Basil Embry

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Sir Basil Edward Embry
North-West Frontier
  • Second Mohmand Campaign

Second World War

Awards
Grand Officer with Swords of the Order of Orange Nassau (Netherlands)
Spouse(s)Margaret Elliot
Children5, including Paddy
Other workSheep farmer

KBE, DSO & Three Bars, DFC, AFC (28 February 1902 – 7 December 1977) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command
from 1949 to 1953.

Early life and career

Basil Embry was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1902 and as a young boy at Bromsgrove School he developed an avid interest in aviation. In 1921 he joined the Royal Air Force with a short service commission as an Acting Pilot Officer.[1] In 1922 he was sent to Mandatory Iraq, serving under future Air Marshals Arthur Harris and Robert Saundby. By 1926 Embry's enthusiasm, professional application, boundless energy and flair for the unconventional had put him on the fast track for promotion within the RAF, and he was rewarded with the Air Force Cross in that year's New Year Honours,[2] and appointment to a permanent commission.[3]

Promoted to flight lieutenant,[4] Embry returned to Britain in 1927 and soon became an instructor at the Central Flying School, Uxbridge.[5]

In 1934 he was posted to

wing commander.[8] After five years' service he returned to Britain in 1939. On the outbreak of the Second World War Embry was Commanding Officer of No. 107 Squadron flying the Bristol Blenheim bomber.[5]

Second World War

The energetic Embry led his squadron from the front, and he saw extensive action during the campaigns in

Norway and France, often in the face of heavy losses and overwhelming opposition. On 25 September 1939 Embry led a 3-plane formation on a reconnaissance sortie into Germany. Intercepted by German fighters, Embry's aircraft suffered serious damage to wings and fuselage and he carried out a one-wheel forced landing on returning to RAF Wattisham in Suffolk
. Throughout the remainder of 1939 and into early 1940 the unit made numerous attacks by day and night on a variety of targets, including U-boats.

On 6 April 1940 RAF photo-reconnaissance revealed that a German naval force, including the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, was at anchor off Wilhelmshaven. Embry and his 107 Squadron crews were soon involved in a series of attacks on these ships.

With the

German invasion of Norway, 107 Squadron were detached to Scotland, and there carried out ten raids in just eight days on Stavanger and airfields in the area, often in treacherous weather conditions. Embry suffered from frostbite during this time. In April 1940 Embry was awarded a bar to his DSO.[9]

Embry, at the controls of a Bristol Blenheim, circles over a British tanker on fire and sinking in the English Channel, February 1940

The German invasion of France and the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940 and Embry's Squadron flew intensively against the German advance, each crew flying two or three sorties daily across the English Channel to France. His leadership and personal gallantry resulted in the award of a second bar to his DSO.[10] On 12 May he led No. 107 Squadron and No. 110 Squadron RAF in an attack on two heavily defended bridges across the Albert Canal at Maastricht; the formation was savaged by ground fire and intercepted by numerous Messerschmitt fighters, losing seven Bristol Blenheims from the original force of 24. Two No. 107 Squadron aircraft crash-landed at Wattisham, and every surviving Blenheim had suffered some damage.

Due to the tremendous pressure of his operational flying in recent months Embry was then ordered to take an operational 'rest' and was given command of

Eperlecques
. Of his crew, observer Pilot Officer T. A. Whiting was made prisoner while Air Gunner Corporal G. E. Long was killed.

Captured by the

Anthony Richardson and originally published in 1950.[11]

After two months' sick leave, Embry was posted to

Mentioned in Despatches in September.[14]

In October 1941 he was seconded to the

North Africa campaign.[5]

Embry returned to Britain in March 1942 and served as AOC Wittering again and as AOC

air vice marshal, Embry continued to fly on operations where possible, usually as a 'wingman' in a formation and flying under the name of "Wing Commander Smith". By piloting each type of aircraft in his service, he felt better able to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the tools available to his aircrews. This ensured that the men under Embry's command were aware that he was willing to take the same risks they were taking, and he was well liked by them. However, within the Air Ministry's hierarchy his frank, unguarded criticisms made few friends.[citation needed
]

He pushed fervently for 2 Group's re-equipment with the high-speed

Companion of the Order of the Bath.[16]

Embry's Mosquitoes undertook further bombing operations such as the attack on Amiens jail in February 1944. On 31 October 1944, Embry took part in a successful low-level attack by Mosquitoes of Nos. 21, 464 and 487 Squadrons in the Aarhus Air Raid targeting the Aarhus University, Denmark, which housed the Gestapo HQ for the whole of Jutland. In March 1945, Embry's command carried out Operation Carthage on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, and in April those in Odense.

