Leonard Slatter

Leonard Slatter

Sir Leonard Horatio Slatter , KBE , CB , DSC & Bar , DFC (born December 8, 1894 in Durban , South Africa , † April 14, 1961 in Uxbridge ) was a British Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) of the Royal Air Force (RAF), the last from 1945 to 1948 Commanding General of the Air Force Coastal Command ( RAF Coastal Command ) was.

Life

Military training and uses as an officer

Slatter initially worked as a civil engineer and at the beginning of World War I in 1914 as a dispatch driver in the armored vehicle division (Naval Armored Car Division) of the Royal Navy and completed an observer training for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), the air forces of the Royal Navy , and was promoted to lieutenant (sub-lieutenant) on November 8, 1915 . In February 1916 he was transferred to Dunkirk as an observer of the seaplane squadron and began pilot training in July 1916. After he had completed his pilot training on November 14, 1916 with the certificate number 3912 of the Royal Aero Club , he was accepted as a lieutenant in the RNAS aviation service on November 29, 1916 and was initially a pilot at Dover military airfield . In February 1917, he was initially a pilot and later flight training commander with Sopwith 1½ Strutter - Double Decker - fighter aircraft equipped No. 13 Squadron RNAS in Dunkirk. On November 17, 1917, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

After the founding of the Royal Air Force (RAF) on April 1, 1918, the No. 13 Squadron RNAS in No. 213 Squadron renamed RAF . Slatter himself was taken over into the RAF's pilot pool in July 1918 and in 1919 he was the aviation commander of the A swarm of No. 1, equipped with Airco DH9 biplanes . 47 Squadron in southern Russia . On 17 May 1918 he was clasp (bar) to the Distinguished Service Cross, and on 1 January 1919 also called the Distinguished Flying Cross awarded (DTC). On August 1, 1919, he was taken over as a professional soldier (Permanent Commission) in the RAF and promoted to captain (Flight Lieutenant) , the promotion was dated back to April 1, 1918, the date the RAF was founded. In 1919 he was also awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus . On July 12, 1920 he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). On September 30, 1920 he became the aviation commander of No. 205 Squadron at the RAF Leuchars Air Force Base and on October 1, 1921, the aviation commander of No. 5 , also stationed at RAF Leuchars and equipped with Gloster Nightjar . 203 Squadron . After he was temporarily in command of the now stationed in the Ottoman Empire No. 203 Squadron , he was on leave between January 11 and March 10, 1922 with half pay (Half Pay List) . He then became an aviation commander on March 1, 1922, and then commander of No. 230 Squadron .

Uses as a staff officer

After his promotion to Major (Squadron Leader) on January 1, 1924 Slatter was on January 26, 1924 Commander of the Malta Air Force Base and on June 24, 1926 an unscheduled officer in the Air Force Depot. Then he was on September 6, 1926 commander for high-speed flight tests of the seaplane test facility MAEE (Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment) and on January 25, 1928 officer in the staff of the superintendent of the RAF. After that, on July 29, 1929, he was initially the commander of No. 1, equipped with Siskin IIIA biplane fighters . 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford base and on October 23, 1929 commander of the Siskin IIIA fighter aircraft at RAF Hornchurch, before he became the commander of this air force base two days later on October 25, 1929. Thereupon, on November 13, 1930, he took over the post of commander of the Siskin IIIA fighters stationed at the RAF Tangmere military airport . 43 Squadron .

After his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel (Wing Commander) on January 1, 1932, Slatter was initially again an unscheduled officer in the Air Force Depot on January 3, 1932 and attended a tactics course for staff officers in Portsmouth from May 2, 1932 . After graduation, he took over on August 22, 1932, the post of commander of the air forces on the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous and on August 9, 1935 as commander of the RAF Tangmere base. On April 13, 1937 he became the commandant of the RAF Feltwell Air Force Base, where he was promoted to Colonel (Group Captain) on July 1, 1937 . Subsequently, on August 8, 1939, he became the commander of the RAF Bassingbourn military airport, and just a month later, on September 3, 1939, he became senior staff officer SASO (Senior Air Staff Officer) of No. 1 Bomber Group RAF , before becoming an AOA (Air Officer in charge of Administration) of the British Air Forces in Iraq on February 2, 1940 .

Ascent to the Air Marshal

Slatter was promoted to Brigadier General ( Air Commodore ) on June 1, 1940 and took over the post of Air Officer Commanding of No. 203 Group RAF . On May 30, 1941 he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and from July 1941 was used as commander of No. 201 (Naval Co-operation) Group RAF and 1942 as commander of No 9 (Fighter) Group RAF . Because of his merits, he was mentioned in the war report on June 11, 1942 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) and on November 27, 1942 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". On February 21, 1943 he became commander of No. 15 Group RAF and as such promoted to Major General (Air Vice Marshal) on December 1, 1944 .

On June 30, 1945 Slatter Air Chief Marshal Sholto Douglas replaced as Commanding General (Air Officer Commanding in Chief) of the Air Force Coastal Command ( RAF Coastal Command ) and remained in this position until November 1, 1948, when Air Marshal John Baker took his place . On September 6, 1946 he was promoted to Grand Officer of the Greek Order of George I and on July 1, 1947 to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) . On February 1, 1949, he retired from active military service and took over on June 11, 1951 the post of Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire County .

Web links

• Entry on rafweb.org
• KNIGHTS AND DAMES in Leigh Rayment Peerage