Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Encyclopedia
Air Chief Marshal
Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory KCB
, DSO & Bar
(11 July 1892–14 November 1944) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force
. Leigh-Mallory served as a Royal Flying Corps
pilot and squadron commander during World War I
. Remaining in the newly formed RAF after the war, Leigh-Mallory served in a variety of staff and training appointments throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
During the pre-Second World War
build-up, he was Air Officer Commanding
(AOC) No. 12 (Fighter) Group
and shortly after the end of the Battle of Britain
, took over command of No. 11 (Fighter) Group
, defending the approach to London. In 1942 he became the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of Fighter Command
before being selected in 1943 to be the C-in-C of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force
, which made him the air commander for the Allied Invasion of Normandy.
In November 1944, en route to Ceylon
to take up the post of Air C-in-C South East Asia Command
, his aircraft crashed over the French Alps
and Leigh-Mallory, his wife and ten others were killed. He was one of the most senior British officers and the most senior RAF officer to be killed in the Second World War.
, Cheshire
, the son of Herbert Leigh Mallory, (1856–1943), Rector
of Mobberly, who legally changed his surname to Leigh-Mallory in 1914. He was the younger brother of George Mallory
, the noted mountaineer. He was educated at Haileybury
and at Magdalene College, Cambridge
where he was a member of a literary club and where he made the acquaintance of Arthur Tedder, the future Marshal of the Royal Air Force
. He passed his Bachelor of Law degree and had applied to the Inner Temple
in London to become a barrister when, in 1914, war broke out.
Trafford married Doris Sawyer in 1915; the couple had two children.
though officer training kept him in England when his battalion embarked. In the spring of 1915, he went to the front with the South Lancashire Regiment and was wounded during an attack at the Second Battle of Ypres
.
After recovering from his wounds, Leigh-Mallory joined the Royal Flying Corps
in January 1916 and was accepted for pilot training. In July 1916, he was posted to No. 7 Squadron
, where he flew on bombing, reconnaissance and photographic operations during the Battle of the Somme. He was then transferred to No. 5 Squadron
before returning to England for promotion to Major and assignment as a squadron commander.
Leigh-Mallory's first combat command was No. 8 Squadron in November 1917. In the period after the Battle of Cambrai, No. 8 Squadron was involved in Army cooperation, directing tanks and artillery. At the Armistice, Leigh-Mallory was mentioned in dispatches
and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
.
(RAF), taking command of the Armistice Squadron. Subsequent promotions saw him pass through the RAF Staff College
and command the School of Army Cooperation before eventually being posted to the Army Staff College, Camberley
. He was now a leading authority on Army cooperation and in 1930, lectured at the Royal United Services Institute
on air cooperation with mechanised forces.
A posting to the Air Ministry in 1932 saw Leigh-Mallory assigned to the British delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva
under the auspices of the League of Nations
, where he made many contacts. After the collapse of the conference, he returned to the Air Ministry and attended the Imperial Defence College
, the most senior of the staff colleges. However, lack of senior command experience meant a spell as commander of No. 2 Flying School and station commander at RAF Digby
before serving as a staff officer overseas. He was posted to the RAF in Iraq in Christmas 1935, and two years later, in December 1937, by then a Group Captain
, he returned to England to be appointed commander of No. 12 Group, Fighter Command.
, Leigh-Mallory quarrelled with Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park
, the commander of 11 Group. Park, who was responsible for the defence of south east England and London, had stated that 12 Group was not doing enough to protect the airfields in the south-east. Leigh-Mallory, on the other hand, had devised with Acting Squadron Leader
Douglas Bader
, a massed fighter formation known as the Big Wing
, which they used, with little success, to hunt German bomber formations. Leigh-Mallory was critical of the tactics of Park and Sir Hugh Dowding
, head of Fighter Command, believing that not enough was being done to allow wing-sized formations to operate successfully. He then worked energetically in political circles to bring about the removal of Park from command of 11 Group; the false claims for the Duxford Big Wing successes played a part in this. Throughout the Battle of Britain, his lack of support for Park's 11 Group contributed materially to the damage that the Luftwaffe was able to inflict on 11 Group's airfields.
After the Battle of Britain, Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal, the new Chief of the Air Staff, who had agreed with Leigh-Mallory, removed both Park and Dowding from their posts. Leigh-Mallory took over from Park as commander of 11 Group. As a beneficiary of the change in command, Leigh-Mallory has been accused of forming a plot to overthrow Dowding.
mould. Once appointed he soon introduced wing-sized fighter sweeps into France, known as "rodeos." (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 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, many 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. Ironically 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.
