Thomas Parselle

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Thomas Alfred Boyd Parselle CB CBE (born July 15, 1911 in Southern Rhodesia , † August 28, 1979 ) was a British Air Force officer, most recently in the rank of Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) of the Royal Air Force , who last served as Deputy Air between 1961 and 1964 Secretary was Deputy Head of Human Resources for the RAF in the Air Ministry .

Life

Pilot training and World War II

Parselle began his aviation training in 1930 as an Air Cadet in the B-Squadron of RAF College and was part of the college teams in athletics , rugby , hockey and squash during his training . After his promotion to lieutenant ( pilot officer ) on December 19, 1931, he joined No. 57 Squadron RAF , before joining No. 208 Squadron RAF at the RAF Valley Air Force Base. There he was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on June 19, 1933 and was subsequently employed between November 25, 1934 and 1940 as an instructor and adjutant to the commandant of No. 1, a member of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAAF) . 601 (County of London) Squadron . During this time he began language training in Japan on May 8, 1936, and was subsequently promoted to captain ( Flight Lieutenant ) on June 19, 1936 and major ( Squadron Leader ) on February 1, 1939 .

At the beginning of the Second World War Parselle took part in combat missions in East Africa before he was transferred to the air force staff at the RAF headquarters in Palestine and Transjordan on May 3, 1941 . In December 1942, he became the Commanding Officer of No. 1, stationed at RAF Linton-on-Ouse . 207 Squadron RAF . When he flew to Düsseldorf with his Avro Lancaster bomber from May 25th to 26th, 1943 , he was shot down by a night fighter of the Luftwaffe and after jumping with a parachute he became a prisoner of war in Germany , which he held in Stalag Luft III until the end of the war spent in Sagan .

Post-war period and promotion to Air Vice Marshal

After his liberation, Parselle returned to Great Britain and completed a staff course at RAF Staff College Bracknell in 1946 . On October 1, 1946 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ). After he was from January 9 to October 1948 Commander of the Air Force Base RAF Scampton , he became Commanding Officer of the Air Force Base RAF Hemswell and received his promotion to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on July 1, 1949 . On June 8, 1950, he became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was then employed between 1951 and 1954 in the Air Ministry and then from 1954 to April 16, 1956 as the commander of the staff academy of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Point Cook . As such, he was promoted to Air Commodore on January 1, 1956 .

After his return to Great Britain Parselle was on April 16, 1956 as the successor to Air Commodore Henry Eeles in command of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell , the officers' school of the British Air Force. He stayed in this position until he was replaced by Group Captain Denis Spotswood on August 26, 1958.

He himself was promoted to major general ( Air Vice Marshal ) on July 1, 1958 and was subsequently commander of the forces during the so-called Operation Grapple , a series of British nuclear weapons tests on Malden Island and Kiritimati in the Pacific Ocean . After his return Parselle was on May 8, 1959 Chief of Staff SASO ( Senior Air Staff Officer ) at the headquarters of the bomber command ( RAF Bomber Command ). Most recently, he was appointed Deputy Air Secretary on October 1, 1961, and as such was the representative of the then Air Secretary in the Ministry of Aviation, Air Chief Marshal Theodore McEvoy and, most recently, since October 22, 1962, Air Chief Marshal William MacDonald , who was responsible for the Royal Air Force Personnel Policy. On January 1, 1962, he was appointed Companion des Order of the Bath (CB).

On June 6, 1964, Parselle retired from active military service and settled in Spain .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33791, HMSO, London, January 19, 1932, p. 423 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 33961, HMSO, London, July 18, 1933, p. 4804 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 34297, HMSO, London, June 23, 1936, p. 4020 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
  4. ↑ De Lancaster W5001 violent crash boven Neerbosch in 1943
  5. ↑ London Gazette . No. 42552, HMSO, London, December 29, 1961, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed February 8, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Parselle, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Parselle, Thomas Alfred Boyd (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Air Force officer in the United Kingdom
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Southern Rhodesia
DATE OF DEATH August 28, 1979