The three operations led to Embry being awarded the

Croix de guerre, Commander of the Legion of Honour
).

Post-war career and later life

Shortly after the end of the war Embry was

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.[23]

He was Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command from 1949 to 1953.

better source needed
]

In 1956 Embry briefly relocated to New Zealand where he wrote his autobiography, titled Mission Completed.

In March 1956, accompanied by his wife Hope, he emigrated to Western Australia and began a new life as a sheep farmer, purchasing a 1,400-acre (5.7 km2) property at Chowerup. He also acquired land at Cape Riche, east of Albany, and moved there in the late 1960s.

Embry became active in the politics of agriculture through the

Farmers' Union of Western Australia
. He was elected General President in 1971 and held office for two years. In 1972 he led a delegation through South-east Asia and instigated the establishment of the Rural Traders Co-operative (W.A.) Ltd.

He was the president of the Royal Air Forces Escaping Society and worked himself at a punishing pace until he became ill in 1975. Embry died in Boyup Brook, Western Australia, in 1977, and was survived by his wife, daughter, and three of his four sons.[24]

"He was both charming and rude, prejudiced and broad-minded, pliable and obstinate, dedicated and human." (Group Captain Peter Wykeham, No 2 Group 1944–45)

On 19 April 2007 Spink auctioned the medal group of Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry, selling for £155,350 to Michael Naxton, an agent.[25]

Personal life

Embry married Australian-born Lady Margaret Hope Elliot on 1 August 1928, and went on to have five children with her,[24] including Western Australian politician Paddy Embry.[26]

References

Notes

  1. ^ "No. 32271". The London Gazette. 19 March 1921. p. 2472.
  2. ^ "No. 33119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1925. p. 10.
  3. ^ "No. 33120". The London Gazette. 1 January 1926. pp. 47–48.
  4. ^ "No. 33290". The London Gazette. 1 July 1927. p. 4240.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry (09252)", 3 August 2019, Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation
  6. ^ "No. 34226". The London Gazette. 3 December 1935. p. 7674.
  7. ^ "No. 34551". The London Gazette. 13 September 1938. p. 5834.
  8. ^ "No. 34566". The London Gazette. 1 November 1938. p. 6821.
  9. ^ "No. 34840". The London Gazette. 30 April 1940. p. 2555.
  10. ^ "No. 34927". The London Gazette. 20 August 1940. p. 5091.
  11. ^ See Bibliography
  12. ^ "No. 35102". The London Gazette. 11 March 1941. p. 1448.
  13. ^ "No. 35217". The London Gazette. 11 July 1941. p. 3996.
  14. ^ "No. 35284". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 September 1941. p. 5569.
  15. ^ "No. 35586". The London Gazette. 5 June 1942. p. 2517.
  16. ^ "No. 36866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1944. p. 4.
  17. ^ "No. 37142". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1945. p. 3271.
  18. ^ "No. 37878". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 February 1947. p. 702.
  19. ^ "No. 37187". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 July 1945. p. 3781.
  20. ^ "No. 38125". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 November 1947. p. 5423.
  21. ^ "No. 37161". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 July 1945. p. 3489.
  22. ^ "No. 39732". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1952. p. 3.
  23. ^ "No. 40669". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1956. p. 3.
  24. ^ a b Layman, Lenore. "Embry, Sir Basil Edward (1902–1977)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  25. ^ Medals of Unremitting R.A.F. Hero go under the hammer Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia". Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 29 December 2018.

Bibliography

External links
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command
1949–1953 		Succeeded by
New title
Command established
 Commander-in-Chief Allied Air Forces Central Europe
1953–1956 		Succeeded by
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