British Army

General Cranley Charlton Onslow CB, CMG, CBE, DSO, MiD.

Cranley Charlton Onslow was born on the 19 September 1869.  After attending Dover College he went to Sandhurst Military College , being commissioned into the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1889. He then was sent to India where his battalion participated in the Isaza Expedition and fought on the Northwest Frontier. In May 1900 he was seconded from the Bedfordshire Regiment to act as Adjutant of the Indian Volunteers. In July 1910 he was given a staff appointment. When World War One broke out in 1914, he fought in the battles of Mons,
Le Cateau, Marne, and Aisne, before being wounded back to England. In 1915 he was once again back in the thick of things, as commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, during the battles of Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, Givenchy, and Loos. On the 10th of February 1915 he was promoted to Temporary Lieutenant Colonel. In June he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was promoted to Temporary Brigadier General on the 21st of July 1916
and took command of the 1st Battalion, assuming Brigade commands, before becoming the commander of the 7th Brigade in 1917 for the battle of Messines. He was awarded the Cross du Guerre, in May 1917 and was mentioned in dispatches for he service during the First World War. Retaining his temporary rank he was promoted to full Colonel in February 1920 and by early 1923 had been appointed Brigade Commander of the Staffordshire Infantry Brigade. On the 23rd of May 1923 he retired from active duty with the Honorary rank of Brigadier General and was removed from the Reserve of Officers list in September 1924. 
He served as a Knight of Windsor, at Windsor Castle from 1930 until he passed away at the age of 71, on the 17th of December 1940.

More about General Onslow can be found  at www. bedfordregiment.org.uk, www.iwm.org.uk, thepeerage.com and the London Gazette.

Military Knights of Windsor peaked cap. General Cranley Charlton Onslow

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Lieutenant Colonel Lord Burnham OBE, MID, JP, DL. 5th Baron of Burnham,
Scots Guards.

William Edward Harry Lawson was born on the 22nd of October 1920.  He spent his childhood at Hall Barn in Beaconsford Buckinghamshire, the seat of his father Major-General Edward Frederick  Lawson, the 4th Baron of Barnham. The Lawson family had strong connections to the Daily Telegraph. In May 1939 after attending Eton College, where he was Cadet Sergeant in the Officer Training Corps., W. E. H. Lawson became a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Buckingham Yeomanry. The Yeomanry saw action with the British Expeditionary Force in France before being evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, with Lawson personally disembarking on HMS Worcester. After Dunkirk he transferred to the Scots Guards in June 1941 where he served with distinction, being Mentioned in Dispatches for his service in Malaya  in 1950/51, then taking command of C Company in 1956 and then the 1st Battalion in 1959 until 1962, when he retired from the regiment, having risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his military career he served in the Second World War, Egypt, the USA, and in postwar Germany. He was also made an Officer of the British Empire. During the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965, Colonel the Lord Burnham was part of the first watch. Upon the death of his father in 1963, he became the 5th Baron of Burnham, serving as a Justice of the Peace in 1970 and representing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second as a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire in 1977. After an active life Colonel "Bill" Lawson, the 5th Baron of Burnham passed away on June the 18th 1993.

More about Lord Burnham can be found in the thepeerage.com, beaconsfieldhistory.org.uk, in the book "Among Friends - The Scots Guards 1956 - 1993" Murray Naylor, 1995, and in the London Gazette.

Scots Guards officer's uniform. Lord Burnham

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Sir Thomas Fowell Victor Buxton. 6th Baronet of Belfield, Scots Guards.

Thomas Fowell Victor Buxton was born on the 18th of August 1925.  He spent his childhood at Waltham Abbey, on the Woodredon Estate in Essex. After attending Eton College he saw service during the latter stages of the Second World War, being  given an emergency commission into the Scots Guards, in November 1944. His Lieutenant rank was confirmed in August 1951. He also attended Trinity College, Cambridge. On the 28th of August 1945, following the death his father, he became the 6th Baronet of Buxton. In 1996 Sir Thomas Buxton passed away at the age of 71.

More about Sir Buxton can be found in the London Gazette and at thepeerage.com.

