Oliver Swann

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Sir Oliver Swann KCB CBE (maiden name: Schwann ; born November 18, 1878 in Wimbledon , London , † March 7, 1948 in Littleton , Surrey ) was a British officer in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force , who served as Deputy Chief of Air Force Staff ( Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ) between 1918 and 1919 was instrumental in building up the Royal Air Force, which was founded on April 1, 1918. After he was already ten years in retirement, he was during the Second World War as a Major General ( Air Vice Marshal recalled to active military service) and was 1940-1943 liaison officer of the air force in the region North Midlands .

Life

Training as a naval officer

In 1911, Schwann played a key role in the development of the Royal Navy's first airship, HMA No. 1 Mayfly involved

Schwann came after the school in 1895 as a naval cadet ( midshipman ) in the Royal Navy and was on completion of officer training on August 15, 1898. Lieutenant ( sub-lieutenant ) transported. In the following years, he found a variety of uses as a naval officer and was on April 15, 1899. Lieutenant Commander ( Lieutenant transported). He was temporarily an officer on board the training ship HMS Vernon and was promoted to frigate captain ( Commander ) on December 31, 1909 . On January 15, 1910, he took over his first command post, as a commanding officer of the minesweeper HMS Niger .

Schwann was then appointed assistant to Captain Murray Sueter , the Royal Navy's aviation officer. In this role he played a key role in the development and construction of the Mayfly , the Royal Navy's first airship HMA No. 1 ( His Majesty's Airship No. 1 ). After the prototype was destroyed on September 24, 1911 by strong winds due to its structural weaknesses, further airship development was discontinued. He then advocated equipping the Navy with conventional aircraft. He bought for himself then an Avro Type D - biplanes , he with floats made equip and was this the first British pilot who performed a water start.

RNAS and World War I

Schwann also completed his pilot training, which he completed on April 16, 1912 with Certificate No. 203 from the Royal Aero Club (RAeC). He then entered the service of the company founded on April 13, 1912 Naval Air Service RNAS ( Royal Naval Air Service ). In November 1914 he became Sueter's deputy head of the aviation department of the Admiralty . After June 30, 1914 Captain ( Captain had been promoted), he was captain of the port and on November 9, 1914 during the First World War to Wing Captain transported. In April 1915 he became commander of the seaplane ship HMS Campania and as such was in the preparations to accompany the under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe standing Grand Fleet ( Grand Fleet ) to Skagerrakschlacht involved on 31 May in 1916. However, he received no order to leave his ship. Two hours after leaving the Grand Fleet, he himself gave the order for the HMS Campania to sail , but received the order from Admiral Jellicoe himself to return to the home port. This led to the fact that the British fleet in the Skagerrakschlacht lacked the reconnaissance aircraft stationed on the HMS Campania , which might have contributed to a completely different outcome of the sea battle.

From July 1916, Swann was responsible for establishing the first training facility to train pilots and aerial observers in techniques for working with the fleet. During this time, as a pilot in Scarborough, he had to make an emergency landing in a German aircraft that also bore German national emblems . Thereupon he narrowly escaped being shot by British soldiers, especially since he still had his German- sounding family name Schwann. He then had his family name changed to the Anglicized form Swann. Most recently he acted as commander of the units on Orkney during the First World War from 1917 to 1918 .

Deputy Chief of the Air Force Staff

After the merger of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) for the independent Royal Air Force (RAF) Swann was on April 1, 1918 Colonel ( Colonel transported) and took over on 12 August 1918 as successor Brigadier General Robert Marsland Groves took up the post as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff . Was at the same time him the temporary rank ( Temporary Rank ) of a brigadier general ( Brigadier-General ) will be awarded. On January 1, 1919, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). In February 1919, however, he was replaced again by Groves as Deputy Chief of the Air Force Staff.

