Henry Wrigley

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Henry Neilson Wrigley as Air Vice Marshal in London, October 25, 1944

Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley CBE , DFC , AFC , (born April 21, 1892 in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia ; † September 14, 1987 there ) called Wrig , was an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). As a flight pioneer and flight instructor, he conducted the first trans-Australia flight from Melbourne to Darwin and laid the foundation for the RAAF's air power doctrine. During World War I , he joined the Australian Flying Corps and fought with the No. 3 Squadron (3rd Squadron ) on the Western Front , for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross . He later rose to the commanding officer of the squadron and published a work on their war effort. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1919 for his flight through Australia .

Wrigley was one of the co-founders of the RAAF in 1921 and held various staff positions within the armed forces in the following years. In 1936 he was promoted to Group Captain and took command of RAAF Laverton Station . Promoted to Air Commodore shortly after the outbreak of World War II , he was appointed Air Member for Personnel in November 1940 . One of his tasks was to organize the newly established Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and the selection of its director, for which he selected Clare Stevenson in 1941 . In the same year he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire . Wrigley served from September 1942 until his retirement in June 1946 as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the RAAF Overseas Headquarters in London. He died in 1987 at the age of 95. His writings on air power were collected and published posthumously in 1990 under the title The Decisive Factor .

Early life and World War I

Wrigley as a Lieutenant in the Central Flying School, Point Cook, Australia, about 1916

Henry Neilson Wrigley was born on April 21, 1892 in Collingwood , a suburb of Melbourne, to Henry and Beatrice Wrigley. He attended Richmond Central School and Melbourne High School, where he joined the Australian Army Cadets . After studying at Melbourne University , he became a teacher and joined the militia . After the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) on October 5, 1916. Before embarking on a transporter for Europe on October 25th, he was briefly trained at the Central Flying School (CFS) in Point Cook by aviation pioneer Eric Harrison.

After further flight training in England, he was transferred to France and flew there with the No. 3 Squadron deployments, also known as No. 69 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. The duties of the squadron, equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory RE8 , included reconnaissance , artillery observation and close air support . After the interim promotion to captain Wrigley was proposed on January 29, 1919 for the Distinguished Flying Cross. This was justified by his "extraordinary sense of duty", in individual cases with the implementation of an attack against German infantry on October 29, 1918 despite intensive defensive fire. On June 3, 1919, the award was announced in The London Gazette . Wrigley later concluded that many wartime planes were unsuitable for combat and that many senior officers were too busy taking off planes and training pilots to land safely to think deeply about air power.

Interwar period

Wrigley (right) as captain with Arthur Murphy, circa November / December 1919

Wrigley was promoted to Commanding Officer of No. 3 Squadron and returned to Australia on May 6th. Later that year he took part in the first flight across the Australian continent from Melbourne to Darwin, which coincided with the first flight from the United Kingdom to Australia. Together with his mechanic and former schoolmate Arthur William Murphy , he set off from Point Cook on November 16 and reached Port Darwin on December 12, after about 4,500 km and 47 flight hours. The two flew with a single-engine Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 without radio over often unmapped areas and identified 17 potential runways. Wrigley described the choice of Murphys as his companion as "happy", but the aircraft model provided was out of date, even for training purposes. However, it has proven to be stable and airworthy. For their achievement, both received the United Kingdom Air Force Cross, which was made public on July 12, 1920. The Australian Department of Defense found trans-Australian flights so dangerous that they sent Murphy and Wrigley a telegram while they were preparing for their return flight, asking them to dismantle the plane and return with him by ship.

