Hugh Walmsley

Sir Hugh Sidney (Sydney) Porter Walmsley KCB KCIE CBE MC DFC ( June 6, 1898 - September 2, 1985 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force who served as Air Marshal between 1948 and 1950 as Deputy Chief of Air Force Staff ( Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff ) and most recently from 1950 to 1952 Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) of the RAF Flying Training Command . For his services during the Second World War he was mentioned five times in the war report ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Life

Military training, World War I and the interwar period

Walmsley joined the British Army in 1915 after attending Old College in Windermere and Dover College at the beginning of World War I and initially served in the 4th Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment , where he was promoted to Second Lieutenant on January 15, 1916 has been. In 1916 he was seconded to the then Army Aviation Corps RFC ( Royal Flying Corps ) and from June 10, 1917 was used as a pilot in No. 55 Squadron RFC . As a pilot of a biplane - bomber type Airco DH4 he took part in air battles on the Western Front in part and, after his promotion to Lieutenant on September 1, 1917 and flight training commander of this season . In October 1917 he was awarded the No. 55 Squadron RFC at the military airfield Nancy-Ochey laid where his squadron the No. 41 Wing RFC under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Newall . In the period that followed, his unit took part in attacks on strategically important targets in Mannheim , Mainz , Koblenz and Frankfurt am Main .

After the founding of the Royal Air Force on April 1, 1918, Walmsley was taken over as a pilot officer and honored with the Military Cross (MC) on September 16, 1918 for his military services . He received there on October 28, 1919 with retroactive effect to August 1, 1919 his appointment as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) with the rank of Flying Officer . On February 2, 1920 he became an instructor at the Technical Training School 1 ( No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF ) and then on February 11, 1921 pilot of the No. 1 stationed in Iraq . 55 Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on June 30, 1922 . On October 10, 1922, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He was then deployed to the Air Force Depot between January 14 and April 13, 1923, and from April 13, 1923 instructor and officer in the staff of the domestic aircraft depot at the RAF Henlow military airfield. Thereafter, he became adjutant of No. 4 (Apprentices) Wing RAF , which was stationed at RAF Cranwell Air Force Base, and on August 19, 1926 No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF on the Air Force Base RAF Halton.

On December 20, 1927, Walmsley was transferred to the position of aviation commander of the No.1 stationed at RAF Waddington Air Force Base . 503 (County of Lincoln) Squadron , a Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAAF) equipped with Fairey Fawn biplane day bombers . He then became a QFI ( Qualified Flight Instructor ) flight instructor and adjutant to the commander of No. 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron . After his promotion to Squadron Leader on June 30, 1931, he became Personal Adjutant to the Chief of the Air Staff , Marshal of the Royal Air Force John Salmond on October 4, 1931 . In this position he remained with his successor Air Chief Marshal Geoffrey Salmond and after his death on April 1, 1933 also with Marshal of the RAF, Edward Ellington . On November 9, 1933, he took over his first command post as Commanding Officer of No. 33 Squadron RAF and then on February 9, 1935 as commander of No. 8 Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to Wing Commander on April 1, 1937 . On May 11, 1937, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Subsequently, on June 28, 1937, he was appointed commander of the RAF Abingdon air base.

Second World War

At the beginning of World War II, Walmsley was appointed commander of No. 71st Wing RAF , a squadron of the AASF ( RAF Advanced Air Striking Force ). The No. 71 Wing RAF under his command at the RAF Abingdon Air Force Base consisted of No. 15 Squadron RAF and No. 40 Squadron RAF together. At the beginning of the Battle of Britain in 1940 he was commander of the RAF Scampton Air Force Base and was first mentioned in the war report on July 11, 1940 due to his military service ( Mentioned in dispatches ). He was then transferred to the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ) as a group leader and was mentioned again in the war report on March 17, 1941 and September 24, 1941.

On March 16, 1942, Walmsley initially took over the post of Commander AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) of No. 6 (Bomber) Group RAF , which two months later on May 11, 1942 in No. 91 (Training) Group RAF was renamed and of which he remained in command until February 8, 1944. In this use he was mentioned on June 11, 1942 for the fourth time in the war report and was promoted to Group Captain on November 20, 1942 , this promotion being dated back to October 1, 1941. On January 1, 1943, he was also Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He then moved back to the headquarters of the RAF Bomber Command on February 8, 1944 and was subsequently as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) head of the night bombing staff department. On August 15, 1944 he was Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and was also promoted to Air Commodore on December 1, 1944 .

Ascent to the Air Marshal

After the war, Walmsley succeeded Wing Commander John Whitley as AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) in command of No. 4 Group RAF and remained at this post until his replacement by Group Captain Alick Stevens on December 15, 1945. On January 1, 1946 he was mentioned for the fifth time in the war report. After his promotion to Air Vice Marshal on April 1, 1946, initially Commander of the Air Transport Command in Southeast Asia , but already two months later on June 1, 1946, Head of Administration AOA ( Air Officer in charge of Administration ) at AHQ ( Air Headquarters ) in British -India .

Subsequently, Walmsley succeeded Air Marshal Roderick Carr as AOC-in-C ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) in command of RAF India on November 22, 1946 . His successor was then Air Marshal Thomas Elmhirst on August 15, 1947 , who officially became the first commander in chief of the air force in India after independence. On January 1, 1948, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) and has since had the suffix "Sir".

On February 4, 1948, Walmsley Air Marshal Albert Durston replaced as Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff . In this capacity he was promoted to Air Marshal on January 1, 1949 . On March 1, 1950, Air Marshal Arthur Sanders followed him as Deputy Chief of Air Force Staff.

Walmsley himself was then on March 1, 1950 successor to Air Chief Marshal Ralph Cochrane as Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding in Chief ) of the flight training command ( RAF Flying Training Command ). As a representative of the RAF, he attended the funeral of King George VI on February 15, 1952 . in St. George's Chapel of Windsor Castle in part. On June 5, 1952, he was also beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). He remained on the post of commanding general of the flight training command until he left active military service on August 1, 1952 and was then replaced by Air Vice Marshal Lawrence Pendred .

Even after his retirement, he remained connected to flight training and acted between 1952 and 1960 as managing director of the flight service training AST ( Air Service Training ) in Hamble-le-Rice and in 1960 as director of the College of Air Training there for a few months .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 29439, HMSO, London, January 14, 1916, p. 642 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 13322, HMSO, London, September 18, 1918, p. 3466 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 31620, HMSO, London, October 28, 1919, p. 13139 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 13857, HMSO, London, October 13, 1922, p. 1602 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 34396, HMSO, London, May 11, 1937, p. 3088 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36656, HMSO, London, May 11, 1937, p. 3771 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
7. ↑ Whitley was No. 4 Group RAF Acting Air Vice Marshal
8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 38161, HMSO, London, December 30, 1947, p. 7 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
9. ↑ HERE AND THERE: AST Chief's Trip . In: Flight International of January 29, 1954