World War 2 Scot's Guards officer's hat. Sir Thomas Fowell Victor Buxton

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Major Michael "Knocker" Bell, 4/7th Royal Dragoon Guards

Michael Thomas Bell was born in 1915. He grew up in Capheaton Northumberland and was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Stanley Bell CMG, of Bavington Hall, the High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1939. After gaining a Masters of Art from Cambridge, Thomas Bell was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the 4/7th Royal Dragoon Guards in January 1936. In January 1939 he was promoted to Lieutenant and in January 1944 a Captain. During the Second World War he saw action in Normandy, as Squadron Leader of C' Squadron 4/7th RDG, Royal Armoured Corps. Tragically, on the 9th of August 1944 during the attack on Le Plessis Grimoult, Major Bell was killed in action. He was 29 years old. He is buried at St Manvieu War Cemetery. A painting of Major Bell in full dress uniform forms part of the inventory of the York Army Museum.

​More about Major Bell can be found in the www.cwgc.org, www.artuk.org, and in the book "Monty's Marauders" Patrick Delaforce, Pen & Sword Military 2008, and the London Gazette.

Second World War Royal Dragoon Guards officer's cap. Major Michael Bell

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Lieutenant Robert Edward Monckton Elborne, Life Guards.

​Robert Edward Monckton Elborne was born in 1926. He attended Eton College before being commissioned from a Cadet into the prestigious Household Cavalry regiment, the Life Guards, in October 1945 as a Second Lieutenant, at the close of the Second World War. In November 1949 he transferred to the Northamptonshire Yeomanry with the rank of Lieutenant. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge and was admitted to the Inner Temple, passing the bar as a Barrister, before joining the Inns of Court Regiment (Territorial Army) in May 1951. He served with the Inns of Court Regiment for another 4 years before joining the Reserve of Officers. In March 1962 he resigned his commission. After his service he remained a non-serving member of the Life Guards Association. During the early 1950s he also published the book, "Divorce and Matrimonial Causes in a Nutshell". Honorary Lieutenant Robert Elborne passed away on the 22nd of January 2010.

More about R. E. M. Elborne can be found in the London Gazette and at thepeerage.com. 

Life Guards Household Cavalry officer's cap. Lieutenant Robert Edward Monckton Elborne

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General Sir Charles Richard Huxtable KCB, CBE, DL

Eyes Front! Biography coming very soon!

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SAS Trooper, Special Air Service.

This unknown SAS veteran was based in Hereford, neighbouring Worcestershire, and saw action in Oman, Indonesia or Aden during the late 1950s and 60s. He may well have been a senior NCO, judging from the Other Ranks badge and private purchase Herbert Johnson beret. The Special Air Service is the Godfather of the world’s special forces. It was formed during the Second World War in North Africa by Colonel David Sterling formerly of the Scots Guards, as a deadly strike force operating deep behind enemy lines. Using the element of surprise it hit hard and fast causing maximum damage and disruption to airfields and installations before disappearing back into the desert. After World War 2 the SAS was reformed and honed their skills and reputation as the world’s foremost elite fighting force, on covert operations in Malaya, Aden, Northern Ireland, Falklands, Iraq, and, Afghanistan, as well as the publicised Iranian Embassy siege of 1982.

Special Air Service beret.

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Major-General John Antony Ward-Booth OBE DL

​Major General John Antony “Tony” Ward-Booth was born in 1927. In the late 1930s he attended Hillstone Prep School in Great Malvern (now part of Malvern College) and went to Worksop College in Nottinghamshire before joining the Worcestershire Regiment as a Second Lieutenant on the 28th of April 1946. He was then promoted to Lieutenant in January 1949, transferring to the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment. In July 1961 he was promoted to Major in the 3rd Battalion East Anglian Regiment but transferred again to the Parachute Regiment in December 1963. During the late 1960s he commanded the 3rd Battalion and in June 1967 was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, before being made an OBE on the 14th of June 1969. In the early 1970s he was CO of the 16th Parachute Brigade and was promoted to Brigadier in December 1970. From 1964 until 1975 he also served as Deputy Adjutant General of the British Army of the Rhine. He was promoted to Acting Major-General in July 1976, made substantive four months later, and was made the Director of the Army Air Corps. He then became the Commanding Officer of the West Midlands District from February 1979 until March 1982, retiring from active service on April the 26th 1982. He was then appointed Deputy Colonel of the Royal Anglian Regiment in February 1982 until the 18th of January 1988 when he was made a Deputy Lieutenant for Hampshire. During his career he served in the BAOR in Germany, Canada, the Far East, India, and Africa. At age of 75 Major-General John Antony Ward-Booth OBE DL passed away in 2002.

