Alfred Woodhall

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Alfred Woodhall
First World War

Second World War

Awards
Mention in despatches (twice)
Legion of Merit (United States)
War Cross
(Czechoslovakia)

OBE (9 January 1897 – 11 June 1968) was a British senior officer who served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was a senior controller in the Battle of Britain and the Siege of Malta
.

Born in

mentioned in despatches
. He retired from the RAF in July 1945 and he spent his later years working in civil aviation in New Zealand, where he died at the age of 71.

Early life

Alfred Basil Woodhall was born on 9 January 1897 in

Bolton Grammar School. He subsequently emigrated to South Africa, where he trained as a mining engineer in Johannesburg. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he found passage back to the United Kingdom as part of the crew of a ship.[1]

First World War

Woodhall joined the

Royal Marine Brigade. He was involved in the Battle of the Ancre which commenced on 13 November 1916, but was hospitalised following an injury to his back.[1][2] Promoted to lieutenant in January 1917,[3] once Woodhall recovered from his injuries, he was sent to serve at sea with ships of the Royal Navy. When the war ended, he was serving on the battleship HMS Agincourt, commanding one of its gun turrets, and was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered on 21 November 1918.[1][4]

Interwar period

Remaining in the Royal Marines after the war, Woodhall subsequently served in the

Gosport. In January 1926 he was posted to No. 461 (Fleet Torpedo) Flight, also at Gosport.[6]

In August 1927, Woodhall was assigned to the

No. 460 (Fleet Torpedo) Flight, which operated Blackburn Dart torpedo bombers. The following year he was posted to another aircraft carrier, HMS Courageous as a commander of No. 464 (Fleet Torpedo) Flight, also equipped with Darts. During his time with the FAA, Woodhall executed over 100 landings without ending up in the safety equipment used to prevent aircraft from running off the flight deck and into the sea. This qualified him for the 'Perch Club'.[1][6] He was promoted to flight lieutenant in July 1929.[7]

Informed that he was to be returned to the Royal Marines on account of being too old for flying duties, Woodhall sought a permanent commission with the RAF.[1] This was granted with effect from 1 August 1930.[8] He was posted to No. 111 Squadron in September, a Fighter Command unit that operated the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin fighter from Hornchurch.[6][9] In early 1931, he was transferred to No. 54 Squadron; another Hornchurch squadron, this flew the more modern Bristol Bulldog fighter.[6][10] After three years with Fighter Command, he was employed as a test pilot for the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath. He later served overseas, firstly with No. 41 Squadron at Aden and then, having been promoted to squadron leader, 824 Naval Air Squadron. He commanded the latter, equipped with Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers and based on HMS Eagle, during postings in Hong Kong and Singapore. He was taken off flying duties in 1938 after a test, conducted following a minor crash-landing, detected eye problems.[1]

Second World War

In 1939, Woodhall was based at the RAF station at

Duxford in a staff role relating to fighter operations. In this capacity he helped develop the Dowding system used by Fighter Command to track aircraft movements over the southeast of England.[1]

The operations room at Duxford, from which Woodhall oversaw the interception of incoming Luftwaffe bombing raids

Battle of Britain

Promoted to temporary

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding's leadership of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain; Dowding considered moving Bader on, but the Chief of Air Staff, Charles Portal, specifically directed that he and Woodhall were not to be punished for expressing their views to Balfour.[13]

During his time at Duxford, Woodhall flew operationally three times as leader of

Officer in the Order of the British Empire, the formal announcement made in The London Gazette on 17 March 1941 noting that this was "in recognition of distinguished services rendered in operational commands of the Royal Air Force".[16]

Promoted to group captain, Woodhall took command of the station at Tangmere on 24 April where he was reunited with Bader, the two having become friends while both were at Duxford. By this time, Fighter Command had switched to offensive operations and were regularly sending the Tangmere Wing to occupied Europe, on bomber escort duties. Woodhall, as sector controller, would often be directing the operations and greeting the returning pilots. He had already instructed that the Tangmere squadrons be relocated to satellite airfields for protection against the air raids that frequently targeted the station. [1][6] When Bader was lost on operations in August, it was Woodhall who informed his wife; when it was discovered that Bader was a prisoner of war, it was also Woodhall who gave Bader's wife the news.[17]

