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Aviation History
1940
1940 - 0171.PDF
JANUARY 18, 1940. SERVICE AVIATION Royal Air Force and Official Announce- ments The Command in France ON January 9 the creation of 1Koyal Air Force Command to include all units in France wasannounced. Air Marshal A S Barratt, C.B., C.M.G., M.C., wasappointed Air Officer Command- C.-IN-C.s CONFER : Air Marshal A. S. Barratt who, as related on these pages, has taken uphis duties as Air Officer Commanding-in-Ch'ef, British Air Forces in France, with General Gort. ing-in-Chief, British Air Forces in France. From No. 10, DowningStreet, came the following statement: — " The increase in the strength of the Army in France has neces-sarily involved some modification in the organisation of the Air Forces required, as well as the best means of affording the necessaryco-operation and support to the Army-. " In November last this matter was fully reviewed in the light ofpractical experience of the exercise of the control of the Koyal Air Force in support of the Army in France. " As a result of this review, the following agreed recommendationswere approved by the War Cabinet at the beginning of December: " A K.A F. Command, to include all units of the K.A.F. in France,is to be formed. The new command will be designated ' British Air Forces in France,' and it will be under the command of anAir Officer Commanding-in-Chief. " The Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief will also be responsible, in consultation with the Army Commanders-in-Chief concerned, forensuring the most effective support by the British Air Forces for the British Expeditionary Force and the French armies on theWestern front. " In conjunction with the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, French Air Forces, he will also be responsible for co-ordinating th<: operations of the R.A.F. in France with those of the FrenchAir Forces. "The above arrangement involves no change in the principle which governs the relationship between the Army and the R.A.F. It is based on the analogy of the existing relationship between theKoyal Navy and the Coastal Command, R.A.F., and will ensure the closest co-operation between the Army and the Air Forces in the Field."Air Marshal A. S. Barratt, who was bom in 1891 at Peshawar, India, and educated at Clifton, lias throughout his career beenclosely connected with the Army. He passed through the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1909-1910, and was appointed assecond lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in December, 1910. In the Royal Flying Corps in June, 1914, his first squadron wasNo. 3. He served with the R.F.C. in the field in France during a considerable part of the war. During part of 1918 and 1919 lie was attached to R.A.F. head-quarters at Cologne with the British Army of Occupation. In August, 1919, he resigned his regular Army commission and wasgiven a permanent commission as squadron leader with the Royal Air Force. He became a wing commander in November of thesame year. In 1924 he took the course at the Stiff College at Camberley, and on passing out became Commandant of the.Schoolof Army Co-operation. After a period as instructor at the R.A.F. Staff College, he hadcommand of No. 1 (Indian) Group in 1031 and became Senior Air Staff Officer in India in 1932. He was Director of Staff Duties atthe Air Ministry from 1935-1936, and was Commandant of the R.A.F. Staff College from the" beginning of 1936 to the outbreak of war. Ho became a Group Captain in 1028, Air Commodore in 1932, AirVice-Marshal in 1936, and Air Marshal in July, 1939. Casualties THE Air Ministry regrets to announce the following casualtieson various dates: — KILLED IN ACTION.—A /C.i P. B. Harris (537545). Sgt. V. Harvey (580542), Act. Sgt. T. W. Holley (515110), L.A/C. J. Job (567602). A/C.i W Martin (540304). Act. Fit. Lt. V. M P. Pam 40422), F/O. H. B. M. Pearson (37983), Sgt. F. M. PenneU (580304), A/C.i F. H. Rook (527377), Sgt. L J. Sabin (580175)- PREVIOUSLY REPORTED "KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE NOW RE- PORTKD " KILLED IN ACTION."