More about Major-General John Antony Ward-Booth OBE DL can be found in the London Gazette and at www.kingscollections.org 

Parachute Regiment Generals beret

Parachute Brigade senior officer's beret. Major-General John Antony Ward-Booth

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Captain Matthew Rodger Selfridge MID GSM, Parachute Regiment

Captain Matthew Rodger Selfridge was born on the 14th of February 1959. He grew up in Edinburgh Scotland and went to Welbeck College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before joining 3 Para as a Second Lieutenant, on the 8th of April 1978. He was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1980 and by 1982 was an Acting Captain. Upon being commissioned he took over command of 6 Platoon, B Company before becoming the CO of the Patrols Platoon, Support Company. During the Falklands War he was Operations Officer for which he was recommended the Military Cross but was awarded a Mention in Dispatches, on the 8th of October 1982. His forward recce for the Battle of Mount Longdon provided valuable intel for the subsequent night attack, of which he then took part, successfully destroying an enemy strong point that was stalling the attack. During his short career he was posted to West Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada, Oman, and the Falklands, earning the South Atlantic Medal with rosette, as well as the General Service Medal (1962) for Northern Ireland. Having fought through the Falklands campaign, Captain Selfridge passed away at the age of 23 on the 17th of July 1982, being tragically killed in a parachute jump shortly after his arrival back in the UK.

More about Captain Matthew Selfridge can be found in the London Gazette and at paradata.org.uk

Parachute Regiment Airborne helmet. Captain "Matt" Selfridge, 3 Para. Falklands War

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​Royal Air Force

Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Edward Beckton Rice KBE, CB, MC, MID.

Arthur Edward Beckton Rice was born in Oxford on the 19th of December 1893. After attending Sandhurst Military College he was promoted to Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, on the 8th of June 1915, and attended the Central Flying School. During the First World War he was wounded in action and later awarded a Military Cross. After the war he took up duties with the Army of Occupation and was posted to Iraq between 1920 and 1921 where he was Mentioned in Dispatches. From 1929 to around 1933 he was the CO of 216 Squadron in Egypt. On the 1st of November 1938 he was promoted to Group Captain and in June of 1941 Air Commodore. In January 1941 he was awarded a CBE and was again Mentioned in Dispatches in March. Air Vice Marshal Rice commanded HQ 1 Group Bomber Command, from 1943 to 1945, and on the 12th of June 1945 was awarded the Order of Polonia Restitutia 1st Class. He was made a KBE on the 1st of January 1946. On retiring from the RAF he moved to Kenya. Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Edward Beckton Rice passed away on the 14th of April 1948, aged 54.

More about Sir Edward Rice can be found in the London Gazette, militaryimages.net, iwm.org.uk, npg.org.uk, and rafweb.org.

Sir Edward Arthur Beckton Rice. www.npg.org.uk

Sir Edward Arthur Beckton Rice
by Walter Stoneman
bromide print, March 1945
5 in. x 3 3/8 in. (128 mm x 87 mm) image size
Commissioned, 1945
Photographs Collection
NPG x159891

World War II Air Vice Marshal's RAF cap. Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Edward Beckton Rice

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Air Commodore Walter Karl Beisiegel OBE
 