Malta

In early 1942, Woodhall was sent to the island of Malta, an important base of operations for the Allies. The island had been under an aerial siege for several months and required an experienced fighter controller to direct the RAF fighters based there. He had limited resources; there were only seven operational Hawker Hurricane fighters at the time of his arrival. He immediately established a basic reserve of fighters to be deployed at regular intervals between the RAF squadrons on the island and instructed that sorties would only be allowed if a minimum of four aircraft were able to take off.[1][12]

As he did during the Battle of Britain, Woodhall, using information from observers and radar plots, would direct the RAF pilots towards the incoming bombers, endeavouring to place the fighters in the best position to engage them. Tony Holland, a fighter pilot flying at Malta with No. 603 Squadron, later wrote of the boost in morale and confidence to hear Woodhall's directions as the RAF pilots flew to intercept the incoming bombing raids.[1][18] Another pilot wrote of Woodhall's constant, informative, presence on radio communications but also of his willingness to cede control of tactics to the pilots once the approaching bombers had been spotted.[19] By the middle of the year, the situation on Malta had improved following the arrival of reinforcements in the form of Supermarine Spitfire fighters. These had made an immediate impact and Woodhall was sent back to the United Kingdom.[1][20]

Later war service

On his return, Woodhall was posted to Fighter Command headquarters at Bentley Priory in a staff role. He returned to operations in 1944 with a posting to Italy, as commander of a Special Duties Wing. This was based at Brindisi, and operated a variety of aircraft to supply various resistance movements in central and southern Europe. Woodhall was mentioned in despatches for the second time in the King's Birthday Honours of 14 June 1945, and was also presented with a United States honour, the Legion of Merit.[1][21]

Later life

Woodhall retired from the RAF in July 1945 and moved his family to Canada and then, in 1950, New Zealand. Initially settling in Wellington, he worked for the Department of Civil Aviation. He later moved to Queenstown to work at the aerodrome there before retiring to Dunedin, where he died on 11 June 1968. Survived by his wife and three children, his remains were cremated and scattered at sea.[22][23]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Coxon & Trevor 2019.
  2. ^ "No. 29450". The London Gazette. 25 January 1916. p. 998.
  3. ^ "No. 29931". The London Gazette. 6 February 1917. p. 1268.
  4. ^ Hough 1967, p. 186.
  5. ^ "No. 33013". The London Gazette. 20 January 1925. p. 454.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The Airmen's Stories – W/Cdr. A B Woodhall". Battle of Britain London Monument. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  7. ^ "No. 33513". The London Gazette. 2 July 1929. p. 4366.
  8. ^ "No. 33638". The London Gazette. 26 August 1930. p. 5298.
  9. ^ Rawlings 1976, pp. 238–240.
  10. ^ Rawlings 1976, p. 135.
  11. ^ "No. 34765". The London Gazette. 2 January 1940. p. 24.
  12. ^ a b Holland 2003, p. 218.
  13. ^ Ray 2002, pp. 161–163.
  14. ^ Rawlings 1976, p. 396.
  15. ^ "No. 35039". The London Gazette. 10 January 1941. p. 196.
  16. ^ "No. 35107". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 1941. p. 1572.
  17. ^ Holland 1989, p. 127.
  18. ^ Holland 1989, p. 136.
  19. ^ Holland 2003, p. 356.
  20. ^ Holland 2003, pp. 279–280.
  21. ^ "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1945. p. 2990.
  22. ^ "Cemeteries Search: Woodhall, Alfred Basil". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  23. ^ "Obituary: Group Capt. A. B. Woodhall". Press. Vol. CVIII, no. 31708. 18 June 1968. Retrieved 10 April 2023.

References

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