In 1942, Leigh-Mallory was appointed as the air commander for the Dieppe Raid
which took place in August, during which Fighter Command operated 50 squadrons in close cover and six in close support. Losses during the ill-fated raid were again heavy, partly because of the superiority of the new German fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
, over RAF's Spitfire Mark Vs.
In November 1942, Leigh-Mallory replaced Sholto Douglas as head of Fighter Command and was promoted to Air Marshal. 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 Arthur Tedder, Arthur Harris at Bomber Command, and Carl Spaatz
of the US Army Air Force - appearing interested in ceding any authority or autonomy. This was, of course, exactly why a unified commander was needed and Leigh-Mallory, with his experience with Army cooperation, was a candidate for the job. In August 1943, Leigh-Mallory was appointed Commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Forces for the Normandy invasion where he drew up the air plan for Operation Overlord
(although Tedder succeeded in wresting some of the authority for the air plan from Leigh-Mallory).
Another point of view in this matter is that because of the close working relationship between Eisenhower and Tedder during their previous campaigns, Eisenhower preferred Tedder over Leigh-Mallory. After Leigh-Mallory's assignment as Air Commander, South East Asia, Tedder was effectively in command of all the Allied air assets operating on the continent up to the end of the war in Europe.
Leigh-Mallory then had the vital job of coordinating the various air arms during the Battle of Normandy
, work for which the subordinate commanders would mostly take the credit. His diaries reveal his primary concern was sealing off the battlefield and restricting and disrupting the movement of German military units.
Because 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. General Bernard Montgomery was pleased with the air support and told the War Office: "We must definitely keep Leigh-Mallory as Air Commander-in-Chief. He is the only airman who is out to win the land battle and has no jealous reactions." Following the invasion, Leigh-Mallory also had to deal with the V-1 flying bomb
threat, deploying bomber units to attack the launch sites in the mission codenamed Operation Crossbow, as well as organising fighter squadrons for home defense of the British Isles.
aircraft in which they were travelling crashed into the French Alps, killing all on board. A court of inquiry found that the accident was a consequence of bad weather and might have been avoided if Leigh-Mallory had not insisted that the flight proceed in such poor conditions against the advice of his aircrew. His replacement at SEAC was his Battle of Britain rival Air Marshal Sir Keith Park
.
He and his wife are buried, alongside 10 aircrew, in Le Rivier d'Allemont, 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 Leigh-Mallory.
, particularly the activities of Leigh-Mallory and Sholto Douglas, led to the replacement of Dowding and Park on 25 November 1940, two months after the British victory. Leigh-Mallory replaced Keith Park at No. 11 Group, and Sholto Douglas replaced Dowding at Fighter Command. When the official history of the Battle of Britain was published, Dowding's name was not mentioned, leading Churchill to minute Sinclair: "This is not a good story... The jealousies and cliquism which have led to the committing of this offence are a discredit to the Air Ministry."
, the women's rights campaigner, at Gunby Hall
in Lincolnshire
. When the Hall was threatened with demolition during the Second World War to make way for an airfield, Leigh-Mallory intervened to save it. It is now in the hands of the National Trust
.
see fictional portrayal in Battle of Britain, starting @ 5:44 in this clip.
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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 Trafford Leigh-Mallory KCB
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...
, DSO & Bar
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...
(11 July 1892–14 November 1944) was a senior commander in the 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...
. Leigh-Mallory served as a Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
pilot and squadron commander during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Remaining in the newly formed RAF after the war, Leigh-Mallory served in a variety of staff and training appointments throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
During the pre-Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
build-up, he was Air Officer Commanding
Air Officer Commanding
Air Officer Commanding is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group...
(AOC) No. 12 (Fighter) Group
No. 12 Group RAF
No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a command organization that exisited over two separate periods, namely the end of World War I when it had a training function and from just prior to World War II until the early 1960s when it was tasked with an air defence role.No. 12 Group was first formed...
and shortly after the end 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...
, took over command of No. 11 (Fighter) Group
No. 11 Group RAF
No. 11 Group was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century, finally disbanding in 1996. Its most famous service was during 1940 when it defended London and the south-east against the attacks of the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.-First World War:No. 11 Group was...
, defending the approach to London. In 1942 he became the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of 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...
before being selected in 1943 to be the C-in-C of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force
Allied Expeditionary Air Force
The Allied Expeditionary Air Force was a component of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force which controlled the tactical air power of the Allied forces during Operation Overlord.Its effectiveness was less than optimal on two counts...