Walter Karl Beisiegel was born in Uppingham Rutland on the 13th of July 1907. He went to Uppingham School where he developed quite a skill for playing cricket, going on to become a professional player for the Royal Air Force and the county of Leicestershire during the 1920s and 30s. After Attending the Royal Air Force Cadet College Cranwell he was made a Pilot Officer on the 17th December 1927 and then Flying Officer in June 1929. In August 1937 he was promoted to Squadron Leader and in June 1940 a Temporary Wing Commander. In December 1943 as a Temporay Group Captain, he was confirmed a Wing Commander and in July of 1947 made a Substantive Group Captain. However upon his posting to South America in April 1945 he was promoted to Acting Air Commodore and appointed Air Attaché for Beunos Aires, Asuncion and Montevideo, a hotbed for international espionage during WW2. After the war he was made Senior RAF Officer Kenya from May 1954 until September 1955, improving air operations in the country and relations with that government. In June 1950 he was awarded an OBE before retiring from the RAF on the 10th of April 1956. When he then moved to Kenya, becoming a farmer. Air Commodore Walter Karl Beisiegel passed away on the 8th of January 1973, at the young age of 65.
 
Beisiegel and the royal connection.
In 1929 a low flying adventurous young Pilot Officer buzzed a stately home in Scotland, where the future Queen Mother was staying. Sometime around this time her Royal Highness suffered a miscarriage. Walter Beisiegel was that pilot and apparently felt responsible. Whether or not this was true or just coincident we shall never know, but you can read about the intriguing story in an excellent article from the Daily Mail British newspaper. (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225089/Did-buzzed-biplane-make-Queen-Mother-lose-son-King.html).

More about Air Commodore Walter Karl Beisiegel can be found in the London Gazette, rafweb.org, https://digital.nls.uk/gallery/ and www.dailymail.co.uk.

Second World War Air Commodore's peak cap. Air Commodore Walter Karl Beisiegel

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Air Marshal Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins KCB,  KBE, DSO, AFC, MiD.
 
1930s and 40s handwriting can be hard to decipher and the name written inside this cap is no exception. It appears to read Higgin T or Higgin J, which could only be one of two people.
 
Air Marshal Sir John Higgins served in the Royal Field Artillery before joining the Royal Flying Corps. before the First World War. He then retired to India but in 1939 he was called back to the colours and appointed the AOC (Air Officer Commanding) of the Royal Air Force, India. In August 1940 he retired from active service and passed away in England on the 1st of June 1948.
 
Air Commodore T C R Higgins was also a  First World War veteran. During his career he served in the Royal Navy, British Army,  Royal Flying, and the Royal Air Force retiring an Air Commodore in the 1920s. At the outbreak of War in 1939 he was recommissioned a Group Captain in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and from 1942 was the AOC of 72 Group. Upon retirement in 1945 he was reappointed an Air Commodore.

Whoever this officer was, what is clear is that he served during the Second World War and would have seen action in the First World War, perhaps even with the Royal Flying Corps. before joining the newly formed Royal Air Force after 1918. During the RAF’s infancy and interwar years he steadily rose through the ranks before becoming an Air Commodore. In World War Two he would either have been an Air Commodore, Vice Air Marshal, Air Marshal, or even Air Chief Marshal. In World War Two Senior officers held important posts in the various Royal Air Force branches with some playing a particularly important role. Such as Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding who directed the Battle of Britain. Even the British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill was an Honorary Air Commodore.​
 
More about these two officers can be found in the London Gazette and rafweb.org / rafweb.org.

Second World War Air Marshal's peak cap.

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Air Vice Marshal Guy "Smokey" Bearne CB, MID.

Guy "Smokey" Bearne was born in Headley Hampshire on the 5th of November 1908. He went to school at Newton College before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer in June 1929. During the 1930s he specialised as an Armament Officer, serving at various stations, as well as HQ British Forces Iraq in 1938. By the start of WW2 he was a Squadron Leader and helped setup and organise training airfields, equipment and personnel. He commanded B Flight 107 Group before taking command of No.3 Air Gunner School from 1942 to 1944. In 1945 he commanded the bomber station, RAF Balderston. Apparently he attended the Potsdam Conference. After the War he was briefly posted to RAF Malaysia before being promoted to Acting Air Commodore in January 1953 as Air Officer Commanding Rhodesian Air Training Group. In early 1956 he was promoted to Air Vice Marshal and took over command of HQ Technical Training Command. He was mentioned in dispatches twice and made a Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in the 1958 Queen's New Year's Honours list. After nearly 40 years he retired in November 1961. AVM Bearne's contribution to RAF training, as well as small hand in radar development. was an understated yet vital asset to achieving victory and the postwar service. At the ripe old age of 93 Guy Bearne emigrated to New Zealand! Air Vice Marshal Guy Bearne passed away in New Zealand on the 1st of November 2005.