—Act. Fit. Lt. E. J. Hethenngton (39026). PREVIOUSLY REPORTED "MISSING," NOW REPORTED KILLED IN ACTION."—A/C.I J. Anthony (534149). A/C.i J. S. Burrows (539683), Act. Wing Cdr. I. McL. Cameron (24225), Sgt. E. H. Crellin (564130), Sgt. T. C. Hammond (562535), Cpl. F. J. Taylor (533806)," A/'C.i C. Wilson (538736). WOUNDED IN ACTION.—A/C.I F. S. Kemp (55126s). MISSING, BELIEVED KILLED IN ACTION.—Act. Sgt. W. J. Atkins (580817), Sgt. W. F. Antell (564245), Act. Sgt. R. Ballantyne (580780), Act. Sgt. B. T. Boram (580708), L.A./C. A. A. Brown (551008), F/O. H. L. McL. Bulloch (37788), Sgt. C. D. Caldwell (564505), L.A/C. R. T. Carr (534563). Cpl. E. Corry (521647), Fit. Sgt. W. H. Downey (561103) Act. Sgt. F. G. Goodwin (564696), L.A/C. W. Greig (532679), A/C.2 D. H. Grove (629162), Sgt. R. R. Hammond (580734), Cpl T. Hunter (523436), Sgt. D. J. Kirkness (565269), P/O. F. N. Lines (70892), L.A/C. J. H. Sinton (517970), F/O. J. P. Trewby (39622). MISSING.—Fit. Lt. T. G. W. Appleby (34227), L.A/C. I. A. Barstow (550716), P/O. J. B. Beer (41364), P/O. A. H. R. Bourne (40882), P/O. W. S. F. Brown (70794). F/O. J. T. I. Challes (39041), L.A/C. G. E Cox (566740), L.A/C. A. M. Dickie (566708), Sgt. T. H. English (524025), Fit. Sgt. A. K. Fearnside (563436), A/C.i T. Finnigan (547574). A/C.i P. T. Jones (540554), L.A/C. A. W. W. Lane (541531). A/C.2 I. D. Leighton (547262). F/O. O. J. T. Lewis (40054), L.A/C. E. Lowe (540706), A/C.2 W. T. Lowey (619235), P/O. A. J. Macdonald (36176), Act. Sgt. A. R. Norris (580831), P/O. M. Radcliffe (41063), Sgt. V. H. G. Richardson (564063), P/O. R. M. Ross (41070), Act Sgt. L A Sheppard (580702). KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE.—Sgt. B. P. Bailey (741799), Sgt. A Coe (565860), P/O. E. A. C. Hill (42226), L.A/C. A. Lawson (537795), P/O. T. S. Lewis (40401), P/O. C. N. Robinson (75171), A/C.2 S. H. Smith (620008), Sgt. T. Watkins (741568). MISSING, BELIEVED KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE.—A/C.2 H. O. W. Gormlay (543996). DIED ON ACTIVE SERVICE.—A/C.2 W. Barrett (329872), Sgt. C. Keiller (363152), A/C.i W. C. Mitchison (543380), A/C.i A. Mclnnes (85063), A/C.2 R. McQuade (623838), A/C.2 S. C. Stott (129853), A/C.2 J. W. Walton (292126), A/C.2 W. Wright (538668). CORRECTION TO COMMUNIQUE NO. 12.—For Act. Sgt. R. L. Harrison (580491), read Sgt. R. L Harrison (580491). Higher Appointments '"THE Air Ministry announces the following appointments which J. will take effect in the near future: — (1) Air Marshal Sir Christopher Lloyd Courtney, K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., to be Air Member for Supply and Organisation on the Air Council, vies Air Vice-Marshal (acting Air Marshal) W. L. Welsh. (2) Air Marshal William Lawrie Welsh, C.B., D.S.O., A.F.C., to be Air Officer Commanding, No. 11 Group, vice Air Vi«> Marshal E. L. Gossage. . (3; Air Vice-Marshal Ernest Leslie Gossage, C.B., C.V.O., D.S.O., M.C., to be an Inspector General of the Royal Air Force, vice Air Marshal (acting Air Chief Maishal) Sir Charles S. Burnett. Under the changes announced above, Air Marshal Welsh, who has been serving at the Air Ministry for a period of over six years, and Air Vice-Marshal Gossage, who has held his present command since 1936, receive new appointments; and Air Marshal Sir Christopher Courtney, who has in recent years held the command of British Forces in Iraq and the Reserve Command in this country and has served as a member of Lord Chatfield's Committee in India and on Lord Riverdale's mission to. Canada, succeeds Air Marshal Welsh as a Member of the Air Council. As Inspector General, Air Vice-Marshal Gossage will have impor- tant duties in connection with supervising the training and general efficiency of Royal Air Force units. Details of the careers of the three officers are as follows: — AIR MARSHAL SIR CHRISTOPHER L. COURTNEY was born in 1890. His association with the Air Force began in the Naval Wimj of
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