, which made him the air commander for the Allied Invasion of Normandy.
In November 1944, en route to Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
to take up the post of Air C-in-C South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command
South East Asia Command was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during World War II.-Background:...
, his aircraft crashed over the French Alps
French Alps
The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....
and Leigh-Mallory, his wife and ten others were killed. He was one of the most senior British officers and the most senior RAF officer to be killed in the Second World War.
Early life
Trafford Leigh-Mallory was born in MobberleyMobberley
Mobberley is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, situated between Wilmslow and Knutsford. Mobberley railway station lies on the Manchester to Northwich and Chester line and was opened on 12 May, 1862 by the Cheshire...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, the son of Herbert Leigh Mallory, (1856–1943), Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Mobberly, who legally changed his surname to Leigh-Mallory in 1914. He was the younger brother of George Mallory
George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....
, the noted mountaineer. He was educated at Haileybury
Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Haileybury and Imperial Service College, , is a prestigious British independent school founded in 1862. The school is located at Hertford Heath, near Hertford, from central London, on of parkland occupied until 1858 by the East India College...
and at Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College, Cambridge
Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene...
where he was a member of a literary club and where he made the acquaintance of Arthur Tedder, the future Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Marshal of the Royal Air Force is the highest rank in the Royal Air Force. In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff, and to retired Chiefs of the Air Staff, who were promoted to it on their last day of service. Promotions to the rank have ceased...
. He passed his Bachelor of Law degree and had applied to the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in London to become a barrister when, in 1914, war broke out.
Trafford married Doris Sawyer in 1915; the couple had two children.
First World War
Leigh-Mallory immediately volunteered to join a Territorial Army battalion of the King's (Liverpool Regiment) as a private. He was soon commissioned and transferred to the Lancashire FusiliersLancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
though officer training kept him in England when his battalion embarked. In the spring of 1915, he went to the front with the South Lancashire Regiment and was wounded during an attack at the Second Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
The Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used poison gas on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War and the first time a former colonial force pushed back a major European power on European soil, which occurred in the battle of St...
.
After recovering from his wounds, Leigh-Mallory joined the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
in January 1916 and was accepted for pilot training. In July 1916, he was posted to No. 7 Squadron
No. 7 Squadron RAF
No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire.-Formation and early years:No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squadron of the RFC to be formed before the First World War, but has been disbanded and reformed...
, where he flew on bombing, reconnaissance and photographic operations during the Battle of the Somme. He was then transferred to No. 5 Squadron
No. 5 Squadron RAF
No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the operator of the new Sentinel R1 Airborne STand-Off Radar aircraft and is based at RAF Waddington.-History:As No...
before returning to England for promotion to Major and assignment as a squadron commander.
Leigh-Mallory's first combat command was No. 8 Squadron in November 1917. In the period after the Battle of Cambrai, No. 8 Squadron was involved in Army cooperation, directing tanks and artillery. At the Armistice, Leigh-Mallory was mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
and awarded the Distinguished Service Order
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...
.
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 ForceRoyal 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...
(RAF), taking command of the Armistice Squadron. Subsequent promotions saw him pass through the RAF Staff College
RAF Staff College
The RAF Staff College may refer to:*RAF Staff College, Andover *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park *RAF Staff College, Bracknell...
and command the School of Army Cooperation before eventually being posted to the Army Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...
. He was now a leading authority on Army cooperation and in 1930, lectured at the Royal United Services Institute
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies , officially still known by its old name, the Royal United Services Institution, is a British defence and security think tank. It was founded in 1831 by The Duke of Wellington.RUSI describes itself asIt won Prospect Magazine's...
on air cooperation with mechanised forces.
A posting to the Air Ministry in 1932 saw Leigh-Mallory assigned to the British delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva
World Disarmament Conference
The Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments of 1932-34 was an effort by member states of the League of Nations, together with the U.S. and the Soviet Union, to actualize the ideology of disarmament...
under the auspices of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, where he made many contacts. After the collapse of the conference, he returned to the Air Ministry and attended the Imperial Defence College
Royal College of Defence Studies
The Royal College of Defence Studies is an internationally-renowned institution and component of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom...
, the most senior of the staff colleges. However, lack of senior command experience meant a spell as commander of No. 2 Flying School and station commander at RAF Digby
RAF Digby
RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station which, since March 2005, has been operated by the Ministry of Defence's Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Intelligence Collection Group. Formerly a training and fighter airfield, it is currently a tri-service military signals installation located...
before serving as a staff officer overseas. He was posted to the RAF in Iraq in Christmas 1935, and two years later, in December 1937, by then a Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
, he returned to England to be appointed commander of No. 12 Group, Fighter Command.