More about Air Vice Marshal Guy Bearne can be found in the London Gazette, www.thetimes.co.uk, www.telegraph.co.uk​,  www.kingscollections.org, and rafweb.org.

RAF Air Vice Marshal's greatcoat and cap. Air Vice Marshal Guy "Smokey" Bearne

Post WW2 Air Officer's uniform. Air Vice Marshal Guy Bearne

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Air Vice Marshal E. C. Bates CB, CBE,  AFC, MID.

Eric Cecil Bates was born in Australia and was from Perth, Western Australia. In August 1930 he joined the Royal Air Force and was quickly promoted to Flying Officer. In 1936 he was given a permanent commission with the rank of Flight Lieutenant and was promoted again to Squadron Leader. He was posted to Australia to work closely with the Royal Australian Air Force as Chief Instructor of No.1 Air Training School and by November 1940 was the Commanding Officer of the newly formed Central Flying Training School, Camden Station. On the 1st of July 1941 he was awarded the Air Force Cross. He was promoted to Wing Commander on the 3rd of December 1942 and in January 1944 Group Captain. By early 1945 he was at RAAF Overseas HQ in London, and was Mentioned in Dispatches on the 15th of June. In the New Year’s Honours list of 1946 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. On the 1st of January 1953 he was promoted to Air Commodore and served as Air Commodore of Intelligence until 1955, when he was made an Air Vice Marshal and Air Officer of Administration. An interesting coincidence is that Bates was promoted to Air Commodore on exactly the same day as AVM Guy Bearne. In 1958 Air Vice Marshal Bates was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath and retired on the 27th of January 1959.

More about Air Vice Marshal E. C. Bates can be found in the London Gazette, www.awm.gov.au, www.gulabin.com, www.trove.nla.gov.au, and rafweb.org.

Air Vice Marshal E. C. Bates. Source: Australian War Memorial. SUK14850. Copyright expired - public domain

Postwar Air Vice Marshal's peaked cap. Air Vice Marshal Eric Cecil Bates

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Air Commodore Edward James Morris CB, CBE, DSO, DFC.
 
Air Commodore Morris was a Second World War Royal Air Force fighter pilot ace, credited with 3 enemy airplanes destroyed (1 probable), 3 damaged and 5 shared, as well as destroying numerous ground targets. He was one of the Battle of Britain “Few”, flying Hurricanes, Spitfires, Tomahawks, and Kittyhawks during the war.
 
Edward James “Teddy” Morris was born on the 6th of April 1915, in Southern Rhodesia. He went to school at Michaelhouse in the former province of Natal, South Africa, before joining the Royal Air Force as a Pilot Officer on the 5th of September 1937. Prior to joining 79 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, he trained at RAF Netheravon then was posted to RAF Henlow where he was part of the Parachute Test Flight. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 12th of January 1940 and flew sorties during the “Phoney War before participating in the Battle of Britain. In August he was wounded in aerial combat and upon promotion to Flight Lieutenant on the 1st of January 1941, was posted to 238 Squadron. In May of that year, he was posted to 274 Squadron in the Middle East. By September 1941 he had become the Commanding Officer of 250 Squadron, part of the Desert Air Force. In April 1942 he awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his invaluable leadership of the squadron, resulting in 34 aircraft shot down, and made Group Training Instructor of Fighters. In July 1942 he was further promoted to Squadron Leader prior to being attached to the 2nd New Zealand Division in North Africa, as an Air Advisor in 1943. He was then made Station Commander of the newly captured Italian Airport, RAF Castel Benito near Tripoli. Then joined 71 Squadron as a Chief Instructor before moving to the South of France as Wing Leader of 251 Wing, for Operation Dragoon. From September 1944, for the Italy campaign, Morris was involved in planning for the joint US and British command of the Tactical Air Force, for which he was awarded an American DFC in September 1947. By November 1944 he had been promoted Acting Wing Commander and on the 14th was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, for his leadership of the Wing, resulting in over 1000 damaged enemy vehicles prior to and after the Battle of Monte Cassino. On the 9th of September 1945 he was confirmed a permanent Squadron Leader.
 
