Neil Cameron

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Neil Cameron, Baron Cameron of Balhousie KT GCB CBE DSO DFC AE (born July 8, 1920 in Perth , Perthshire , Scotland , † January 29, 1985 in London ) was a British military and politician.

He was Marshal of the Royal Air Force , Chief of the Air Staff and Chief of the Defense Staff and became a life peer member of the House of Lords in 1983 .

Life

Training as a pilot and World War II

Cameron, whose father died three weeks after his birth, began working for the Commercial Bank of Scotland in Newburgh in 1937 after completing his education at the Northern District School . After the beginning of the Second World War , he joined the Air Force's RAFVR ( Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ) volunteer reserve in 1939 and was initially used between 1940 and 1941 during the Battle of Britain at No. 1, which was stationed at RAF Martlesham Heath Air Force Base . 17 Squadron RAF , where he was a sergeant pilot on a Hawker Hurricane .

He was then promoted to pilot officer on July 31, 1941 and as such flew a hurricane in No. 134 Squadron RAF on air missions in Murmansk . On March 4, 1942 he was promoted to captain ( Flight Officer ) and on March 4, 1943 provisionally appointed Major ( Acting Squadron Leader ).

After finishing his assignment in Murmansk, he became the Acting Commanding Officer on November 21, 1944 for No. 1 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt equipped with American fighter-bombers . 258 Squadron RAF in Burma and held this post until the end of the war. For his services there he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) on October 2, 1945 .

Post-war period and promotion to staff officer

After the end of World War II, Cameron, who was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his military achievements , became an instructor at the RAF School of Land / Air Warfare in Old Sarum in 1945 and was there worked as a trainer until 1948. After attending the RAF Staff College in Andover (Hampshire) , he was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on January 1, 1950 , and between 1952 and 1955 himself was an instructor at RAF Staff College and then from 1955 to 1956 Commander of the Air Squadron from the University of London ( University of London Air Squadron ).

After his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on January 1, 1956, Cameron was between 1956 and 1959 Personal Staff Officer of the Chief of the Air Force Staff, General ( Air Chief Marshal ) Dermot Boyle . He was then from 1959 to 1962 in command of the Air Force Base in Abingdon (Oxfordshire) ( RAF Abingdon ) and was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) with effect from July 1, 1960 .

Ascent to the Air Marshal

Cameron then began a course of study at Imperial Defense College in London in 1963 and, after being promoted to Brigadier General ( Air Commodore ) on July 1, 1964, became Chief Staff Officer of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Europe SHAPE ( Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ) in Rocquencourt near Paris . After a subsequent short-term use in 1965 as Assistant Commander for the cadets of the Royal Air Force College in Cranwell he was the Program Evaluation Group since September 1966 as a member of United Kingdom Ministry of Defense ( Ministry of Defense on).

Cameron, who became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on June 10, 1967 , was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on July 2, 1968 and then Assistant Chief of Defense for Policy ( Assistant Chief of Defense Staff (Policy) ) and held this position until 1970. He was then from 1970 to 1972 Senior Staff Officer of the Air Force Support Command ( RAF Air Support Command ) and was for his services on January 1, 1971 Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). He then acted as Deputy Commander of the British Air Force in the Federal Republic of Germany ( RAF Germany ) between 1972 and 1973 .

On July 1, 1974, Cameron was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) and took over the role of Commanding General ( Air Officer Commanding ) of 46 Group RAF as the successor to Air Marshal Denis Crowley-Milling , before he succeeded on October 5, 1974 from Air Marshal Harold Brownlow Martin as Air Member for Personnel and was responsible for personnel matters in the Air Force Staff until his replacement by Air Marshal John Aiken on June 5, 1976. On January 1, 1975, he was knighted Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

Chief of Air and Defense Staff, Marshal of the RAF and Member of the House of Lords

After his promotion to General ( Air Chief Marshal ) on November 1, 1975, Cameron, who also became Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on June 12, 1976, succeeded Air Chief Marshal Andrew Humphrey as Chief of the August 7, 1976 Luftwaffenstabes ( Chief of the Air Staff ) and held this position until he was replaced on August 10, 1977 by Air Chief Marshal Michael Beetham . Beetham also followed him in the role of aide-de-camp for the Air Force of Queen Elizabeth II. Shortly after taking office as Chief of the Air Force, he provoked a debate in the House of Commons in June 1976 after publicly expressing his concern about the disproportionate cuts the Royal Air Force since 1957 as well as his fears about further cuts. The government then emphasized the importance of the RAF, but did not want to rule out further cuts in the future. In late 1976 he created the new role of Director of Defense Studies to investigate current and future uses of the Air Force in relation to any military operation.

