Frederick Rosier

Sir Frederick Rosier
Sir Frederick Rosier
	Second World War Battle of France; Battle of Britain; North African campaign;
Awards	Mentioned in Despatches; Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands); Order of Merit (Poland)

CBE, DSO (13 October 1915 – 10 September 1998) was a senior Royal Air Force

commander.

Early and wartime career

Born in Wrexham on 13 October 1915, son of E. G. Rosier, a railway engine driver, Fred Rosier was educated at Grove Park School and played rugby for North Wales Schoolboys.

He received a Short Service Commission in the Royal Air Force in 1935 and served with No. 43 Squadron flying Hawker Fury aircraft at Tangmere from 1936 to 1939.^[1] He was a flight commander with No. 229 Squadron RAF (Hawker Hurricane aircraft) by May 1940,^[1] having helped form and convert the squadron from the Bristol Blenheim aircraft. He first saw active service during the Second World War in France where he commanded a detachment of No. 229 Squadron at Vitry-en-Artois near Arras and was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109, receiving facial burns. Returning to active service by October 1940 he commanded 229 Squadron from RAF Northolt for the last 12 days of the Battle of Britain.^[1]

He embarked with No. 229 Squadron for

Tomahawk

aircraft being forced down by enemy fighters and landed his single-seater to rescue the pilot. Having got Sergeant Burney aboard, he attempted to take-off but suffered a burst tyre and crashed the aircraft. Both he and Burney walked across the desert for four days, avoiding large enemy patrols, to reach safety with a Guards unit.

Rosier became the deputy commander of No. 211 Group and was awarded the

Officer of the Order of the British Empire mid that year,^[1] before being appointed to command RAF Northolt

in 1944.

Post-war

He was appointed Officer Commanding

Aide-de-Camp to the Queen in 1956.^[1]

He was made Director of Joint Plans at the

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1972, before he retired from the RAF the following year.^[1]

Retirement

In retirement he became a Military Advisor and Director of the Preston Division of the British Aircraft Corporation until 1977 when he was made Director in charge of the Saudi Arabia part of the company.^[1] He was the Chairman of the Polish Pilots Benevolent Fund and received the Polish Order of Merit in 1998.

For the last few years of his life he lived at Sun Bank, Trevor, near Llangollen.

Family

Sir Fred married Hettie Denise Blackwell of Wrexham in 1939; they had three sons and one daughter.

References

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rosier

Bibliography

Image and Biography. The Encyclopaedia of Wrexham – W. Alister Williams – Published 2001
Be Bold.(Autobiography) by Frederick Rosier and David Rosier – Grub Publishing (June 2011).

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Douglas Morris	Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command 1966–1968	Post disbanded
Preceded by Sir Augustus Walker	Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Central Europe 1970–1973	Succeeded by Sir Lewis Hodges

[air-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rosier

[1]

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Israel United States