Ralph Royce

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Ralph Royce
20th Bombardment Wing
7th Bombardment Group
1st Pursuit Group
1st Observation Group
1st Aero Squadron
Battles/warsWorld War I:

World War II:

AwardsDistinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Croix de guerre[1]
Order of the White Eagle[2]
Signature

Ralph Royce (28 June 1890 – 7 August 1965) was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. A West Point graduate who learned to fly in 1915–16, he served with the 1st Aero Squadron in the Pancho Villa Expedition and later led it on the Western Front. During World War II as a brigadier general, he led the Royce special mission to Mindanao, in which a small force of bombers flew from Australia to attack Japanese targets in the Philippines. Later he was Deputy Commander of the Ninth Air Force and commanded the 1st Provisional Tactical Air Force.

Early life

At West Point in 1914

Ralph Royce was born in

first lieutenant in the ASSC.[1]


World War I

Then Major Ralph Royce (left) with Brigadier General Benjamin Foulois in France 1918

Royce was posted to the 1st Aero Squadron,[1] which was then serving on the Mexican border in support of the Pancho Villa Expedition.[5] He briefly commanded the squadron in March 1917,[5] before being promoted to captain in May 1917.[1] In August 1917, he assumed command of the squadron again, taking it to the Western Front.[5] There, he was promoted to major in June 1918 and lieutenant colonel in August as commander of the 1st Observation Group.[1]

For his service in France, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with the citation: "Commanding the 1st American Observation Escadrille, he insisted on making the first reconnaissance above the enemy lines himself. Gives to his pilots generally an example of admirable dash and intrepidity."[6]

Between the wars

Royce experienced the chaotic ups and downs in rank common to Regular officers in 1920, when the National Defense Act of 1920 reorganized the military. He first reverted to his permanent rank of captain of Infantry 1 March 1920 when his temporary ranks expired. On 1 July 1920, when the Air Service became a combatant arm of the line, he formally transferred to the branch, with promotion to major by virtue of a provision in the Act that allowed officers who earned their rank in service with the AEF to retain it. On 18 December 1922 he was discharged when Congress set a new ceiling on the number of majors authorized the Air Service, and reappointed as a captain, then promoted again to major on 11 July 1923.[1]

From 1920 to 1926 he was commanding officer of the primary flying school at

Command and General Staff College.[6] From 1928 to 1930, he commanded the 1st Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field. Michigan.[1]

In January 1930 Royce commanded the 1st Pursuit Group in a flight across the northern United States from Selfridge Field to Spokane, Washington and back in what became known as the "Arctic Patrol" flight, in order to put "pursuit tactics to the acid test under extremely rigorous weather conditions, and to afford a very broad opportunity for testing flying equipment in zero temperatures".[7] For this, Royce won the Mackay Trophy.[8]

In July and August 1934, he piloted one of ten

Hamilton Field
CA.

World War II

Royce was promoted to

American Embassy in London. In July 1941 he became Military Attaché for Air.[1]

Special mission in the Philippines

Major General Ralph Royce during World War II

In January 1942, Royce was posted to

B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the 19th Bomb Group
.

The force took off from

P-40 Warhawk airstrips at Valencia and Maramag. Royce inexplicably declined to disperse the B-17s, and one was damaged by an air attack on Del Monte during the subsequent mission after it had been left behind for repairs. After the other two B-17s returned from the mission, they too were caught in the open on the ground and damaged, while the original bomber was destroyed. During missions on 12 and 13 April, the force carried out a series of small air strikes against shipping and harbor facilities at Cebu, the harbor and airstrips at Davao, and Nichols Field on Luzon, the B-17s flying only two sorties while the B-25s conducted more than twenty. They then returned safely to Australia with evacuees, including U.S. Navy Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley.[9][10] For leading the mission, Royce was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.[11]

Subsequent war service

A meeting, less than a month before the Normandy landings, of (from left to right) Brigadier General Richard C. Sanders, CG of the 100th Fighter Wing; Major General Ralph Royce, then Deputy Chief of Staff for the Ninth Air Force; Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force; Brigadier General Otto P. Weyland, CG of the XIX TAC

In the May 1942 organization of

South Eastern Training Center at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama. He commanded the First Air Force from April to September 1943.[1]

From September 1943 to March 1944, he was commander of

Post-war

Royce received a disability retirement from the military in July 1946. He died of

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Fogerty 1953
  2. ^ Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 580.
  3. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 438
  4. ^ The Howitzer. 1914. p. 163. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "Fact Sheets: 1 Reconnaissance Squadron". Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e "RALPH ROYCE". Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  7. ^ "AERONAUTICS: Frigid Test". Time. 20 January 1930. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  8. ^ "MacKay Trophy". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  9. ^ Bartsch 1992, pp. 394–400
  10. ^ Craven & Cate 1948, pp. 417–418
  11. ^ Brett 1947, pp. 144–145
  12. ^ "Milestones". Time. 19 February 1945. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2009.

Bibliography

External links