The 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 Air Vice-Marshal, one of the younger AVMs then serving in the RAF. He was greatly liked by his staff, but his relations with his airfield station commanders was strained. It was said of him that he "never went for popularity but he always stuck up for his staff. He was madly ambitious but he never trimmed for the sake of ambition."12 Group and the "Big Wing"
During the Battle of BritainBattle 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...
, Leigh-Mallory quarrelled with Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park
Keith Park
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
, the commander of 11 Group. Park, who was responsible for the defence of south east England and London, had stated that 12 Group was not doing enough to protect the airfields in the south-east. Leigh-Mallory, on the other hand, had devised with Acting Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
Douglas Bader
Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, FRAeS, DL was a Royal Air Force fighter ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.Bader joined the...
, a massed fighter formation known as the Big Wing
Big Wing
The Big Wing, also known as a Balbo, was an air fighting tactic proposed during the Battle of Britain by 12 Group commander Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Acting Squadron Leader Douglas Bader. In essence, the tactic involved meeting incoming Luftwaffe bombing raids in strength with a...
, which they used, with little success, to hunt German bomber formations. Leigh-Mallory was critical of the tactics of Park and Sir Hugh Dowding
Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding
Air Chief Marshal Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding GCB, GCVO, CMG was a British officer in the Royal Air Force...
, head of Fighter Command, believing that not enough was being done to allow wing-sized formations to operate successfully. He then worked energetically in political circles to bring about the removal of Park from command of 11 Group; the false claims for the Duxford Big Wing successes played a part in this. Throughout the Battle of Britain, his lack of support for Park's 11 Group contributed materially to the damage that the Luftwaffe was able to inflict on 11 Group's airfields.
After the Battle of Britain, Air Chief Marshal Charles Portal, the new Chief of the Air Staff, who had agreed with Leigh-Mallory, removed both Park and Dowding from their posts. Leigh-Mallory took over from Park as commander of 11 Group. As a beneficiary of the change in command, Leigh-Mallory has been accused of forming a plot to overthrow Dowding.
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 TrenchardHugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard GCB OM GCVO DSO was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force...
mould. Once appointed he soon introduced wing-sized fighter sweeps into France, known as "rodeos." (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
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
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 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, many to conduct ineffective offensive operations from Britain during 1941, was also questionable while 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...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
were only defended by older, obsolete types of aircraft. Ironically 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.
In 1942, Leigh-Mallory was appointed as the air commander for the Dieppe Raid
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...
which took place in August, during which Fighter Command operated 50 squadrons in close cover and six in close support. Losses during the ill-fated raid were again heavy, partly because of the superiority of the new German fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger was a German Second World War single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank in the late 1930s. Powered by a radial engine, the 190 had ample power and was able to lift larger loads than its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Bf 109...
, over RAF's Spitfire Mark Vs.
In November 1942, Leigh-Mallory replaced Sholto Douglas as head of Fighter Command and was promoted to Air Marshal. 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 Arthur Tedder, Arthur Harris at Bomber Command, and Carl Spaatz
Carl Spaatz
Carl Andrew "Tooey" Spaatz GBE was an American World War II general and the first Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He was of German descent.-Early life:...
of the US Army Air Force - appearing interested in ceding any authority or autonomy. This was, of course, exactly why a unified commander was needed and Leigh-Mallory, with his experience with Army cooperation, was a candidate for the job. In August 1943, Leigh-Mallory was appointed Commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Forces for the Normandy invasion where he drew up the air plan for Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
(although Tedder succeeded in wresting some of the authority for the air plan from Leigh-Mallory).
Another point of view in this matter is that because of the close working relationship between Eisenhower and Tedder during their previous campaigns, Eisenhower preferred Tedder over Leigh-Mallory. After Leigh-Mallory's assignment as Air Commander, South East Asia, Tedder was effectively in command of all the Allied air assets operating on the continent up to the end of the war in Europe.
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
, work for which the subordinate commanders would mostly take the credit. His diaries reveal his primary concern was sealing off the battlefield and restricting and disrupting the movement of German military units.
Because 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. General Bernard Montgomery was pleased with the air support and told the War Office: "We must definitely keep Leigh-Mallory as Air Commander-in-Chief. He is the only airman who is out to win the land battle and has no jealous reactions." Following the invasion, Leigh-Mallory also had to deal with the V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
threat, deploying bomber units to attack the launch sites in the mission codenamed Operation Crossbow, as well as organising fighter squadrons for home defense of the British Isles.