On January 1, 1920 Wrigley moved to the Australian Air Corps (Australian Air Corps, AAC). This was a briefly established unit of the army, which represented the successor to the disbanded AFC. The following month he was transferred to the Central Flying School as an adjutant . In 1921 he joined the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force with the rank of flight lieutenant . Wrigley, known there as "Wrig", was one of the first 21 officers with whom the armed forces were founded in March. Over the next seven years, he held various staff positions within the RAAF headquarters in Melbourne, starting as a staff officer with the Director of Human Resources and Training. On July 5, 1922, he married Marjorie Rees, with whom he had a son and a daughter. In the same month he replaced Flight Lieutenant Frank McNamara as operations and reconnaissance staff officer. Between March 1923 and April 1925 he served as a training officer and was promoted to Squadron Leader during the same period before he was appointed Director of Organization and Staff Duties (chairman of organization and staff services). In November 1927 he took part in the first attempt at a non-stop flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Taking off from RAAF Richmond on an Airco DH9 , Wrigley and his co-pilot covered 555 km in six hours before landing for repairs due to a defective fuel line. They were able to continue the flight the following day and reach Melbourne.

The BE2E used by Wrigley on his Trans Australia flight. on an airfield, 1919

In 1928 Wrigley traveled to England to attend RAF Staff College, Andover , which he graduated as one of the RAAF's first officers. He then stayed in England and served in 1929 as the Australian Air Liaison Officer with the Air Ministry . In October of that year he contacted the British Air Council with the concern that the Royal Air Force's motto , Per ardua ad astra , could also be used for the RAAF in the future. In March 1930, Wrigley received informal approval for this in a letter. On his return to Australia, he was appointed Director of Operations and Intelligence in October 1930 and then again Director of Organization and Staff Duties at RAAF Headquarters in December 1931. In December 1932 he was promoted to Wing Commander . In 1935 he published his story of No. 3 Squadron, The Battle Below , which was said to have a significant influence on the official view of close air support . In July 1936 he was promoted to Group Captain before he took command of RAAF Station Laverton from Group Captain Frank McNamara in October of that year. In February 1939 he resigned this post to Adrian Cole, who also had the rank of Group Captain . Starting in May, he served as chief expert on a committee of inquiry investigating three recent aircraft accidents involving Avro Anson aircraft . The report, which was completed in October, said that the pilot training on the type had taken place according to the specifications, but the pilots needed more practical experience in order to be able to better deal with incidents that occurred during the flight. The Committee of Inquiry recommended this because it believed that human error was responsible for the crash in at least one of the cases.

Second World War

Wrigley (left, front) as Air Member for Personnel inspecting a graduating class of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force, June 4, 1942

As part of the reorganization of the RAAF after the outbreak of World War II, the No. 1 Group (1st group ) under the command of Wrigleys. The task of the group was to oversee and coordinate the operation of airfields and flying units in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. After his promotion to Air Commodore, Wrigley served in 1940 as Air Officer Commanding Southern Area, the successor organization to No. 1 Group before he was appointed Air Member Personnel in November. With the New Years Ceremonies in 1941 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Wrigley's duties included organizing the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF), founded on March 25, 1941, which was the first uniformed female part in the history of the Australian armed forces. He believed that the recruitment of women for military service was necessary to meet the high demand for ground personnel for the air force. Officially, in his opinion, the WAAAF should remain separate from the RAAF, but de facto it should be closely linked to its structures. The Chief of Air Staff Australia at the time was the British Air Chief Marshal Charles Burnett , who hoped his daughter Sybil-Jean, who had already gained experience in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force , would work for the WAAAF To be able to enforce those responsible. Wrigley was able to prevent this by arguing to Burnett with the public anger caused by the appointment of a non-Australian to the CAS and that the appointment of another non-Australian to the director of the WAAAF would further increase that outrage. On May 21, he appointed the manager of the Berlei textile company , Clare Stevenson, as director, who succeeded the interim director Mary Bell , wife of an RAAF officer. Wrigley chose Stevenson because of her leadership experience and because he did not consider her "upper class". Bell initially turned down the offer to become vice director and initially left the WAAAF after learning of Stevenson's appointment. Wrigley later convinced her to re-enter. In the meantime, he played an important role in the organization of the Air Training Corps (Luftausbildungskorps), founded in April 1941 , which teaches young men between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age basic knowledge so that they can later enter the service of the RAAF.

