Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory | |
|---|---|
 Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory c.1944 | |
| Born | 11 July 1892 Mobberley, Cheshire, England |
| Died | 14 November 1944 (aged 52) French Alps |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | British Army (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–44) |
| Years of service | 1914–1944 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands | Allied Expeditionary Air Force (1943–44) Fighter Command (1942–43) No. 11 Group (1940–42) No. 12 Group (1937–40) No. 2 Flying Training School (1934–35) School of Army Co-operation (1927–29) No. 8 Squadron (1917–18) No. 15 Squadron (1917) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Bar Mentioned in Despatches (3) 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 (United States) |
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 the First World War. 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.
At the start of the Second World War, he was Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 12 (Fighter) Group and during the Battle of Britain. However he has been criticised for his political machinations within the Air Ministry, particularly with Sholto Douglas, that led to the replacement of Hugh Dowding and Keith Park on 25 November 1940, less than a month after the end of the Battle of Britain. Leigh-Mallory replaced Park at No. 11 (Fighter) Group and Sholto Douglas replaced Dowding as head of RAF Fighter Command.[1] In 1942, Leigh-Mallory became 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 during the Allied Invasion of Normandy.
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]
- ^ Korda 2009, pp. 289–99
- ^ "Record of Avro York C.1 MW126". www.lostaircraft.com. Retrieved 22 April 2024.