After the war he attended RAF Staff College and became the Commanding Officer of RAF Sarum from August 1949. He was then briefly attached to the USAF. On the 1st of January 1956 he was promoted to Group Captain and was the CO of RAF Wattisham. In the Queen’s New Year Honours List of January 1959, he was made an Ordinary Commander of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and upon posting to HQ Fighter Command in December 1959 became an Acting Air Commodore, confirmed on the 1st of January 1962. He then served as Chief of Staff through the Aden insurgency and Rhodesian Independence, of HQ Middle East Command. On the 11th of June 1966 he was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath before being appointed the Air Officer Commanding of the Air Training Corps. Air Cadets. Morris retired on the 16th of July 1968. An exceptional officer with a distinguished career spanning 30 years, Air Commodore Edward James Morris passed away in South Africa on the 1st of November 1999.
 
More about Air Commodore Edward James Morris can be found in the London Gazette, iwm.org, oldsarumairfield.co.uk, rafweb.org, bbm.org.uk & ukwhoswho.com

Royal Air Force Air Commodore Edward James Morris dress uniform showing the CB, CBE and DFC decorations.

Air Rank Officer's visor cap from Air Commodore E. J. Morris CB CBE DSO DFC

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Air Commodore Louis William George Detain.
​
Louis William George Detain was born in 1921 and came from Cornwall. After being enlisted into the Royal Air Force he was promoted to Sergeant and served in the Equipment Branch during the Second World War. On the 13th of April 1947 he was given an Emergency commission as Pilot Officer, which was confirmed in October 1948. On the 27th of July 1949 he was promoted to Flying Officer, then Flight Lieutenant in August 1951. After further promotion to Squadron Leader and Wing Commander during the 1950s and 1960s he was promoted to Group Captain on the 1st of July 1969. Upon promotion to Air Rank in July 1973, Air Commodore Detain was appointed the Director of Movement, of the renamed Supply Branch, until January 1976. He retired from active service a month later. On the 2nd of December 2010 Air Commodore L. W. G. Detain passed away. He was 89 years old.

During the transition into the jet age, the job of the supporting branches was never more vital to keeping aircraft and aircrew in the air, whether through servicing, logistics, administration, training, and so on. Perhaps not as glamorous as flying but key to maintaining the RAF’s efficiency and keeping it running. Air Commodore Detain was one of the many faces working tirelessly behind the scenes to help achieve this.

​More about Air Commodore Louis William George Detain can be found in the London Gazette.

Air Rank Officer's side cap from Air Commodore Louis George Detain

Air Rank Officer's visor cap from Air Commodore Louis George Detain

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Air Commodore Ernest Sydney “Martin”Chandler AFC, QCVSA, MID.

Known to all as Martin, Ernest Sydney Chandler was born on the 16th of September 1927. From Godmanchester, in Cambridgeshire, he joined the Royal Air Force on the 9th December 1948 and was commissioned a Pilot Officer. In December 1949 he was promoted to Flying Officer, which was confirmed in 1950. In July 1951 he was one of 26 pilots that volunteered to served in 77 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force during the Korean War, flying Gloster Meteors. On the 9th June 1952 he was further promoted to Flight Lieutenant and on the 7th July 1953 Mentioned in Dispatches for his services in Korea. After the war he was awarded the Air Force Cross, on the 1st January 1954, and then the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air, in January 1957. In July 1957 he was also promoted to Squadron Leader. On the 1st January 1963 he was made a Wing Commander and as Wing Commander Officer Commanding Strike Wing Khormaksar, operating out of Aden, was the first Hunter to land successfully at Yemen’s Beihan airstrip in August 1966. The landing was in response to Egyptian fighter jets probing Yemeni airspace and attacking allied tribes, as detailed and photographed in the book, Best of Breed: The Hunter in Fighter Reconnaissance as well as being mentioned in Tales from the Frontline: The Middle East Hunter Squadrons as well as Hunters Over Arabia: Hawker Hunter Operations in the Middle East. In July 1970 he was confirmed Group Captain and in the early 1970s was the Air Attaché for Brussels and the Hague, before becoming Assistant Air Attaché in Washington DC USA. Following his promotion to Air Commodore on the 1st July 1978 he was appointed Air Attaché for Bonn, West Germany. After a colourful career of flying fast jets and administrative and diplomatic posts he retired from active service in October 1982, having clocked up over 30 years of service. In retirement, in the 1980s, he was a Technical Advisor on the British sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo. At the age of 71, Air Commodore E. S. “Martin” Chandler passed away on the 17th of March 1999.