As Air Officer Commanding RAAF Overseas Headquarters, Wrigley visits No. 450 Squadron in Sicily, September 1943

In May 1941, Wrigley's promotion to acting Air Vice Marshall was announced, making him the third officer after Richard Williams and Stanley Goble to achieve that rank in the RAAF. In September 1942 he replaced Frank McNamara as AOC of the RAAF Overseas Headquarters. In the early days of this assumption of command, there were disputes over competency with Williams, who is now with the rank of Air Marshal, over who exercised the command of the Overseas Headquarters. Williams had run headquarters since it was set up in December 1941, with McNamara as his deputy. In the meantime he had been posted to Washington, DC as a representative of the RAAF , whereby McNamara ran the headquarters as deputy until Wrigley's arrival. However, Williams, as he understood, continued to hold command in the UK even after his move to Washington. He received support from Aviation Secretary Arthur Drakeford of Wrigley's role, although he had been appointed to the AOC when Williams' deputy saw in Europe. Wrigley wrote in his diary that when Williams traveled to London for a conference in October 1942, he tried to use his influence to remain AOC himself or even to be promoted to Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of all RAAF units outside Australia and the Southwest Pacific Area . Williams left the United Kingdom again in January 1943, but the dispute was not settled until the middle of the year when the CAS stepped in to George Jones and convinced Williams that it was inefficient to have both London and London headquarters in one.

As AOC RAAF Overseas Headquarters, Wrigley's job was to look after the interests of RAAF staff in Europe and the Mediterranean. He also supported the communication between the Australian government and the British Air Ministry on technical issues and the course of the Pacific War and participated in the negotiations on adjustments to the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). Despite these diverse tasks, he had little influence on the stationing and participation of Australian teams in the air war over Europe, as this was taken over by the RAF, even if it was purely Australian squadrons. The official Australian war historiography later concluded that Wrigley and his predecessors had only been able to limit the centrifugal forces resulting from the widespread dispersion of Australian troops and to bridge the worst of the resulting administrative difficulties. Despite his limited possibilities, Wrigley enjoyed great popularity in the troop, which was also explained by his friendly treatment of the simple teams.

Wrigley (left) with Brigadier CF Langley and Daisy Finola Somers at the opening of Somers House, a Red Cross club for repatriated prisoners of war, May 1945

In March 1943, after negotiations that had already started the previous year, Wrigley signed a new version of the EATS treaty that was supposed to meet Australia's “national claims”. The new version was intended to ensure that Australian flight personnel outside Australia could be concentrated in RAAF squadrons in order to be able to create uniform procedures for transport, replacement, transfer, payment and other conditions. Official historiography is critical of the new version with regard to Australia's claims, as operational realities overrode many of the clauses that were agreed upon, so that they were only minimally implemented. In September, Wrigley made an inspection tour of the Mediterranean, doing the No. 459 Squadron (459th Squadron) in the Middle East before traveling to Sicily , where he worked intensively with the No. 450 Squadron, which had various complaints. This communication tour was then given a significant share in improving the mood of the troops. The end of the war in Europe in May 1945 presented Wrigley and his staff with the enormous logistical challenge of gathering around 13,500 RAAF soldiers scattered across Great Britain and the Mediterranean, and relocating most of them to Australia and the Pacific theater. As of September 1 of that year, fewer than 1,000 soldiers remained in various units of the RAF, but their repatriation dragged into the new year.

Retirement and inheritance

Wrigley and other senior officers who had served in World War I were retired from the RAAF in 1946. This went hand in hand with the troop reduction in the armed forces and on the other hand with the fact that space should be created for younger officers in higher positions. Wrigley's disappointing retirement took place on June 6th. He found it difficult to find civilian employment as many positions were already filled by other veterans. After a failed attempt to gain a foothold in a retail business, he made a living doing administrative work for several years. In July 1956, he was promoted to the rank of Air Vice Marshal honorary. In 1966 he became the director of the Victorian Overseas Foundation and later one of its trustees. In 1969 he published the book Aircraft and Economic Development through the Royal Aeronautical Society . The RAAF Contribution. In March 1971 he was one of a group of still living founding members of the RAAF who attended a celebratory dinner in honor of the 50th anniversary of the armed forces at the Hotel Canberra . After the death of his first wife Marjorie, he married Zenda Edwards on January 5, 1972. In December 1979, celebrations were held in Darwin to honor 60 years of aviation in the city, at which he was one of the guests of honor. A RAAF plane flew with him from Point Cook to Darwin to commemorate his historic flight with Arthur Murphy in 1919. In 1980 he wrote a history of the United Services Institution's Victorian Division. He died on September 14, 1987 at the age of 95 in Melbourne.

