Norman Coslett

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Sir Thomas Norman Coslett KCB OBE ( November 8, 1909 - November 9, 1987 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served as Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) between 1963 and 1966 as Commanding General of the Air Force Maintenance Command ( RAF Maintenance Command ) was.

Life

Pilot training and World War II

After attending school in January 1926, Coslett began training as an aircraft mechanic at the Technical Training School 1 ( No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF ). After graduating, he began his aviation training in 1929 as a flight cadet in the B-Squadron of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force, and was part of the college team in boxing and rugby . After completing his training, he was accepted into the RAF as a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ) on December 20, 1930 and, after his simultaneous promotion to Lieutenant ( Pilot Officer ), he was a pilot at No. 2 Squadron RAF . On October 16, 1931, he switched to No. 5 Squadron RAF and was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on June 20, 1932 . After being an instructor at the RAF Leuchars military airport from May 24, 1934 , he completed an engineering course for officers at the Home Aircraft Depot between August 8, 1934 and August 8, 1936 , where he received his on April 1, 1936 Promotion to captain ( flight lieutenant ).

Subsequently, on August 8, 1936, he became an engineer officer at No. 2 RAF Flying Training School at the RAF Brize Norton Air Force Base and then on February 19, 1938 pilot of No. 216 Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on December 1, 1938 . In January 1939 he switched to the Air Force Depot of the Royal Air Force in the Middle East as an engineer officer and returned to Great Britain shortly before the outbreak of the Battle of Britain on April 24, 1940 , after the outbreak of the Second World War , where he worked in the Air Ministry ) has been. From 1942 on he was a liaison officer to US aircraft manufacturers and to the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) and from February 12, 1943 until the end of the war, he was an officer in the India department of the Aviation Ministry.

Post-war period and promotion to Air Marshal

After the end of the war, Coslett graduated from RAF Staff College Bracknell and then took over his first command post in 1946, namely as Commanding Officer of the RAF Lüneburg air base , where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on October 1, 1946 . On January 20, 1947 he returned to Great Britain and became deputy head of the department for technical training in the Ministry of Aviation and then in 1948 commander of the AFEE ( Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment ). After his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on January 1, 1949, he graduated from the Industrial College Armed Forces in Washington, DC and then took part in an exchange program at the US Air Force base Wilbur Wright Field in Riverside from 1950.

In 1953 Coslett was a graduate of Imperial Defense College and then took over in 1954 in the Department of Aviation as deputy head of the engineering department. On February 11, 1957, he changed as senior technical staff officer STSO ( Senior Technical Staff Officer ) to the command of the Coastal Air Force ( RAF Coastal Command ) and was promoted to Air Commodore on July 1, 1957 . In April 1958, Air Commodore was succeeded by Eric Nelson as commander of No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF and remained there until it was replaced by Air Commodore Bruce Robinson in July 1961.

Coslett was then on July 27, 1961 Commander ( Air Officer Commanding ) of the Technical Training Command ( RAF Technical Training Command belonging) No. 24 Group RAF and was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) in this service on January 1, 1962 . A year later, on January 1, 1963, he became Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

Most recently, Coslett, who had also been awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), succeeded Air Marshal Leslie Dalton-Morris on June 4, 1963, as Air Officer Commanding in Chief of the RAF Maintenance Command ) and remained in this use until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal Kenneth Porter on July 2, 1966. Four days after taking office, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) on June 8, 1963 , so that he was then was allowed to use the suffix "Sir". On July 1, 1963 he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) and retired on July 20, 1966 from active military service.

He then worked in the private sector and was director of Flight Refueling Limited between 1966 and 1975 .

Web links

  • Biography on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33682, HMSO, London, January 20, 1931, p. 463 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33853, HMSO, London, August 9, 1932, p. 5140 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34276, HMSO, London, April 21, 1936, p. 2560 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34576, HMSO, London, December 2, 1938, p. 7611 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 41909, HMSO, London, December 29, 1959, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 43010, HMSO, London, May 31, 1963, p. 4795 ( PDF , accessed February 12, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ People and Posts . In: Flight International of October 16, 1969
personal data
SURNAME Coslett, Norman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coslett, Sir Thomas Norman (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1909
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1987