Lewis Hodges
Air Chief Marshal | |
|---|---|
| Commands held | Air Member for Personnel (1970–73) Air Support Command (1968–70) RAF Marham (1956–59) No. 357 (Special Duties) Squadron (1944–45) No. 161 (Special Duties) Squadron (1943–44) |
| Battles/wars | Second World War
|
| Awards | Croix de guerre (France) |
DL (1 March 1918 – 4 January 2007) was a pilot for Special Operations Executive (SOE) in the Second World War, and later achieved high command in the Royal Air Force and NATO
.
Early life
Hodges was born in Richmond in Surrey, England. He was educated at St Paul's School in Barnes and joined the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1937.
War service
Known as "Bob" Hodges, he was commissioned into the RAF as a
Miranda del Ebro.[1] He was eventually released some weeks later, reaching Gibraltar and then returning to England in June 1941.[1]
He was awarded the
Croix de guerre
.
He attended the
Dakotas and Lysanders in support of SOE's Force 136 in Burma and other resistance groups in Thailand and Malaya. Fortunately for Hodges, this meant that he did not fly to India with Leigh-Mallory: the aircraft crashed in the Alps, killing all on board. Hodges received a Bar to his DSO in October 1945[3]
for his services in the Far East.
Post-war
After the war, he joined the
Queen from 1973 to 1976.[1]
He retired from the RAF in 1976. He was a director of
RAF Club
. An account of his wartime service for SOE was published in Royal Air Force at War in 1983.
He lived near
Deputy Lieutenant of Kent in 1992.[7]
He was survived by his wife, Elisabeth Blackett. They were married in 1950, and had two sons together.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges
- ^ "No. 36215". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 October 1943. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 37313". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 October 1945. p. 1.
- ^ "No. 40053". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1953. p. 9.
- ^ "No. 41404". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1958. p. 9.
- ^ "No. 44600". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1968. p. 3.
- ^ "No. 52835". The London Gazette. 14 February 1992. p. 2.
External links
- Obituary, The Independent, 6 January 2007
- Obituary[dead link], The Daily Telegraph, 5 January 2007
- Obituary, The Times, 8 January 2007