Then Swann was on April 2, 1919 AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) commander of the air forces in the Mediterranean ( Mediterranean District ) and on June 3, 1919 commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). On August 1, 1919, he was promoted to the permanent rank ( Permanent Commission ) of an Air Commodore , where he finally moved on January 22, 1920 from the Royal Navy to the permanent service of the Royal Air Force. On January 1, 1920 he became commander of the now renamed Mediterranean Group RAF Air Force in the Mediterranean. On June 2, 1920, Group Captain Eugene Gerrard succeeded him in this post . He himself had already assumed the post of commander of the air forces in Egypt ( Egyptian Group RAF ) on June 1, 1920 , after the previous commander of Air Commodore Robert Marsland Groves was killed in a plane crash on May 27, 1920. On January 1, 1922, he was replaced as commander of the Egyptian Group RAF by Air Commodore Bertie Drew .

Air Member for Personnel and retirement from active service

Thereupon Swann returned to Great Britain and took over there on January 5, 1922 the post as head of the personnel department of the RAF. As such, he was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on June 30, 1922 , with the promotion being dated back to August 1, 1919. Subsequently, on August 1, 1922, he became the first Air Member for Personnel and also a member of the Air Council . He was responsible for personnel matters in the Air Force Staff until his replacement by Air Vice Marshal Philip Game on November 27, 1923.

He himself became on November 27, 1923 Commander of the Air Force in the Middle East ( RAF Middle East ) and thus successor to Air Vice Marshal Edward Ellington . On January 1, 1924, he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and has since had the addition of "Sir". Air Vice Marshal Tom Webb-Bowen succeeded him on November 5, 1926 as commander of the RAF Middle East . On November 2, 1926, he was given leave of absence with half pay ( half-pay list ) before retiring from active military service three years later on November 2, 1929.

Second World War

One day after the start of the Second World War and almost ten years after his retirement from military service, Swann was ordered back into active service on September 2, 1939. However, he renounced his previous rank as Air Vice Marshal and instead received the lower rank as Air Commodore. He then took over from Air Commodore George Bentley Dacre as commander of the RAF Halton military airfield and in personal union as commander of the Technical Training School 1 ( No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF ). On July 20, 1940, he was replaced in these uses by Air Commodore George Bentley Dacre. On July 20, 1940, he went back into retirement, with effect from June 30, 1922 again received the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

After that acted Swann 1940 to 1943 as a liaison officer of the air force in the region North Midlands .

His marriage to Elizabeth on December 2, 1913 resulted in a son and two daughters.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 27076, HMSO, London, May 2, 1899, p. 2806 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  2. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 28842, HMSO, London, June 22, 1914, p. 4880 ( PDF , accessed on March 11, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 28973, HMSO, London, November 13, 1914, p. 9265 ( PDF , accessed on March 11, 2016, English).
  4. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 29920, HMSO, London, January 26, 1917, p. 989 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  5. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 31098, HMSO, London, January 1, 1919, p. 91 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 31378, HMSO, London, June 3, 1919, p. 7026 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 31755, HMSO, London, January 27, 1920, p. 1098 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  8. ^ Mediterranean Group on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  9. ^ Egypt / Egyptian Group on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  10. ↑ London Gazette . No. 32579, HMSO, London, January 17, 1922, p. 469 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  11. ↑ London Gazette . No. 32725, HMSO, London, June 22, 1922, p. 4942 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  12. ^ Air Member for Personnel on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  13. ↑ London Gazette . No. 32884, HMSO, London, November 30, 1923, p. 8330 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  14. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 32893, HMSO, London, January 1, 1924, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  15. ^ RAF Middle East on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  16. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33217, HMSO, London, November 5, 1926, p. 7050 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  17. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 33549, HMSO, London, November 5, 1929, p. 7074 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  18. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 34721, HMSO, London, October 31, 1939, p. 7274 ( PDF , accessed March 11, 2016, English).
  19. ↑ No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
  20. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34915, HMSO, London, 6 August 1940, p. 4811 ( PDF , accessed on 11 March 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Swann, Oliver
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwann, Oliver (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force and Navy officer of the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Wimbledon , London
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1948
Place of death Littleton , Surrey