Death and legacy
In August 1944, with the Battle of Normandy almost over, Leigh-Mallory was appointed Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC). But before he could take up his post he and his wife were killed en route to Burma when the Avro YorkAvro York
The Avro York was a British transport aircraft that was derived from the Second World War Lancaster heavy bomber, and used in both military and airliner roles between 1943 and 1964.-Design and development:...
aircraft in which they were travelling crashed into the French Alps, killing all on board. A court of inquiry found that the accident was a consequence of bad weather and might have been avoided if Leigh-Mallory had not insisted that the flight proceed in such poor conditions against the advice of his aircrew. His replacement at SEAC was his Battle of Britain rival Air Marshal Sir Keith Park
Keith Park
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park GCB, KBE, MC & Bar, DFC, RAF was a New Zealand soldier, First World War flying ace and Second World War Royal Air Force commander...
.
He and his wife are buried, alongside 10 aircrew, in Le Rivier d'Allemont, 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 Leigh-Mallory.
Criticisms
The political intrigues within the Air MinistryAir 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...
, particularly the activities of Leigh-Mallory and Sholto Douglas, led to the replacement of Dowding and Park on 25 November 1940, two months after the British victory. Leigh-Mallory replaced Keith Park at No. 11 Group, and Sholto Douglas replaced Dowding at Fighter Command. When the official history of the Battle of Britain was published, Dowding's name was not mentioned, leading Churchill to minute Sinclair: "This is not a good story... The jealousies and cliquism which have led to the committing of this offence are a discredit to the Air Ministry."
Hobbies and interests
Leigh-Mallory was a keen sailor. After one of his children survived a serious illness he also became interested in faith healing and spiritualism. In one anecdote, he suggested he had seen the ghost of Mrs Emily Langton MassingberdEmily Langton Massingberd
Emily Caroline Langton Massingberd was a women's rights campaigner and temperance activist. She founded the Pioneer Club in 1892 as a home for women of advanced views.-References:...
, the women's rights campaigner, at Gunby Hall
Gunby Hall
Gunby Hall is a country house in Gunby, near Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, England, reached by a half mile long private drive. The Estate comprises the 42 room Gunby Hall, listed Grade I, a fine Clocktower, listed Grade II* and a Carriage House and Stable Block which are listed Grade II...
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. When the Hall was threatened with demolition during the Second World War to make way for an airfield, Leigh-Mallory intervened to save it. It is now in the hands of the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
.
Rank promotions
- Private-1914 (commissioned that year)
- Second LieutenantSecond LieutenantSecond lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
, British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
-1914 - LieutenantLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
-1915 - Lieutenant (Temp. CaptainCaptain (British Army and Royal Marines)Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
)-1916 - Captain (Temp. MajorMajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
)-1917 - Major, RAF-1919 (rank renamed Squadron Leader on 1 August 1919)
- Squadron LeaderSquadron LeaderSquadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
, RAF-1919 - Wing CommanderWing Commander (rank)Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
-1925 - Group CaptainGroup CaptainGroup captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
-1932 - Air CommodoreAir CommodoreAir commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
-1936 - Air Vice-MarshalAir Vice-MarshalAir vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
-1938 - Air Vice-Marshal (Actg. Air MarshalAir MarshalAir marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
)-13 July 1942 - Air Vice-Marshal (Temp. Air Marshal)-1 December 1942
- Air Vice-Marshal (Actg. Air Chief MarshalAir Chief MarshalAir chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
; Temp. Air Marshal)-15 December 1943 - Air Chief Marshal; Air Marshal-1 January 1944
Honours
- Mentioned in Despatches-1918
- 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...
(DSO)-1918 - Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)-1940
- Mentioned in Despatches-1940
- Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta-1942
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)-1943
- Mentioned in Despatches-1943
- Order of KutuzovOrder of KutuzovThe Order of Kutuzov is a Soviet and Russian military award, named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov ....
, 1st Class-1944 - Bar to DSO-1944
Sources
- Deighton, Len. Battle of Britain. London: Michael Joseph, 1980. ISBN 0-7181-3441-9.
- Gilbert, Martin. Finest Hour. London: Heinemann, 1983. ISBN 978-0434291878.
- Korda, Michael. With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. ISBN 978-0061125355.
- Regan, Geoffrey. The Guinness Book of Flying Blunders. London: Guinness Books, 1996. ISBN 0-85112-607-3.
External links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu38XSMwGPs&feature=relatedsee fictional portrayal in Battle of Britain, starting @ 5:44 in this clip.
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