Wrigley was known for making constant notes and made extensive records of his thoughts on the theory and execution of aerial warfare strategies, which he propagated among his comrades in the RAAF, especially in the 1920s. Among the theses he most widely spread were those of air superiority , the management of an air force as an independent armed force, the need for air superiority to conduct offensive operations and the exchange of air forces with ground troops. In his campaign for the thesis of the independent armed forces, he emphasized that it still had to cooperate closely with the navy and the land forces, taking into account government decisions. Because of this extensive advocacy of his ideas, he is known as one of the founders of the modern RAAF doctrine of air power. This doctrine was written and established in the Air Power Manual of 1990. After his death, his widow bequeathed twenty volumes of notes, maps and photos to the RAAF Museum in Point Cook. In 1990, Brendan O'Loghlin and Alan Stephens edited this legacy under the title The Decisive Factor. Air Power Doctrine issued by Air Vice-Marshal HN Wrigley . In 1996 the house he lived in while serving as Commanding Officer of RAAF Laverton Station was renamed Wrigley House in his honor. A motorway slip road to Darwin International Airport was named after him as Henry Wrigley Drive. In March 2010, Chief of Air Force Mark Binskin donated the AVM HN Wrigley Prize for Air Power Analysis as part of the annual CAF Essay Competition.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Peter Dennis, Jeffrey Gray, Ewan Morris and Robin Prior: The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. 1995, pp. 606-609.
  2. ↑ a b c d W. J. Draper (Ed.): Who's Who in Australia 1985. 1985, p. 924.
  3. ↑ a b c d Australian War Memorial Transcript. at 3 Squadron - Australian Flying Corps / Royal Australian Air Force . Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  4. ^ Department of Defense: AIF Personnel File - Wrigley, Henry Neilson. P. 5.
  5. ↑ a b c Henry Neilson Wrigley. ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at The AIF Project ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved September 5, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aif.adfa.edu.au @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aif.adfa.edu.au
  6. ^ A b Alan Stephens: The Royal Australian Air Force. A history. 2006, pp. 9-10.
  7. ^ David Wilson: The Brotherhood of Airmen. The Men and Women of the RAAF in Action, 1914 – Today. 2005, pp. 19-21.
  8. ^ Australian War Memorial: Recommendation for Henry Neilson Wrigley to be awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  9. ^ The London Gazette: Supplement to The London Gazette.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.thegazette.co.uk   June 3, 1919. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  10. ↑ a b c Brendan O'Loghlin and Alan Stephens: The Air Power Notebooks of Air Vice-Marshal HN Wrigley. 1990, pp. 43-51.
  11. ^ Department of Defense: AIF Personnel File - Wrigley, Henry Neilson. P. 4.
  12. ^ Alan Stephens: The Royal Australian Air Force. A history. 2006, p. 26.
  13. ^ David Wilson: The Brotherhood of Airmen. The Men and Women of the RAAF in Action, 1914 – Today. 2005, p. 32.
  14. ↑ a b Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: The Third Brother. The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39. 1991, pp. 14-17.
  15. ↑ The London Gazette: Supplement to The London Gazette, July 12, 1920.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.thegazette.co.uk   Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: The Third Brother. The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39. 1991, pp. 17-18.
  17. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: The Third Brother. The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39. 1991, p. 20.
  18. ↑ Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942 1962, p. 16.
  19. ^ A b c Alan Stephens: The Royal Australian Air Force. A history. 2006, p. 42
  20. ↑ a b c Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: Air Marshals of the RAAF 1935-1995. 1995, p. 38.
  21. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: McNamara VC. A Hero's Dilemma. 1997, p. 65.
  22. ^ Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942. 1962, p. 712.
