Laurence Sinclair

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Sir Laurence Frank Sinclair GC KCB CBE DSO (born June 13, 1908 in Frinton-on-Sea , Essex ; † May 14, 2002 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who was most recently in the rank of Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) between 1958 and 1960 commandant of the Joint Services Staff College (JSSC). On January 21, 1941, he was awarded the George Cross , the highest civilian honor for bravery in the United Kingdom, for rescuing a seriously injured soldier from a crashed and burning aircraft .

Life

Pilot training and time before World War II

At the beginning of his military career flew Sinclair biplane - fighters of the type Bristol F.2

Sinclair, who comes from a soldier's family, began his aviation training in 1926 as a flight cadet in the B-Squadron of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force. After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) on July 28, 1928 and promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ). At the same time he was used as a pilot in the No. 4 Squadron RAF on the military airfield RAF Farnborough . This season was initially with biplane - fighter aircraft of the type Bristol F.2 equipped, then with double deckers type Armstrong Whitworth Atlas . On January 21, 1930, he joined as a pilot in Iraq stationed No. 30 Squadron RAF and received there a week later on January 28, 1930 his promotion to first lieutenant ( flying officer ). After his return to Great Britain, he was deployed in the RAF aircraft depot on February 29, 1932, and began an instructor course at the Central Flying School on May 16, 1932 .

After graduating in category A2, Sinclair became a QFI ( Qualified Flight Instructor ) flight instructor on July 31, 1932 at No. 5 Flying Training School RAF and then at the Royal Auxiliary Air Force belonging No. 501 (Bomber) Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to Captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on June 1, 1934 . Then he changed on May 26, 1935 to the staff of the superintendent of the RAF reserve units. On May 8, 1937, he was transferred as a staff officer to the headquarters of the RAF in British India and promoted there on February 1, 1938 to major ( Squadron Leader ). During an operation for alleged stomach problems it was found that he was born with only one kidney . This meant that his flying career seemed to be over and he could only be used for base-related staff tasks.

Second World War

For rescuing a gunner from a burning aircraft wreck, Sinclair was awarded the George Cross on January 21, 1941 , the highest civilian honor for bravery in the United Kingdom

After his return to Great Britain, Sinclair was then on July 20, 1930 officer in the staff affairs department of the Air Force Staff and at the beginning of the Second World War in 1940 officer in the local department for war training and tactics. On the day of the start of the German Wehrmacht's western campaign against France , Belgium and the Netherlands , on May 10, 1940, he took over his first command post over an aviation unit as a commanding officer of No. 110 Squadron RAF at RAF Wattisham Air Force Base. However, his squadron was dispatched to combat missions in France on the same day in order to interrupt the communication channels of the German troops there. Afterwards, his unit carried out attacks on the ports on the English Channel and German transport ships anchored there in order to prevent an invasion of Great Britain. On September 13, 1940, he was honored with the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

In September 1940 he was visiting the troops as a Bristol Blenheim bomber of No. 107 Squadron RAF sustained an engine failure and crashed next to a road. He then rescued the unconscious gunner from the burning aircraft wreck and was honored for this act on January 21, 1941 with the George Cross , the highest civilian honor for bravery in the United Kingdom. For its military service it was mentioned in the war report for the first time three weeks before on January 1, 1941 ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

On October 31, 1941, Sinclair was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) Chief of Staff of No. 6 Group RAF , which at the time was responsible for operational training in the RAF Bomber Command . He then acted from May 11, 1942 as SASO of No. 91 Group RAF . During the British-American invasion of French North Africa, carried out under the code name Operation Torch in November 1942, he was in command of the Bristol Blenheim light bomber No. 323 Wing RAF . Then he found himself with this association and the No. 614 Squadron RAF on missions in the Middle East . On January 1, 1943, he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Due to his success, he was on March 21, 1943 AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) Commander of the Tactical Bomber Force within the Northwest African Tactical Air Fleet NWATAF ( Northwest African Tactical Air Force ).

