John Barraclough

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir John Barraclough KCB CBE DFC AFC OStJ QCVSA FRAeS FRSA (born May 2, 1918 in Hounslow , London - † May 10, 2008 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) between 1974 and in 1976 was in command of the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) in London. He also served as a Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State from 1980 to 1988 .

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Barraclough worked after visiting the Cranbrook School in Cranbrook, founded in 1518, in the City of London's administration and in 1935 joined the Light Infantry Regiment Artists Rifles of the Territorial Army, of which he was a member for three years. On May 7, 1938, he was accepted into the RAF as a regular soldier ( Short Service Commission ) and then completed his flying training at a flying training school . After its completion, he was in 1938 in the pilot with December 17 Avro 652 Anson - reconnaissance planes equipped No. 269 ​​Squadron RAF and was promoted to Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ) on March 7, 1939 . He took part in the search for the submarine HMS Thetis , which was missing in Liverpool Bay on June 1, 1939 . After attending flying boat courses, he was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) at the beginning of the Second World War on August 12, 1940 and was a pilot in No. 240 Squadron RAF . There he took part in patrol flights over the North and Baltic Seas as a pilot of a maritime patrol from the Shetland Islands .

After visiting a flight instructor course Barraclough was 1,941 flight trainers in the Coastal Command ( RAF Coastal Command belonging) No. 4 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF at the RAF Stranraer military airfield . During his employment there he was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) and promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on August 12, 1941 . After that, from February 1942 onwards, he was an aviation commander in the reconstruction of No. 1, equipped with Consolidated PBY "Catalina" sea ​​reconnaissance aircraft . 209 Squadron RAF , which was used for reconnaissance flights over the Indian Ocean . He then took over his first command post on September 14, 1942, as a commanding officer of the RAF Mogadishu air base. As such, he took part in operational air missions near Madagascar and was honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for services acquired there on February 16, 1943 . In 1944 he finally became chief flight instructor at a flying boat unit and exercised this until April 1946, during which time he was mentioned in the war report on January 1, 1946 because of his services ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Staff officer in the post-war period

After the end of the war, Barraclough initially intended to study law , but then decided on another officer career after he was accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) on April 2, 1946 with retroactive effect from September 1, 1945 . A week later, on April 9, 1946, he began a course for staff officers at the RAF Staff College (Overseas) in Haifa and, after graduating in October 1946, was employed in Egypt . There he was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on February 25, 1947 , with the promotion also being retroactive to September 1, 1945. In 1948 he returned to Great Britain and was placed in the examination group ( Examing Wing ) of the Central Flying School . During this time he made the first flight to South Africa in a single-engine aircraft in 1951 .

1951 Barraclough moved to the command staff of the Imperial Defense College (IDC) in London and received there on July 1, 1951 his promotion to lieutenant colonel ( Wing Commander ). He then became a staff officer in the Air Force Training Command ( RAF Training Command ), where he prepared a report in which he dealt with the possibility of using a jet-powered basic training aircraft , which ultimately led to the introduction of the BAC Jet Provost . On June 1, 1953, he was honored with the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVSA). In October 1955 he took over the post of commander of the air force base RAF Biggin Hill and then in February 1957 as commander of the air force base RAF Middleton St George, where he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1957 .

On November 13, 1958, Barraclough was appointed group leader for operations and training at the headquarters of the Air Forces in the Far East ( RAF Far East Air Force ). On June 10, 1961, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). After his promotion to the Air Commodore on July 1, 1961, he took over the post of head of the public relations department in the Air Force Staff.

Promotion to Air Chief Marshal

Barraclough was then on July 1, 1964. Major General ( Air Vice Marshal transported) and as the successor to Air Vice Marshal Rochford Hughes to Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of on the air base RAF Mount Batten stationed and Coastal Command ( RAF Coastal Command belonging) No . 19 (Reconnaissance) Group RAF appointed. He stayed in this post until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal John Lapsley on February 9, 1967. He then completed a course in management studies at Harvard Business School and, on his return to Great Britain on September 15, 1967, took over the post of head of staff department for administration AOA ( Air Officer in charge of Administration ) at the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ). During this use, the attack command ( RAF Strike Command ) arose on April 30, 1968 from the merger of the bomber command with the combat aircraft command ( RAF Fighter Command ). Thereupon, from April 30, 1968, he also took over the post of head of the administration department. On January 1, 1969, he was also Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

After his promotion to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) January 1, 1970 Barraclough was born on March 2, 1970 successor to Vice Admiral Ian Hogg as Vice Chief of Defense Staff of the British Armed Forces ( Vice-Chief of the Defense Staff ). On June 13, 1970, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and has since had the addition of "Sir". In his role as Vice-Chief of the Defense Staff he was followed on March 31, 1972 by Lieutenant General John Gibbon .

Barraclough himself then succeeded Air Marshal Gareth Clayton on March 31, 1972 as Air Secretary and thus responsible for career planning, promotions and appointments of officers of the RAF in the Air Ministry . In this post he was promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ) on September 3, 1973 and remained in this position until his replacement by Air Marshal Derek Hodgkinson on October 15, 1973.

Barraclough was then on January 7, 1974, succeeding General Antony Read, in command of the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) in London . He held this post until his retirement from active military service on April 3, 1976 and his replacement by Admiral Ian Easton .

retirement

After his retirement, Barraclough, who was a member ( Freeman ) of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators in 1970 and was part of the Irish team at the Admiral's Cup in 1973 , became an honorary Air Commodore of a squadron in 1976 Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), the Air Forces Volunteer Reserve.

On April 7, 1980, he succeeded the former Admiral Desmond Dreyer as Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State and as such held the Sword of State on official occasions before the monarch, such as the solemn procession of the opening of Parliament . He held this state office within the Royal Household until May 2, 1988 and was then replaced by the former General Edward Burgess . In addition, from 1982 to 1989 he was Vice Chairman of the Financial Advisory Board of the British Export Council and was also a board member of various companies. He was also a member of the advisory boards of the airline ( Air League ), the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), West Devon St John's Ambulance , the Society for the Modern Pentathlon of the Air Forces ( RAF Modern Pentathlon Association ) and the Equestrian Association of the Armed Forces ( Combined Services Equitation Association ).

On January 1, 1984, Barraclough became Honorary Inspector General of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force and held this honorary post until 1989. In 1985 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Saint John (OStJ). In 2001 he also became an honorary citizen ( Freeman ) of the City of London. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS), the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), the British Institute of Management (FBIM) and the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR).

His 1946 marriage to Maureen McCormack, who died in 2001, gave birth to his daughter Moy Barraclough, who is married to David Richard Alexander Scott, who was the manager of Digital UK .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34982, HMSO, London, October 29, 1940, p. 6255 ( PDF , accessed March 3, 2016, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 49625, HMSO, London, January 23, 1984, p. 1052 ( PDF , accessed March 3, 2016, English).
  3. ^ Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough on thepeerage.com , accessed August 19, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Barraclough, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Hounslow
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 2008