Hubert Patch

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Sir Hubert Leonard "Sam" Patch KCB CBE (* December 16, 1904 , † November 18, 1987 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was last in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) between 1959 and 1961, Commander of the British Armed Forces on the Arabian Peninsula BFAP ( British Forces Arabian Peninsula ) was. He was mentioned four times in the war report for his bravery and services in World War II ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Patch began his aviation training in 1923 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 a member of the college cricket , hockey and rugby teams during his training . After completing his training, he was promoted to Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ) on July 30, 1925 and was employed as a pilot of No. 58 Squadron RAF . There he was promoted to first lieutenant ( flying officer ) on April 12, 1927 . In the period from March 12 to 23, 1928, his salary was halved ( Half-pay List / Scale B ). On March 30, 1928, he moved to No. 45 Squadron RAF and was then assigned from February 9, 1930 for almost a month for weapons services to the Armament & Gunnery School on the RAF Eastchurch military airfield , where he then from March 4, 1930 a one-year weapons systems course visited.

After his promotion to captain ( flight lieutenant ) on March 11, 1931, Patch became a weapons system officer on April 9, 1931 at the RAF Bircham Newton Air Force base and then on March 24, 1934 as a weapon system officer in the 2nd armament training camp ( No 2 Armament Training Camp RAF ) the Air Force Base RAF North Coates. On March 5, 1935, he became pilot in command of No. 12 Squadron RAF at the military airfield RAF Andover, before he, after his promotion to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on April 1, 1937 , was deputy commander of the 6th Armament Training Station ( No 6 Armament Training Station RAF ) at the RAF Warmwell Air Force Base has been.

On December 19, 1938, Patch became a weapon system officer at the headquarters of the RAF Bomber Command . During the Second World War he was in this position, among other things, responsible for equipping the bombers and was mentioned in the war report on January 1, 1941, September 24, 1941 and January 1, 1942 because of his services ( Mentioned in dispatches ). On June 11, 1942 he was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and on November 20, 1942 to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ), this promotion was dated back to April 1, 1942. In 1943 he became head of the armament requirements department in the Air Ministry . On January 14, 1944, he was mentioned for the fourth time during the Second World War in the war report.

Staff officer in the post-war period

After his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1946 Patch was born on February 8, 1946 successor to Colonel Leonard Pankhurst as Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of the No. 44 (Transport) Group RAF and held this post until this unit was dissolved on August 14, 1946.

On July 1, 1947, he was promoted to the Air Commodore . In July 1948 he became the commander of the Airplane and Aircraft Weapons Research Institute A & AEE ( Airplane and Armament Experimental Establishment ). He then attended a general staff course at Imperial Defense College in London from January 1950 .

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

After completing the course at the IDC, Patch first became a staff officer for administrative tasks AOA ( Air Officer in charge of Administration ) at the headquarters of the Air Forces in the Far East, FEAF ( Far East Air Force ), and was promoted there on July 1, 1951 to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ). On June 5, 1952, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He then took over on August 6, 1952 as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) the function of Chief of Staff of the Far East Air Force and remained in this post until November 1, 1953. On November 1, 1953, he succeeded Air Vice Marshal Percy Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon as commander AOC ( Air Officer commanding ) of the attack command ( RAF Fighter command belonging) No. 11 (Fighter) Group RAF . He held this post until his replacement by Air Commodore Victor Bowling on January 16, 1956.

Patch himself had already taken over from Air Chief Marshal Dermot Boyle on January 1, 1956, the function of Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) of the RAF Fighter Command. However, he stayed in this post for only eight months and was replaced on August 8, 1956 by Air Marshal Thomas Pike .

