the headquarters of the Allied Air Forces in Central Europe AAFCE ( Allied Air Forces Central Europe ) on Camp Guynemer near Fontainebleau on October 27, 1955 .

After attending the Joint Services Staff College in 1958, Martin became head of the electronic warfare group at the headquarters of the newly created RAF Signals Command on March 23, 1959 . In this role, he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1959 and temporarily served as Commanding Officer of the RAF Nicosia Air Force Base. He then became Chief of Staff on October 15, 1962 as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of the Air Force Transport Command ( RAF Transport Command ) No. 38 Group RAF at the RAF Wittering military airfield . There he was promoted to Air Commodore on January 1, 1963 . On January 14, 1964, he also became aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II and held this position as the Queen's adjutant until January 1964.

Ascent to the Air Marshal

In January 1965, Martin began further training at the Imperial Defense College in London and, on 18 December 1965, took over the position of Chief of Staff (SASO) of the Air Forces in the Middle East, NEAF ( RAF Near East Air Force ) and the armed forces in Cyprus ( British Forces Cyprus ). On January 1, 1966 he was promoted to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ) at this post .

As the successor to Air Vice Marshal Peter Fletcher , Martin became Air Officer Commanding of No. 38 Group RAF , which became part of the RAF Air Support Command, also created on August 1, 1967 . On June 8, 1968, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). In his position as commander of No. 38 Group RAF succeeded him on June 24, 1970 Air Vice Marshal Denis Crowley-Milling .

Martin was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on July 1, 1970 and took over the functions of Commander in Chief of the British Air Force in Germany ( RAF Germany ) on November 10, 1970 from Air Marshal Christopher Foxley-Norris, as well as in personal union as Commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ). On January 1, 1971, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir". He held the post as commander of RAF Germany and the 2TAF until he was replaced by Air Marshal Nigel Maynard on April 3, 1973.

He himself became Air Chief Marshal Lewis Hodges' successor as Air Member for Personnel on April 25, 1973 and was responsible for personnel matters in the Air Force Staff until his replacement by Air Marshal Neil Cameron on October 5, 1974. As such, he was also a member of the Air Force Board of the Ministry of Defense. Almost three weeks after being replaced by Air Marshal Cameron, he retired from active military service on October 31, 1974.

After his retirement, Martin became a consultant to the aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley International Ltd , particularly in the Middle East . After his death he was buried in Gunnersbury Cemetery in Acton in the London Borough of Ealing .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 35773, HMSO, London, November 6, 1942, p. 4808 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36030, HMSO, London, May 38, 1943, p. 2361 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36245, HMSO, London, November 12, 1943, p. 4971 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36448, HMSO, London, March 31, 1944, p. 1497 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36793, HMSO, London, November 10, 1944, p. 5205 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37878, HMSO, London, February 11, 1947, p. 703 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ TWO LONDON-CAPETOWN RECORDS. Quarter Circuit of the World in a Day . In: Flight International, May 8, 1947, p. 409
  8. ↑ HOW THE VAMPIRES CROSSED. The Story of the First Transatlantic Flight by Jet Aircraft . In: Flight International of July 22, 1948, p. 105
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44600, HMSO, London, June 8, 1968, p. 6301 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45262, HMSO, London, January 1, 1971, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 18, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Martin, Harold Brownlow
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mickie (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Australia
DATE OF DEATH 3rd November 1988