  23. ↑ Derek Roylance: Richmond Air Base. The Story of the RAAF Base on the Hawkesbury. 1991, p. 27.
  24. ↑ a b c d e f g Alan Stephens and Jeff Isaacs: The High Fliers. Leaders of the Royal Australian Air Force. 1996, pp. 36-39.
  25. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: The Third Brother. The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39. 1991, p. 84.
  26. ↑ a b c d Department of Defense RAAF Personel File p. 8.
  27. ^ RAAF Historical Section: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organizations. 1995, pp. 144-145.
  28. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: The Third Brother. The Royal Australian Air Force 1921-39. 1991, pp. 349-350.
  29. ^ Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942. 1962, p. 67.
  30. ↑ Norman Ashworth: How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War. 2000, p. 23.
  31. ^ Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942. 1962, pp. 91-92.
  32. ↑ Norman Ashworth: How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War. 2000, pp. 301-302.
  33. ^ The London Gazette: Supplement to the London Gazette. January 1, 1941. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  34. ^ A b Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942. 1962, pp. 99-100.
  35. ^ Joyce A. Thomson: The WAAAF in Wartime Australia. 1991, p. 70.
  36. ^ Joyce A. Thomson: The WAAAF in Wartime Australia. 1991, pp. 52-54.
  37. ^ Alan Stephens: Going Solo. The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971. 1995, p. 332.
  38. ^ Douglas Gillison: Royal Australian Air Force 1939-1942. 1962, p. 101.
  39. ^ The Advertiser : High Rank for RAAF Officer. May 16, 1941. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  40. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: McNamara VC. A Hero's Dilemma. 1997, p. 95.
  41. ^ A b Norman Ashworth: How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War. 2000, pp. 200-203.
  42. ↑ Chris D. Coulthard-Clark: McNamara VC. A Hero's Dilemma. 1997, pp. 91-95.
  43. ↑ Norman Ashworth: How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War. 2000, pp. 197-200.
  44. ↑ Norman Ashworth: How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War. 2000, pp. 200 and 205-206.
  45. ^ John Herington: Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943. 1954, pp. 525 and 543.
  46. ^ A b Alan Stephens: The Royal Australian Air Force. A history. 2006, pp. 65-66.
  47. ^ John Herington: Air Power Over Europe 1944-1945. 1963, p. 278.
  48. ^ John Herington: Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943. 1954, pp. 543-546.
  49. ^ John Herington: Air Power Over Europe 1944-1945. 1963, p. 77.
  50. ^ David Wilson: The Brotherhood of Airmen. The Men and Women of the RAAF in Action, 1914 – Today. 2005, p. 100.
  51. ^ John Herington: Air Power Over Europe 1944-1945. 1963, pp. 446-451.
  52. ^ Peter Helson: Ten Years at the Top. An Analysis of the role of Air Marshal Sir George Jones as Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Australian Air Force, 1942-1952. 2006, pp. 228-235.
  53. ^ Alan Stephens: The Royal Australian Air Force. A history. 2006, pp. 179-181.
  54. ^ JS Legge (Ed.): Who's Who in Australia 1971. 1971, p. 993.
  55. ^ Joan Beaumont (Ed.): Australian Defense: Sources and Statistics. 2001, p. 237.
  56. ^ Alan Stephens: Going Solo. The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971. 1995, pp. 451 and 498.
  57. ^ David Elias: Flight to claim lost glory. The Age , December 13, 1979. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  58. ↑ Peter Phillips (Ed.): The Heritage Homes of the Australian Defense Force. 1996, p. 51.
  59. ↑ Whereis.com: Henry Wrigley Drive . Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  60. ^ Royal Australian Air Force: Directive by the Chief of Air Force - Annual CAF Essay Competition. ( Memento of March 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved March 9, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Wrigley, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wrigley, Henry Neilson; Wrig (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian Air Vice Marshall
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Victoria , Australia
DATE OF DEATH September 14, 1987
Place of death Melbourne , Victoria , Australia