Suez crisis 1956

Patch himself in turn succeeded Air Marshal Claude Pelly as Commander in Chief of the Air Force in the Middle East MEAF ( RAF Middle East Air Force ) on September 24, 1956 . After the nationalization of the Suez Canal on July 29, 1956, tensions arose between Egypt, France and Great Britain. The resulting Suez Crisis led to the brink of armed conflict, whereupon the previous commander of RAF Staff College Bracknell , Air Vice Marshal Denis Barnett , commander of the air forces of Operation Musketeer , planned for a war with Egypt . Its staff consisted predominantly of officers from the Imperial Defense College, who were involved early on with the preparation of this operational plan. Barnett's election for the position and the appointment of a planning staff separated the existing command structure in the Middle East. The local commanders of the British armed forces in the Middle East, Air Marshal Patch as commander in chief of the local air force MEAF and Air Vice Marshal William Crisham as commander of the Levante Air Force Headquarters ( AHQ Levant ), viewed this decision critically. On the other hand, Barnett was more knowledgeable about operations and, due to his previous use, knew more about the situation in Egypt than any other general in the RAF. The Air Task Force under him was intended to bomb the Egyptian air bases in order to gain the necessary air supremacy. Due to the appointment of Barnett as Task Force Commander, the function of Patch during the Suez Crisis was therefore limited to the normal exercise of his commanding duties and the air defense of the British military bases in Cyprus. On January 1, 1957, he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) and at the same time knighted Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that he has since had the addition of "Sir". During this time he was the first British Air Marshal to visit Persia and was personally received by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi . At the suggestion of the British Air Force attaché at the embassy in Tehran , he flew to this visit with three twin-engine fighter aircraft of type English Electric Canberra of Cyprus in order to demonstrate the Shah as vulnerable was Persia. He passed the post of Commander in Chief of the RAF Middle East Air Force on November 26, 1958 to Air Vice Marshal William MacDonald .

Air Member for Personnel and Commander of the BFAP

Patch himself was promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ) on April 1, 1959 and took over the post of Air Member for Personnel from Air Marshal John Whitley on April 1, 1959 and was thus Air Member for Personnel until his replacement by Air Marshal Arthur McDonald on April 1, 1959 October 1959 responsible for personnel matters in the Air Force Staff.

Shortly before, Patch was on September 19, 1959 as the successor to Maurice Heath Commander of the British Armed Forces on the Arabian Peninsula BFAP ( British Forces Arabian Peninsula ) in Aden . Due to the division of the region through the Suez Canal had since 1959 three British regional commands, namely the from the previous command Middle East ( Middle East Command ) emerged command of the land forces in the Middle East ( Middle East Land Forces ), the armed forces in the Arabian Peninsula as well as the armed forces in Cyprus ( British Forces Cyprus District ). On August 3, 1960, he was replaced by Air Marshal Charles Elworthy as commander of the BFAP. On May 29, 1961, he finally retired from active military service.

Patch then worked in business and acted between 1961 and 1963 as a representative of the aircraft manufacturer British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in the NATO member states.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33080, HMSO, London, September 1, 1925, p. 5770 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33282, HMSO, London, June 7, 1927, p. 3715 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33368, HMSO, London, March 20, 1928, p. 2023 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 33697, HMSO, London, March 10, 1931, p. 1648 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34385, HMSO, London, April 2, 1937, p. 2127 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 35586, HMSO, London, June 11, 1942, p. 2487 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ SERVICE AVIATION. Royal Air Forces and Naval Flying News: Air Council Appointment . In: Flight International of November 14, 1958
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 39555, HMSO, London, June 5, 1952, p. 3010 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  9. ↑ MIDDLE EAST AIR FORCE . In: Flight International
  10. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 40960, HMSO, London, January 1, 1957, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 21, 2016, English).
  11. ↑ SERVICE AVIATION. Royal Air Forces and Naval Flying News: Air Council Appointment . In: Flight International of November 14, 1958
  12. ↑ SERVICE AVIATION. Royal Air Forces and Naval Flying News: Arabian Peninsula Command . In: Flight International of October 9, 1959
  13. ↑ SERVICE AVIATION. Air Force, Naval and Army Flying News: To and From Aden . In: Flight International of June 3, 1960
personal data
SURNAME Patch, Hubert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Patch, Sir Hubert Leonard (full name); Sam (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1904
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1987