Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory | |
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First World War
Second World War
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Awards | Mentioned in Despatches (3) (United States)Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland) Order of Kutuzov, 1st Class (USSR) Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit |
At the start of the
He died in November 1944 while en route to Ceylon to take up the post of Air Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command when his aircraft crashed in the French Alps killing all eight people on-board including his wife.[2]
Early life
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
First World War
Leigh-Mallory immediately volunteered to join a
After recovering from his wounds, Leigh-Mallory joined the Royal Flying Corps in January 1916 and was accepted for pilot training.[6] On 7 July 1916, he was posted, as a lieutenant in the RFC,[9] to No. 7 Squadron,[6] where he flew on bombing, reconnaissance and photographic operations during the Battle of the Somme.
He was then transferred to No. 5 Squadron in July 1916[6] before returning to England. He was promoted to temporary captain on 2 November 1916.[10]
Leigh-Mallory's first combat command was
Interwar years
After the war, Leigh-Mallory thought of re-entering the legal profession, but with little prospect of a law career, he stayed in the recently created Royal Air Force (RAF), with promotion to major on 1 August 1919 (the rank was renamed "squadron leader" on the same date),[11] and command of the Armistice Squadron.[6]
Promoted to
Promoted to
Second World War
Battle of Britain
Leigh-Mallory took command of 12 Group and proved an energetic organiser and leader. On 1 November 1938, he was promoted to
No. 12 Group and the "Big Wing"
During the
He then worked energetically in political circles to bring about the removal of Park from command of 11 Group; the false claims for the
After the Battle of Britain, Air Chief Marshal
Fighter Command and D-Day
One of the reasons for Leigh-Mallory's appointment to command 11 Group was that he was seen as an offensively-minded leader in the Trenchard mould. Once appointed he soon introduced wing-sized fighter sweeps into France, known as "rodeos"[17][page needed] (when accompanied by bombers to provoke enemy fighters, these were known as "Circus" operations).
However, Leigh-Mallory came in for criticism as these raids over enemy territory caused heavy RAF casualties with over 500 pilots lost in 1941 alone, losing four aircraft for each German aircraft destroyed and having little effect on ground targets. Indeed, during this period the German armed forces were mobilising for Operation Barbarossa and few Luftwaffe fighters remained in western Europe. It was indeed a steep learning curve for Leigh Mallory despite the fact that the Luftwaffe had made similar mistakes during the Battle of Britain and there were few other senior RAF commanders who had understanding of this. One of his staff officers pointed out: "In my opinion we learned a hell of a lot – how to get these raids in, by deceiving radar and by counter-offensive techniques. [In the Middle East] they were still in the First World War business – they'd learned none of the deception techniques such as sending in high-level fighters and sneaking the bombers in underneath." Keeping 75 squadrons of fighters, mainly to conduct ineffective offensive operations from Britain during 1941, was also questionable while Malta and Singapore were only defended by older, obsolete types of aircraft. The RAF's best commanders and air-warfare tacticians were in the Mediterranean area around this time achieving greater success over Malta and North Africa than their counterparts back home. Leigh-Mallory was promoted to acting air marshal on 13 July 1942.[18]
In November 1942, Leigh-Mallory replaced
He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in January 1943 and following a tour of air and army headquarters in Africa began lobbying for a unified command of the Allied air forces for the forthcoming invasion of Europe. There was considerable resistance to such a post with none of the vested air force interests – including
As many of these "interdiction" bombing missions took place against transport nodes, such as towns and villages, Leigh-Mallory came under political pressure to limit the effects of attacks on French civilians. He resisted, insisting that sacrifices were unfortunate but necessary if the air plan was to have any effect. His air plan succeeded in greatly slowing the mobilisation of the German Army and his experience at army cooperation paid dividends.[
Personal life
Leigh-Mallory married Doris Sawyer in 1915; the couple had two children.[5] He was a keen sailor and cricket fan.
After one of his children survived a serious illness, Leigh-Mallory became interested in faith healing and spiritualism. He was a practising Christian and consistently donated portions of his salary to charity, which he kept private during his life, and it was only revealed after his death. In one anecdote, he suggested he had seen the ghost of
Death
On 16 August 1944, with the Battle of Normandy almost over, Leigh-Mallory was appointed Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC) with the temporary rank of
He and his wife are buried, alongside eight aircrew, in Le Rivier d'Allemont, 15 miles (24 km) east-southeast of Grenoble,[25] a short distance below the site of the air crash. To mark the 60th anniversary of the accident and Leigh-Mallory's death, the local commune opened a small museum near the crash site, dedicated to him, in 2004.[26]
Legacy
Battle of Britain-class steam railway locomotive number 34109, built for the Southern Region of British Railways in 1950, was named Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory.[27]
References
- ^ Korda 2009, pp. 289–99
- ^ a b "Record of Avro York C.1 MW126". www.lostaircraft.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ The surname Mallory appears in various other spellings, including Malory, Malorie, Maillorie and Maleore. The name comes from the Old French adjective maleüré (from Latin male auguratus) meaning "ill-omened" or "unfortunate".
- ^ Burke's Family Records
- ^ a b c d e f g Trafford Leigh-Mallory profile at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory
- ^ "No. 28922". The London Gazette. 2 October 1914. p. 7815.
- ^ "No. 29419". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1915. p. 12995.
- ^ "No. 29682". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 July 1916. p. 7413.
- ^ "No. 29826". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 November 1916. p. 11123.
- ^ "No. 31486". The London Gazette. 1 August 1919. p. 9865.
- ^ "No. 33007". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1925. p. 8.
- ^ "No. 33785". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1932. p. 16.
- ^ "No. 34237". The London Gazette. 31 December 1935. p. 8407.
- ^ "No. 34566". The London Gazette. 1 November 1938. p. 6820.
- ^ Korda 2009, pg. 130.
- ^ Regan 1996
- ^ "No. 35646". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 July 1942. p. 3304.
- ^ "No. 35813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1942. p. 5338.
- ^ "No. 36307". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1943. p. 5658.
- ^ "No. 36314". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 January 1944. p. 89.
- ^ "No. 36674". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 1944. p. 3995.
- ^ "Squadron Leader Charles Gordon Drake Lancaster | War Casualty Details | CWGC".
- ISBN 978-0-099-55178-2.
- ^ "Allemont (Le Rivier) Communal Cemetery | Cemetery Details | CWGC".
- ^ "Forgotten wartime hero is quietly honoured". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "StackPath". www.rafmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
Sources
- Deighton, Len. Battle of Britain. London: Michael Joseph, 1980. ISBN 0-7181-3441-9.
- Gilbert, Martin. Finest Hour. London: Heinemann, 1983. ISBN 978-0-434-29187-8.
- Korda, Michael. With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-112535-5.
- Regan, Geoffrey. The Guinness Book of Flying Blunders. London: Guinness Books, 1996. ISBN 0-85112-607-3.