More about Air Commodore Ernest “Martin” Chandler AFC can be found in the London Gazette, awm.gov.au, rafmuseum.org, and rafweb.org

Air Rank Officer's visor cap from Air Commodore Ernest Sydney “Martin” Chandler

Flying Officer Martin Chandler RAAF Kimpo Airfield during the Korean War (1952). Source: Australian War Memorial. P00660.020. Copyright expired - public domain

Flying Officer Martin Chandler seated in a RAAF Meteor during the Korean War (1952). Source: Australian War Memorial. P00660.022. Copyright expired - public domain

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Air Vice Marshal Barry Hamilton Newton. CB, CVO, OBE, QCVSA, FBIM
 
 Barry Hamilton Newton was born on the 1st April 1932. After attending the Royal Air Force training college Cranwell he was commissioned a Pilot Officer on the 28th of July 1953. A year later he was promoted to Flight Officer and then Flight Lieutenant on the 26th of May 1956. During the late 1950s he was selected to make valuable research flights during Britain’s Atomic weapons tests in Australia and Christmas Island, flying the Canberra Bomber with 76 Squadron, for which he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air on the 12th June 1958. In January 1962 he was made a Squadron Leader and in July 1968 became a Wing Commander. In the New Year’s Honours list of 1975, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Following his OBE he was further promoted on the 1st of July 1976 to Group Captain and reached Air Commodore on the 1st of July 1981. In April 1983 he was appointed Aide-de-Camp to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He served as Senior Directing Staff (Air) Royal College of Defence Studies from the 10th January 1984 until the 28th February 1986, having been promoted to Acting Air Vice Marshal upon taking up his post. he was confirmed an Air Vice Marshal on the 1st of January 1985. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on the 31st of December 1987 before retiring from active service in June 1989. In retirement he was appointed a Gentleman Usher to HM the Queen from 1989 until 2011 and was the Honorary Air Commodore of the Helicopter Support Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force from the 4th April 1997. He was also the Honorary Air Commodore of 606 (Chiltern) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force and the Inspector-General of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, from 2nd January 2000. Air Vice Marshal BH Newton was instrumental  in the restauration, re-dedication and preservation of the 1912 Airman's Cross memorial. A stone monument commemorating the first air casualties of the Royal Flying  Corps. A history of which he authored in the book, "Monument to Courage" in 2012. On the 15th of June 2002 he became a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. After a career spanning well over 36 years Air Vice Marshal Barry Hamilton Newton passed away on the 25th of August 2020. He was 88 years old.
 
More about Air Vice Marshal B. H. Newton can be found at the London Gazette, thetimes.co.uk, rauxaf.org, rafweb.org, and mortimerbenefice.blogspot.com

Royal Air Force Air Vice Marshal Barry Hamilton Newton's dress uniform showing the CB and OBE decorations.

Monument to Courage. Written and published by Air Vice Marshal Barry Hamilton CB, CVO, OBE.

Air Vice Marshal Barry Hamilton Newton's summer dress uniform.

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Squadron Leader Harold Ralph Blake, Medical Technician Branch.

Harold Ralph Blake was born on the 25th of December 1911 in Yorkshire. During the Second World War he served as a Flight Sergeant in the Medical Branch at a FAP (First Aid Post), most probably on an airfield. In November 1946 he was commissioned a Pilot Officer on probation and two years later promoted to Flying Officer, which was confirmed in July 1948. On the 1st of May 1951 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant, now in the Medical Technician Branch. In December 1966 he retired from active duty with the rank of Squadron Leader.

