William MacDonald (officer)

Sir William Lawrence Mary MacDonald GCB CBE DFC (born August 11, 1908 in County Cork , Ireland - † November 9, 1984 ) was a British Air Force officer in the Royal Air Force , who last served from 1962 to 1966 in the rank of General ( Air Chief Marshal ) air Force secretary ( air secretary ) was in the air Ministry.

Life

Pilot training and World War II

After attending Castleknock College , located in the Dublin suburb of Castleknock , MacDonald began his aviation training on April 27, 1929 at No. 3 Flying Training School RAF on the military airfield RAF Cranwell . After its termination on April 27, 1930, he was accepted into the RAF as a temporary soldier ( Short Service Commission ) and promoted to lieutenant ( pilot officer ). He then found use as a pilot in No. 19 (F) Squadron RAF , where he was promoted to first lieutenant ( Flying Officer ) on October 14, 1930 . After attending a flight instructor course at the Central Flying School at the RAF Upavon military airfield, his service as a soldier was extended in January 1933 ( Medium Service Commission ), so that from March 14, 1933, he attended another flight instructor course at the Central Flight School could participate.

MacDonald then became a QFI ( Qualified Flying Instructor ) flight instructor himself on September 26, 1933 at No. 4 RAF Flying Training School at the RAF Abu Sueir military airport in Egypt , where he acquired additional qualifications as a flight instructor in 1935 after being promoted to captain ( flight lieutenant ) on October 14, 1934. He then became a pilot for the British Ambassador to Egypt, Miles Lampson , on March 1, 1936, at RAF Ramlah Air Force Base , and in this capacity, on June 1, 1936, he was also a professional soldier ( Permanent Commission ). After his local promotion to Major ( Squadron Leader ) on 1 June 1938, he took his first command post on 1 October 1938 and that as commander ( Commanding Officer ) of using combat aircraft of type Fairey Battle equipped No. 150 Squadron RAF . During the western campaign, he took part with his unit in aerial battles against Messerschmitt Bf 109 units of the German Air Force over France and was shot down five times in five flights, each time he succeeded in jumping with a parachute or making an emergency landing in non-hostile territory and also his Crew was only slightly injured each time. On February 20, 1940, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).

MacDonald was then added to the staff of No. 1 Group RAF was transferred to RAF High Wycombe Air Force Base before becoming commander of No. 137th Wing RAF was. He was mentioned for the first time in the war report on June 2, 1943 ( Mentioned in dispatches ) for his services . He was last on November 20, 1944 Staff Officer for administrative tasks AOA ( Air Officer in charge of Administration ) of the 2nd Tactical Air Force 2TAF ( RAF Second Tactical Air Force ) belonging No. 84 Group RAF and remained there until after the end of the Second World War . One month after taking up this post, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( Wing Commander ) on December 1, 1944 and mentioned for the second time in the war report on January 1, 1945.

Post war and promotion to Air Chief Marshal

After the end of the war, MacDonald became Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on January 1, 1946, and Commander of the Central Flying School in 1946 . As such, he was promoted to Colonel ( Group Captain ) on October 1, 1946 . He then took part in an exchange program with the US Air Force from 1948 and, on his return in 1950, became Deputy Planning Director in the Joint Planning Staff of the Air Force.

After his promotion to the Air Commodore on January 1, 1952, MacDonald took over the post of AOC ( Air Officer Commanding ) in command of No. 230 Group RAF and two months later on June 1, 1952 as the commander of the resulting Air Force Headquarters AHQ ( Air Headquarters ) Burma .

MacDonald then returned to Great Britain and was promoted to Major General ( Air Vice Marshal ) on July 1, 1954 . Shortly thereafter, on September 8, 1954, he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence ). On January 2, 1956, he was also Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).

MacDonald then succeeded Air Marshal Hubert Patch on November 26, 1958 as Commander in Chief of the Air Force in the Middle East ( RAF Middle East Air Force ). On January 1, 1959, he was beaten on January 1, 1959 to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir". A year later he was promoted to Lieutenant General ( Air Marshal ) on January 1, 1960 , and on August 16, 1960, after the Republic of Cyprus gained independence from Great Britain, he also took on the role of Head of Administration for the Military Bases in Cyprus SBAA ( Sovereign Base Areas Administration ). After the reorganization of the RAF Middle East Air Force , he was since March 1, 1961 Commander in Chief of the Air Forces in the Middle East ( RAF Near East Air Force ) and in personal union commander of the British Forces in the Middle East ( British Forces Near East ), of which the today's British Forces Cyprus emerged . During this time the discussions about equipping the local air force with tactical bomber reconnaissance aircraft of the type BAC TSR.2 or strategic fighter-bombers of the type General Dynamics F-111 took place . Ultimately, it was equipped with the strategic long-range bombers of the Avro Vulcan type from British production. His successor as Commander in Chief of the Near East Air Force and the British Forces Cyprus was Air Marshal Denis Barnett on July 16, 1962 .

Most recently, MacDonald succeeded Air Chief Marshal Theodore McEvoy as Air Secretary on October 22, 1962, and was thus responsible for career planning, promotions and appointments of officers of the RAF in the Air Ministry . On September 1, 1963 he was promoted to General ( Air Chief Marshal ). In this post he remained until his retirement from active military service on August 11, 1966. His successor as Air Secretary was Air Marshal Donald Randell Evans . At the same time he was from 6 April 1965 to 12 August 1966, aide-de-camp of Queen Elizabeth II. For the Air Force.

On June 12, 1965 he was raised to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). He was also honored with the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor and the Croix de guerre . After his death he was buried in the Ship Lane Cemetery in Farnborough .

Web links

• Biography on Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organization
• William MacDonald in the database of Find a Grave (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Service Aviation. Air Force, Navy and Army Flying News . In: Flight International of October 26, 1961