Ronald Lees

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Sir Ronald Beresford Lee's KCB CBE DFC (born April 27, 1910 in Australia - † May 18, 1991 in Toorak Gardens, Burnside City , Adelaide , Australia) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served from 1963 to 1965 in the rank of Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) Commander in Chief of the British Air Force in Germany ( RAF Germany ) as well as commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ). For his services during the Second World War he was mentioned three times in the war report ( Mentioned in dispatches ).

Life

Pilot training and World War II

After attending Prince Alfred's College and St Peter's College in Adelaide in 1930, Lees joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), but like many other members of the RAAF at that time, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1931. There he was promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ) on March 18, 1931 from March 27, 1931 as a pilot at No. 29 Squadron RAF at the RAF Coningsby military airfield and on October 13, 1931 also promoted to first lieutenant ( flying officer ). After completing a flight instructor course at the Central Flying School on the RAF Upa military airfield from December 1934 to March 1935 , he was qualified as a flight instructor ( Qualified Flying Instructor ) at No. 4 RAF Flying Training School deployed to the RAF Valley military airfield. During this time he was promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on October 13, 1935 .

After his promotion to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on October 1, 1938 Lee was on December 8, 1938 Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the No. 72 Squadron RAF at the RAF Linton-on-Ouse Air Force Base and took up this post on December 14, 1938. He then served at the beginning of World War II during the Battle of Britain July 22, 1940 to January 9, 1941 as a staff officer for operational training at the attack command ( RAF Fighter Command belonging) No. 13 Group RAF at RAF Blakelaw Air Force Base. On October 22, 1940, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). After that he was commander of the RAF Coltishall air base on January 9, 1941 and was first mentioned in the war report on September 24, 1941 for his services there ( Mentioned in dispatches ). In addition, on December 26, 1941, he received a ribbon ( bar ) for his Distinguished Flying Cross.

On September 4, 1942 he was Commanding Officer in Tunisia stationed No. 324 Wing RAF , with which he took part in Operation Torch on November 8, 1942 , the British-American invasion of French North Africa . On February 2, 1943, he changed as a sector commander to the RAF Eastern Air Command , which was founded in November 1942, and on February 18, 1943, he again took over the post of commander of No. 324 Wing RAF . However, on March 1, 1943, Lees went almost two weeks, initially as a senior staff officer to No. 242 Group RAF in Algiers and on May 26, 1943 took over the function of operations officer in the headquarters of the Tactical Air Forces in North Africa NATAF ( Northwest African Tactical Air Force ). For his services there he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on June 2, 1943 . As a result, on August 26, 1943, he was appointed aide-de-camp for the air force of King George VI. before he became an officer in the staff of the Allied Tactical Air Force in the Mediterranean ( Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force ) on October 12, 1944 . During this time he was mentioned for the second time on June 1, 1944 and for the third time on January 1, 1945 in the war report.

Post-war period and promotion to Air Marshal

On January 1, 1946, Lees was appointed commander of the RAF Bassingbourn Air Force Base and on that day he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and at the same time commander of the US Legion of Merit . He was also promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on October 1, 1946 and to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1947 . In addition, he was also again aide-de-camp for the air forces of King George VI. and on April 26, 1949 the King's Aide-de-camp (ADC). In addition to a subsequent use as commander of the Metropolitan Sector of the RAF Fighter Command, he was after the death of King George VI. on February 6th aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II and held this position until January 1st, 1953.

Meanwhile, on September 8, 1952, Lees was appointed Air Officer Commanding of the re-established No. 83 Group RAF and held this position until his replacement by Group Captain Henry Hogan on August 24, 1955. During this time he was promoted to Air Commodore on January 1, 1953 and most recently on July 1, 1955 to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) . On August 24, 1955, he took over the role of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations ) and remained in this position until October 6, 1958. After that, he was SASO ( Senior Air Staff Officer) ) at the headquarters of the RAF Fighter Command.

As the successor to Air Marshal Charles Elworthy Lee was born on July 18, 1960 Deputy Chief of Air Staff ( Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ) and finally in this use on 1 January 1961 even to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal transported). On January 10, 1961 he was beaten Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". He was succeeded as Deputy Chief of Air Force Staff on June 25, 1963 Air Vice Marshal Christopher Hartley .

On June 25, 1963, Lees himself succeeded Air Marshal John Grandy as Commander in Chief of the British Air Forces in Germany (RAF Germany) and in personal union as commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Fleet 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ). He remained in this position until he was replaced by Air Vice Marshal Denis Spotswood on December 6, 1965, before retiring from active military service almost three months later on February 3, 1966.

In 1981 Lees returned to Australia and lived as a rancher in Albury , New South Wales. After his death, he was buried in the Centennial Park Crematorium in Adelaide.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33703, HMSO, London, March 31, 1931, p. 2141 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33786, HMSO, London, January 1, 1932, p. 52 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34221, HMSO, London, November 19, 1935, p. 7337 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34558, HMSO, London, October 4, 1938, p. 6202 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  5. ↑ Entry ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage The Battle of Britain Monument (accessed on 9 February 2016) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bbm.org.uk
  6. ↑ London Gazette . No. 35392, HMSO, London, December 23, 1941, p. 7299 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  7. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 36033, HMSO, London, June 2, 1943, p. 2430 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  8. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 37415, HMSO, London, December 28, 1945, p. 191 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
  9. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 42370, HMSO, London, June 10, 1961, p. 4143 ( PDF , accessed February 9, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Lees, Ronald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lees, Sir Ronald Beresford (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Australia
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1991
Place of death Toorak Gardens, Burnside City , Adelaide , Australia