Frederick Rosier
Encyclopedia
Air Chief Marshal
Sir Frederick Rosier GCB
, CBE
, DSO
(13 October 1915-10 September 1998) was a Royal Air Force
commander.
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 it Short Service Commission in the RAF in 1935 and served with 43 Squadron (Fighters) flying Hawker Fury
aircraft at Tangmere from 1936 to 1939. He was a flight commander on No. 229 Squadron RAF
(Hawker Hurricane
aircraft) by May 1940 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 229 Squadron at Vitry-en-Artois
near Arras
and was shot down by an 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
.
He embarked with 229 Squadron for North Africa
on board and led the aircraft in a take-off from ship to North Africa via Malta
. Promoted to Wing Commander in 1941, he took charge of No. 263 Wing where he had joint operational control of the Desert Air Force's fighter squadrons. In November 1941 he spotted an Australian Tomahawk
aircraft being forced down by enemy fighters and landed his single-seater to rescue the pilot. Having got Sgt. 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 Fighter Group and was awarded the DSO
. Returning to the UK in 1943 he became Officer Commanding No. 52 Operational Training Unit and then Commanding officer of RAF Northolt
.
RAF Horsham St. Faith in 1947 and then went on an Exchange Officer posting with the with USAF in 1948 and on return to the UK was appointed an Instructor at the Joint Services Staff College in 1950. He went on to be Group Captain Operations at Central Fighter Establishment in 1952, Group Captain Plans at RAF Fighter Command
in 1954 and Aide-de-Camp
to the Queen in 1956.
He was made Director of Joint Plans at the Air Ministry
in 1958, Air Officer Commanding Air Forces Middle East in 1961 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Transport Command
in 1964. His last appointments were as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Fighter Command
in 1966, as UK Permanent Military Deputy at CENTRO in Ankara
in 1968 and as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allied Air Forces Central Europe
in 1970 before he retired in 1973.
until 1977 when be was made Director in charge of the Saudi Arabia
part of the company. His awards included: DSO, 1942; OBE, 1943; Commander Order of Orange Nassau, 1947; CBE, 1955; CB, 1961; KCB, 1966; GCB 1972. 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 as Sun Bank, Trevor, near Llangollen
.
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Frederick Rosier GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(13 October 1915-10 September 1998) was a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
commander.
Early and wartime career
Born in WrexhamWrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
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
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
Schoolboys.
He received it Short Service Commission in the RAF in 1935 and served with 43 Squadron (Fighters) flying Hawker Fury
Hawker Fury
The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was originally named the Hornet and was the counterpart to the Hawker Hart light bomber.-Design and development:...
aircraft at Tangmere from 1936 to 1939. He was a flight commander on No. 229 Squadron RAF
No. 229 Squadron RAF
No. 229 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, and is an officially accredited Battle of Britain Squadron. It became No. 603 Squadron RAF in January 1945.-Formation & World War I:...
(Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
aircraft) by May 1940 having helped form and convert the squadron from the Bristol Blenheim
Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
aircraft. He first saw active service during the Second World War in France where he commanded a detachment of 229 Squadron at Vitry-en-Artois
Vitry-en-Artois
Vitry-en-Artois is a commune and in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Vitry-en-Artois is situated some northeast of Arras, at the junction of the N50, D39 and the D42 roads. The river Scarpe flows through the town, which is also served by the SNCF...
near Arras
Arras
Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard dialect...
and was shot down by an Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
receiving facial burns. Returning to active service by October 1940 he commanded 229 Squadron from RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
for the last 12 days of the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
.
He embarked with 229 Squadron for North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
on board and led the aircraft in a take-off from ship to North Africa via Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. Promoted to Wing Commander in 1941, he took charge of No. 263 Wing where he had joint operational control of the Desert Air Force's fighter squadrons. In November 1941 he spotted an Australian Tomahawk
Curtiss P-40
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...
aircraft being forced down by enemy fighters and landed his single-seater to rescue the pilot. Having got Sgt. 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 Fighter Group and was awarded the DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
. Returning to the UK in 1943 he became Officer Commanding No. 52 Operational Training Unit and then Commanding officer of RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
.
Post War
He was appointed Officer CommandingOfficer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
RAF Horsham St. Faith in 1947 and then went on an Exchange Officer posting with the with USAF in 1948 and on return to the UK was appointed an Instructor at the Joint Services Staff College in 1950. He went on to be Group Captain Operations at Central Fighter Establishment in 1952, Group Captain Plans at RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
in 1954 and Aide-de-Camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the Queen in 1956.
He was made Director of Joint Plans at the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
in 1958, Air Officer Commanding Air Forces Middle East in 1961 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Transport Command
RAF Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.-History:...
in 1964. His last appointments were as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of three functional commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War, gaining recognition in the Battle of Britain. The Command continued until 17 November 1943, when...
in 1966, as UK Permanent Military Deputy at CENTRO in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
in 1968 and as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Allied Air Forces Central Europe
Allied Air Forces Central Europe
Allied Air Forces Central Europe was the headquarters for NATO air forces in Central Europe from 1951 to 1967 and from 1974 to 1993.-History:It was first based at Fontainebleau , and originally activated in April 1951...
in 1970 before he retired in 1973.
Retirement
In retirement he became a Military Advisor and Director of the Preston Division of the British Aircraft CorporationBritish Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
until 1977 when be was made Director in charge of the Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
part of the company. His awards included: DSO, 1942; OBE, 1943; Commander Order of Orange Nassau, 1947; CBE, 1955; CB, 1961; KCB, 1966; GCB 1972. 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 as Sun Bank, Trevor, near Llangollen
Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...
.
Family
Sir Fred married Hettie Denise Blackwell of Wrexham in 1939, and they had three sons and one daughter.Honours and awards
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the BathOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
– 3 June 1972 (KCB – 10 June 1966, CB – 1 January 1961) - Commander of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
– 9 June 1955 (OBE - 2 June 1943) - Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
– 13 February 1942 - ADC to The Queen - 18 June 1957 to 9 June 1959, 11 March 1972 to 3 September 1973
- Mentioned in Despatches – 1 January 1946
- Commander of the Order of Orange-NassauOrder of Orange-NassauThe Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
(Netherlands) - 31 October 1947 - Order of Merit (Poland) - 1998