On July 31, 1977 he was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force .

August 30, 1977 Cameron became the Chief of Defense Staff ( Chief of Defense Staff appointed) as successor to Commodore ( Admiral of the Fleet ) Edward Ashmore . He was the third Air Force officer in this role after William Dickson , Charles Elworthy and Andrew Humphrey. After two years in office, he retired, whereupon on September 1, 1979, Fleet Admiral Terence Lewin succeeded him as the new chief of the defense staff.

A year later took over Cameron on 1 August 1980, succeeding Richard Way , the Office of the Head ( Principal ) of the King's College London and held this position until his death from. Stewart Sutherland was succeeded as principal .

On March 14, 1983, Cameron was raised as Baron Cameron of Balhousie , of Balhousie in the District of Perth and Kinross, to life peer within the meaning of the Life Peerages Act 1958 and was thus a member of the House of Lords until his death. Its official introduction ( Introduction ) as in the House of Lords took place on March 16, 1983 with the support of Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers and Diana Neave, Baroness Airey of Abingdon . Most recently he was awarded the Scottish Order of the Thistle ( The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle ) on November 30, 1983 .

Publications

  • In the Midst of Things , Autobiography (posthumous), 1986

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35260, HMSO, London, August 29, 1941, p. 5026 ( PDF , accessed October 23, 2013, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35575, HMSO, London, May 26, 1942, p. 2297 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35989, HMSO, London, April 20, 1943, p. 1858 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 36805, HMSO, London, November 21, 1944, p. 5341 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 37291, HMSO, London, September 28, 1945, p. 4857 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  6. ↑ London Gazette . No. 38803, HMSO, London, January 3, 1950, p. 53 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 40666, HMSO, London, December 27, 1955, p. 7307 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  8. ↑ London Gazette . No. 42080, HMSO, London, June 28, 1960, p. 4577 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  9. ↑ London Gazette . No. 43372, HMSO, London, June 30, 1964, p. 5719 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  10. ↑ London Gazette . No. 44625, HMSO, London, June 28, 1968, p. 7352 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  11. ↑ London Gazette . No. 45262, HMSO, London, December 30, 1970, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  12. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46349, HMSO, London, September 24, 1974, p. 7907 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  13. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46444, HMSO, London, December 31, 1974, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  14. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46727, HMSO, London, November 4, 1975, p. 13887 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  15. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46919, HMSO, London, June 4, 1976, p. 8017 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  16. ↑ London Gazette . No. 46984, HMSO, London, August 10, 1976, p. 10916 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  17. ^ John Andreas Olsen (editor): Global Air Power , 2011, ISBN 1-59797-555-9 , p. 50
  18. ↑ London Gazette . No. 47289, HMSO, London, August 1, 1977, p. 9978 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  19. ↑ London Gazette . No. 47311, HMSO, London, August 26, 1977, p. 11141 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  20. ↑ London Gazette . No. 48275, HMSO, London, August 11, 1980, p. 11379 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  21. ↑ London Gazette . No. 49212, HMSO, London, December 30, 1982, p. 1 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
  22. ^ Entry in Hansard (March 16, 1983)
  23. ↑ London Gazette . No. 49557, HMSO, London, December 2, 1983, p. 15977 ( PDF , accessed October 25, 2013, English).
predecessor Office successor
Andrew Humphrey Chief of the Air Staff
1976-1977 		Michael Beetham
Sir Edward Ashmore Chief of the Defense Staff
1977-1979 		Sir Terence Lewin
personal data
SURNAME Cameron, Neil
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cameron, Neil, Baron Cameron of Balhousie (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Perth , Perthshire , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1985
Place of death London