Henry Hogan

Henry Algernon Vickers Hogan CB DFC (born October 25, 1909 , † June 28, 1993 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was last in the rank of Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) in 1962 as head of the British military mission in Ghana .

Life

Pilot training and time before World War II

On November 5, 1938, Henry Hogan belonged to a group of pilots who undertook a long-haul flight from Ismailia in Egypt to Darwin in Australia , where he had to make an emergency landing about 800 kilometers from the destination due to fuel problems

Hogan began his aviation training in 1929 as a Flight Cadet of the B-Squadron at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the RAF. During his training there he was part of the college team in the sports of athletics , soccer , hockey , squash and cricket and received the sword of honor for his achievements at the end of his training . After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) on December 20, 1930 and promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ). He then became a pilot at No. 210 Squadron RAF and from March 1932 completed a course at the RAF Leuchars military airport . He then became an instructor himself on May 1, 1932 at this air force base and was promoted to Lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) there on June 20, 1932 . In November 1932 he became a pilot at No. 404 (Fleet Fighter) Flight as well as from May 2, 1933 the one resulting from the merger of the two swarms No. 402 (Fleet Fighter) Flight and No. 404 (Fleet Fighter) Flight emerged from 800 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the naval aviation association of the Royal Navy .

After Hogan had completed a class B flight instructor course at the Central Flying School from July 23 to October 20, 1934 , he became a QFI ( Qualified Flying Instructor ) flight instructor at No. 1 Flying Training School RAAF . After his promotion there to captain ( flight lieutenant ) on April 1, 1936, he switched to the Central Flying School as a flight instructor in August 1936. On January 3, 1938, he was transferred as a pilot to the Long-Range Development Unit , a development unit for long-range aircraft, in which he dealt with test flights on the Vickers Wellesley bomber . On November 5, 1938, he was part of a swarm of Wellesley Vickers bombers under the command of Squadron Leader Richard Kellett, which made a two-day non-stop flight from Ismailia in Egypt to Darwin in Australia . Unfortunately, he had to make an emergency landing with his plane around 800 kilometers from the destination near Kupang in West Timor due to fuel problems. The other three pilots reached Darwin with their planes and set a distance record with a distance of 11,526 kilometers, for which they were awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC). However, on December 1, 1938, he was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ). Subsequently, from February 20, 1939, he was only an unplanned pilot with the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) No. 6 Group RAF and then after 3 April 1939 scheduled pilot in the Heimatluftfkommando ( RAF Home Command ) belonging No. 50 Group RAF .

Second World War

During the Second World War, Hogan played a key role in the implementation of the so-called Arnold Scheme , a program for training British pilots in the USA named after the Commander-in-Chief of the USAAF, General Henry "Hap" Arnold

After subsequent employment at the beginning of the Second World War as a personnel officer in the Air Ministry and as a flight instructor at No. 15 Service Flying Training School RAF at the RAF Lossiemouth Air Force Base , Hogan completed a course at No. 15 from May to June 1940 . 6 RAF Operational Training Unit at RAF Sutton Bridge military airport.

After that Hogan took over during the Battle of Britain in 1940, his first command post, as a Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of on the military airfield RAF Croydon stationed No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron RAF . During this time he had to make an emergency landing on August 27, 1940 with a hit fuel tank and on September 15 and 18, 1940, he had to parachute twice after further hits. During the Battle of Britain he succeeded in shooting down two enemy aircraft of the German Air Force . In addition, he was involved in two more kills and two probable kills and the damage to another aircraft. For his military services he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on October 25, 1940 .

In November 1940, Hogan was briefly commander of No. 58 Operational Training Unit RAF at the base RAF Grangemouth, but already on November 25, 1940 changed to the function of commander of the stationed at the military airport RAF Church Fenton . 54 Operational Training Unit RAF . In 1941 he was initially again in command of No. 58 Operational Training Unit RAF , before he became a liaison officer for the USA in June 1941 and went to Washington, DC in August 1941 as head of British flight training at the RAF mission . During this time he played a key role in the implementation of the so-called Arnold Scheme , a program named after the Commander in Chief of the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), General Henry "Hap" Arnold , for training British pilots in the USA.

After his return to Great Britain in 1944 Hogan became Deputy Commander and Chief Flight Instructor of the Empire Central Flying School at the RAF Hullavington military airfield and held this position until the end of World War II.

Staff officer in the post-war period

After the war ended in 1945, Hogan was initially commander of No. 19 Service Flying Training School RAF at RAF Cranwell Air Base . For his services he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Legion of Merit on March 15, 1946 . He then attended from April 6, 1946 a course for staff officers at the RAF Staff College (Overseas) in Haifa , where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on October 1, 1946 . After his return and his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1947, he was transferred to the Air Force Staff in the Aviation Ministry.

Then he was on November 30, 1948 Senior Staff Officer for Personnel Affairs SPSO ( Senior Personnel Staff Officer ) at the headquarters of the Air Forces in the Middle East MEAF ( Middle East Air Force ). After his return, he became in 1951 commander of the air base RAF Wattisham and 1952 Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of the northern sector of the fighter commandos ( RAF Fighter Command ). In this function, he was promoted to Air Commodore on July 1, 1953 . On April 2, 1954, he became the commander of the RAF Fighter Command No. 81 Group RAF at the RAF Rudloe Manor air base and thus successor to Air Commodore Colin McMullen, who suddenly died on February 17, 1954 . In this use he remained until his replacement by Air Commodore Roger Mead on August 15, 1955. On June 9, 1955 he was Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

Ascent to Air Vice Marshal

On August 22, 1955, Hogan himself became the successor to Air Commodore Ronald Lee's commander of No. 83 Group RAF , joined the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ), and received there on July 1, 1956 his promotion to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ).

After the dissolution of No. 83 Group RAF on June 16, 1958, Hogan became Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO ) at the headquarters of the RAF Flying Training Command on September 30, 1958 . He then became head of the Air Force Mission in 1960 and head of the Military Mission ( Joint Services Mission ) in Ghana in 1962 . On April 29, 1962, he retired from active military service.

He was then from 1964 to 1968 head of the Regional Directorate for Civil Defense of Midlands .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33682, HMSO, London, January 20, 1931, p. 463 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).
2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33858, HMSO, London, August 26, 1932, p. 5500 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).
3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34276, HMSO, London, April 22, 1936, p. 2560 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).
4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34576, HMSO, London, December 2, 1938, p. 7611 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).
5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34978, HMSO, London, October 25, 1940, p. 6193 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).
6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37501, HMSO, London, March 15, 1946, p. 1380 ( PDF , accessed February 15, 2016, English).