More about Squadron Leader H. R. Blake can be found in the London Gazette and www.genesreunited.co.uk.

Royal Air Force FAP Mk.2 steel helmet. Squadron Leader Harold Ralph Blake

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Air Vice Marshal Edward Alfred Daley CBE, MB. RAAF.

Edward Alfred Daley was born on the 23rd of January 1901. After studying medicine at Melbourne University he joined the Royal Australian Air Force in July 1928 as a Flight Lieutenant and was swifly promoted to Squadron Leader in 1930. In 1936 he took part in an exchange programme with the Royal Air Force and studied Tropical Medicine at Liverpool University during  that time. After returning to Australia in 1938 he was appointed Deputy Director of Medical Services and then a year later Director. His experiences with the RAF helped establish a smooth cooperation between the RAAF during the Second World,  forming a solid foundation from which the RAAF Medical Services developed.  In 1940 he was promoted Temporary Group Captain and by August 1945 Acting Air Commodore. During the war Daley set up No.1 RAAF Hospital Laverton and in 1941, whilst posted to the Middle East, No.1 Air Ambulance. He was made an Honorary Physician to King George VI as well as Queen Elizabeth II.  In March 1952 he reached Vice Air Marshal . For his services during the Korean War he was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He retired from the RAAF in March 1962 and became National Director of the St John Ambulance Association. Air Vice Marshal Edward Alfred Daley passed away in East Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne, on the 15th of March 1985.

More about Air Vice Marshal Edward Alfred Daley can be found in the London Gazette, awm.gov.au, npg.org.uk and www.adb.anu.edu.au.

Air Vice Marshal Edward Alfred Daley, RAAF. Source: Australian War Memorial. 043286. Copyright expired - public domain

Second World War Royal Australian Air Force Air Vice Marshal Edward Alfred Daley

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Air Vice Marshal AO. MID. RAAF.
 
After joining the Royal Australian Air Force this officer was commissioned in 1968 and flew Huey combat mission over Vietnam, with No. 9 Squadron during the war, where he was Mentioned in Dispatches. When he returned to Australia, he changed to fast jets, flying the Sabre, Mirage and Hornet, steadily rising up the ranks to reach Air Commodore in the mid 1990s and eventually Air Vice Marshal. He was appointed the Commanding Officer of the Integrated Air Defence System, going on to command the Australian Theatre, and also held an advisory role in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. In 1988 he was made an Member of the Order of Australia and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 just prior to retiring from active service in the early 2000s. He then transferred to the RAAF Reserve and held various military advisory positions during his retirement.

Royal Australian Air Force Air Vice Marshal's visor cap.

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​Royal Navy

Engineer Rear-Admiral Hubert Beackley CBE, MVO

Hubert Bleackley was born in Shrewsbury Shropshire on the 18th of June 1886. He joined the Royal Navy from a Cadet on the 1st of July 1907 and was promoted to Engineer Lieutenant on October the 1st 1909. During the First World War he served in the North Sea and Pacific, whilst attached to H.M.A.S Australia, from July 1914 until December 1916. After returning to the Royal Navy he was promoted to Engineer Lieutenant Commander in October 1917. During the interwar years he was promoted to Engineer Commander in July 1923 and then Engineer Captain in June of 1934. During the Second World War he was promoted to Engineer Rear-Admiral in June 1940. Hubert Bleackly was made a Member of the Victorian Order 4th Class in 1922, whilst serving aboard HMS Renown, and was made an additional Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in January 1942. After reaching the second highest rank for a Royal Navy Engineer, Rear-Admiral Hubert Beackley passed away at the relatively young age of 64, on the 19th of June  1950.

More about Admiral Bleackley can be found in the London Gazette, npg.org.uk, www.sl.nsw.gov.au and www.familysearch.org.

Engineer Rear-Admiral Hubert Beackley. www.npg.org.uk

Hubert Bleackley
by Walter Stoneman
bromide print, April 1945
5 3/8 in. x 3 1/2 in. (135 mm x 90 mm)
Commissioned, 1945
Photographs Collection
NPG x165312

World War II British Admiral's hat. Engineer Rear-Admiral Hubert Beackley

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