After the end of the fighting in North Africa, he and his association took part in Operation Husky from July 10, 1943 , the Allied invasion of Sicily , which marked the start of the Italian campaign . He then became one of King George VI's aide-de-camp on March 26, 1943 . for the Air Force. On February 16, 1943, he was also awarded a clasp ( bar ) for the DSO. On August 27, 1943, he was also awarded the Officer's Cross of the US Legion of Merit . He later became an officer in the General Inspectorate of the Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean on March 22, 1944, MAAF ( Mediterranean Allied Air Forces ). A few months later, in August 1944, as Senior Air Staff Officer, he became Chief of Staff of the newly formed Air Forces in the Balkans BAF ( Balkan Air Force ), which was mainly responsible for air support for the partisan units of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army . On January 25, 1945 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ), this promotion being dated back to June 1, 1944.

Staff officer in the post-war period

Sinclair as aide-de-camp of King George VI. during a troop visit to Hammamet

After the end of the war, Sinclair returned to Great Britain in 1945, where he was head of the department for staffing procedures in the Air Ministry . A second mention was made in the war report on June 14, 1945 for his military achievements. In use in the Aviation Ministry, he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1946 . On January 1, 1946, he was also Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He then graduated from Imperial Defense College in London in 1947 and was briefly chief of staff at No. 84 Group RAF , before he became commander of the RAF Gütersloh Air Force Base on December 15, 1947 .

After his local promotion to Air Commodore on July 1, 1948 Sinclair took over on December 1, 1948 post as commander AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) of the British occupation forces in Germany belonging No. 2 Group RAF . He then returned to Great Britain in 1949 and was initially deputy commandant of RAF College Cranwell. On March 27, 1949, he resigned as the King's aide-de-camp for the Air Force. On July 31, 1950, he was succeeded Air Commodore George Beamish as commandant of RAF College Cranwell and replaced in this role on August 25, 1952 by Group Captain Henry Eeles .

Ascent to Air Vice Marshal

Shortly before the end of his service as commandant of RAF College Cranwell, Sinclair was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on July 1, 1952 . Thereupon, at the end of August 1952, he was initially commander of the Air Force Headquarters in Iraq , but a few weeks later as the successor to Air Vice Marshal Lawrence Pendred, commander of the Land / Air Warfare School in Old Sarum . In this capacity he was followed in 1953 by Air Vice Marshal Gilbert Harcourt-Smith .

Sinclair was then on November 4, 1953 Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations ). He then succeeded Air Vice-Marshal Sydney Bufton as Air Officer Commanding of the British forces in Aden on September 17, 1955. BFA ( British Forces Aden ), which in 1956 joined British forces on the Arabian Peninsula, BFAP ( British Forces Arabian Peninsula ) were renamed. However, this was not only associated with a change of name, but also meant that he had to report directly to the chief of the air force staff and no longer to the commander of the armed forces in the Middle East as before. On June 13, 1957 he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and thus led to the addition of "Sir". He was succeeded by Air Vice Marshal Maurice Heath on September 30, 1957 as commander of the British Forces Arabian Peninsula .

Most recently, Sinclair was commandant of the Joint Services Staff College at Latimer House in 1958 . After his longtime friend and politician of the Conservative Party , Duncan Sandys , his previous post as Minister of Aviation on 27 July 1960 ( Minister of Aviation ) left to instead Minister for Relations with the Commonwealth ( Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations to be) eliminated Sinclair prematurely retired from active military service on July 29, 1960. Instead, he took over the function of the Department of Aviation as head of the supervisory authority for airport ground crews ( Controller of Ground Services ) before becoming head of the resulting national air traffic control authority, NATCS ( National Air Traffic Control Services ) in 1962 . He held this position until 1965. From 1965 until his death in 2002 he was a member of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association Committee .

His marriage to Valerie Dalton White in 1941 resulted in a daughter and a son.

publication

  • Strike To Defend , Memoirs, private edition (50 copies), 1992

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33414, HMSO, London, August 21, 1928, p. 5575 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33585, HMSO, London, March 4, 1930, p. 1421 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34055, HMSO, London, June 1, 1934, p. 3487 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34478, HMSO, London, February 1, 1938, p. 670 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 35048, HMSO, London, January 17, 1941, p. 403 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  6. ↑ George Cross Holders on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 35904, HMSO, London, February 16, 1943, p. 811 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36148, HMSO, London, August 27, 1943, p. 3825 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41089, HMSO, London, June 13, 1957, p. 3369 ( PDF , accessed February 20, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Sinclair, Laurence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sinclair, Sir Laurence Frank (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Frinton-on-Sea , Essex
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 2002