John Aiken

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir John Alexander Carlisle Aiken KCB TEM (born December 22, 1921 in Belfast , Northern Ireland - † May 31, 2005 in Westminster , City of Westminster , London ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) was an Air Member for Personnel on the Air Force Staff between 1976 and 1978 and thus also a member of the Air Force Board of the Ministry of Defense . He then acted from 1978 to 1981 as director general of the military intelligence service CDI ( Chief of Defense Intelligence ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Aiken came after visiting the Birkenhead School in the British Army and was during the Second World War on November 2, 1940 lieutenant ( Second Lieutenant ) in the line infantry regiment Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders . A little over a year later, on November 22, 1941, he moved from the Army to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) and completed his flying training as a lieutenant ( pilot officer ). After his promotion to Lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on October 1, 1942, he was a pilot in the the Royal Auxiliary Air Force belonging No. 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron RAAF and took part in numerous aerial combat missions in Europe with this squadron . In 1944 he finally became the aviation commander of No. 548 Squadron RAF , which served in Southeast Asia and Australia .

Staff officer in the post-war period

After the end of the war, Aiken was a staff officer in the headquarters of the attack command ( RAF Fighter Command ) and there on June 13, 1947 as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) in the RAF and promoted to captain ( flight lieutenant ), with commissioning and promotion on September 1 Backdated to 1945. On July 4, 1947, he was awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal (TEM). In 1948 he completed an instructor course at the Central Flying School and then worked as a QFI ( Qualified Flying Instructor ) flight instructor at RAF College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force . After his promotion to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on January 1, 1950, he was commander of the Air Squadron of the University of Birmingham and was a 1953 graduate of RAF Staff College Bracknell . After graduation, he became Personal Adjutant to the Commanding General of RAF Fighter Command, Air Marshal Dermot Boyle, on March 29, 1954 .

On January 2, 1956 Aiken took his first command post when he was a follower of Squadron Leader Edward Sismore Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the No. 29 Squadron RAF was one with Gloster Meteor - fighters equipped night fighter relay team at the military airfield RAF Tangmere. As such he received the first standard of the squadron from the hand of Air Chief Marshal Dermot Boyle, who had become Chief of the Air Staff on January 1, 1956 . During this time he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on July 1, 1956 and replaced on January 2, 1958 by Squadron Leader William Harbison . He completed a course at the Joint Services Staff College (JSSC) following in January 1958, was followed from 29 March 1958 using as a staff officer for air operations in Headquarters Allied NATO -Streitkräfte in Northern Europe AFNORTH ( Allied Forces Northern Europe ).

On August 29, 1960, Aiken changed to the Air Force Staff as deputy head of the intelligence department and was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1961 . He then took over on November 4, 1963 the post of commander of the RAF Finningley air base and on December 1, 1964 as head of the intelligence department in the air force staff. There he was promoted to Air Commodore on July 1, 1965 and remained in this post until January 1968. On June 10, 1967 he was Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

Aiken completed a course at Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London from January 1968 and was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on January 1, 1969 . Then he took over on March 12, 1969 the post of Deputy Commander in Chief ( Deputy Commander in Chief ) of the Air Force in the Federal Republic of Germany ( RAF Germany ) and stayed there until March 8, 1971. He then held between March 8, 1971 and June 25, 1973 the function as head of the main training department of the Air Force and was at the same time from June 1, 1972 in personal union project manager for the manpower economy exercise . On June 2, 1973 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

On June 25, 1973, Aiken succeeded Air Marshal Derek Hodgkinson as the new Commander -in-Chief of the British Forces in Cyprus as well as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Air Forces in the Middle East NEAF ( RAF Near East Air Force ). At the same time he was also the administrator of the Royal Air Bases Akrotiri and Dekelia in Cyprus . A week after taking up this post, he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on July 1, 1973 . While he was there, the Turkish invasion and occupation of Northern Cyprus took place on July 20, 1974 , as a result of which he organized the evacuation of around 20,000 British nationals from Cyprus by the end of August 1974. On March 31, 1976, the NEAF was dissolved and the tasks were taken over by the Air Headquarters Cyprus . His successor as Commander-in-Chief of the BFC was then Air Marshal Roy Austen-Smith , who was also the administrator of the Royal Air Bases Akrotiri and Dekelia SBAA ( Sovereign Base Areas Administration ).

On June 5, 1976, Aiken succeeded Air Chief Marshal Neil Cameron as Air Member for Personnel and was responsible for personnel matters in the Air Force Staff until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal John Gingell on February 25, 1978. As such, he was also a member of the Air Force Board of the Ministry of Defense. Less than a month after being replaced by Air Vice Marshal Gingell, he retired from active military service on March 31, 1978.

Chief of Defense Intelligence and retirement

Subsequently, Aiken took over in 1978 as the successor to Lieutenant General David Willison as Director General of the military intelligence service CDI ( Chief of Defense Intelligence ). In this post he was followed three years later by Vice Admiral Roy Halliday , the previous Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff (Intelligence ).

After completing his work as CDI, Aiken served as chairman from 1981 to 1984 and then from 1984 to 1990 as a member of the advisory board of the Chatham House think tank , the Royal Institute of International Affairs . He was also President of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) from 1984 to 1985 and again between 1987 and 1988 .

His marriage to Pamela Bartlett in 1948 resulted in a daughter and a son.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 34995, HMSO, London, November 19, 1940, p. 6627 ( PDF , accessed February 29, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35531, HMSO, London, April 21, 1942, p. 1754 ( PDF , accessed February 29, 2016, English).
  3. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 38084, HMSO, London, September 30, 1947, p. 4585 ( PDF , accessed February 29, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 44326, HMSO, London, June 10, 1967, p. 6271 ( PDF , accessed on February 29, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 45984, HMSO, London, June 2, 1973, p. 6475 ( PDF , accessed February 29, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Aiken, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aiken, Sir John Alexander Carlisle (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast , Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 2005
Place of death Westminster , City of Westminster , London