Richard Atcherley
Encyclopedia
Air Marshal
Sir Richard Llewellyn Roger Atcherley KBE
, CB
, AFC & Bar
(12 January 1904 – 18 April 1970) was a senior commander in the RAF
who also served as chief of Air Staff for the Royal Pakistan Air Force.
, and his wife 'Nellie', Eleanor Frances (1871–1957), daughter of Richard Mickelthwait JP, of Ardsley House, in the valley of Deane near Barnsley
. Their father was a grandson of David Francis Atcherley Esq. of Marton Hall, High Sheriff of Shropshire
, Serjeant-at-law
, Attorney-General of the County Palatine of Lancaster and County Durham
. Richard Atcherley and his brother, first cousins of William Empson
, attended Oundle School
in Northamptonshire
.
, flying Snipes
out of Duxford
. In 1925, Atcherley attended the Central Flying School
and then returned to his squadron as both a pilot and a qualified flying instructor
. He was a member of the RAF team that competed for the Schneider Trophy
in 1929.
No. 219 Squadron
in October 1939 and then became Officer Commanding the Air Element of the British Expeditionary Force in Norway
in May 1940. He went on to be Station Commander at RAF Drem
in Scotland
in June 1940 in which year he was also awarded the Air Force Cross
. He was awarded a bar
to his Air Force Cross on 24 September 1941. In 1942 he served as Station Commander at RAF Fairwood Common
and then at RAF Kenley
.
He was promoted to temporary Group Captain
on 27 March 1942. In April 1943 Atcherley became Air Officer Commanding of No. 211 Group
at Tripoli
in Libya
. At the time of the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky
) on 10 July 1943, No. 211 Group was the primary fighter force of Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst
's Desert Air Force
, a sub-command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham
's Northwest African Tactical Air Force
. Later that year he transferred to Headquarters RAF Fighter Command
and in 1944 he moved to Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Air Force
in preparation for Operation Overlord
. He spent the closing stages of the War as Commandant of the Fighter Leaders' School and then as Commandant of the Central Fighter Establishment
.
before becoming Chief of the Air Staff for the Royal Pakistani Air Force in 1949 and then Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group
in 1951. He went on to be Head of the RAF Staff in Washington D. C. in 1953 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Flying Training Command
in 1955 before retiring in 1959.
In retirement he became Sales Director at Folland Aircraft Limited.
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Richard Llewellyn Roger Atcherley KBE
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...
, CB
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...
, AFC & Bar
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...
(12 January 1904 – 18 April 1970) was a senior commander in the RAF
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...
who also served as chief of Air Staff for the Royal Pakistan Air Force.
Early life
Richard Atcherley and his twin David were born on 12 January 1904, and were the sons of Major-General Sir Llewellyn William Atcherley CMG CVO, Chief Constable of the West Riding of YorkshireWest Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, and his wife 'Nellie', Eleanor Frances (1871–1957), daughter of Richard Mickelthwait JP, of Ardsley House, in the valley of Deane near Barnsley
Barnsley
Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster. Barnsley is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, of which Barnsley is the largest and...
. Their father was a grandson of David Francis Atcherley Esq. of Marton Hall, High Sheriff of Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, Serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
, Attorney-General of the County Palatine of Lancaster and County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. Richard Atcherley and his brother, first cousins of William Empson
William Empson
Sir William Empson was an English literary critic and poet.He was known as "燕卜荪" in Chinese.He was widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, fundamental to the New Critics...
, attended Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
.
RAF career
In 1922, Atcherley attended the RAF College Cranwell and was commissioned two years later. He initially served as a pilot on No. 29 SquadronNo. 29 Squadron RAF
No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the Operational Conversion Unit for the RAF's newest fighter.-Service in World War I:This unit was...
, flying Snipes
Sopwith Snipe
The Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe was a British single-seat biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force . It was designed and built by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War, and came into squadron service a few weeks before the end of that conflict, in late 1918.The Snipe was not a fast aircraft...
out of Duxford
Duxford Aerodrome
Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the Parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village.The airfield is owned jointly by the Imperial War Museum and Cambridgeshire County Council and it is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the American...
. In 1925, Atcherley attended the Central Flying School
Central Flying School
The Central Flying School is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 it is the longest existing flying training school.-History:...
and then returned to his squadron as both a pilot and a qualified flying instructor
Qualified Flying Instructor
Qualified Flying Instructor is a term mainly used in the UK and commonwealth Military, Army, Navy and Air Force for a person who has passed the appropriate course before being allowed to instruct in an aircraft. In the USA and elsewhere, the equivalent term is "IP"...
. He was a member of the RAF team that competed for the Schneider Trophy
Schneider Trophy
The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider was a prize competition for seaplanes. Announced by Jacques Schneider, a financier, balloonist and aircraft enthusiast, in 1911, it offered a prize of roughly £1,000. The race was held eleven times between 1913 and 1931...
in 1929.
Second World War
Atcherley 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...
No. 219 Squadron
No. 219 Squadron RAF
No. 219 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was originally founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1957 after four separate periods of service. During the First World War it served as a coastal defence unit, and through most of the Second World War and the 1950s it operated as a night fighter air defence...
in October 1939 and then became Officer Commanding the Air Element of the British Expeditionary Force in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in May 1940. He went on to be Station Commander at RAF Drem
RAF Drem
RAF Drem is a former RAF station, just north of the village of Drem in East Lothian, Scotland. The motto of the station was Exiit Hinc Lumen which means "Ascend from this Light"....
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in June 1940 in which year he was also awarded the Air Force Cross
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...
. He was awarded a bar
Medal bar
A medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
to his Air Force Cross on 24 September 1941. In 1942 he served as Station Commander at RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Fairwood Common
RAF Fairwood Common was a World War II aerodrome located at Fairwood Common on the Gower Peninsula to the west of Swansea. It is now the location of Swansea Airport.-History:...
and then at RAF Kenley
RAF Kenley
The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was a station of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I and the RAF in World War II. It is located near Kenley, London, England.-History:...
.
He was promoted to temporary 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...
on 27 March 1942. In April 1943 Atcherley became Air Officer Commanding of No. 211 Group
No. 211 Group RAF
No 211 Group or No. 211 Group was a Group of the Royal Air Force formed on 10 December 1941 by renaming Nucleus Group Western Desert. The group was officially disbanded from 3 February 1942 to 12 March 1943, although some references refer to some of its original squadrons during this period as...
at Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. At the time of the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
) on 10 July 1943, No. 211 Group was the primary fighter force of Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst
Harry Broadhurst
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst GCB, KBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, AFC, RAF , commonly known as Broady, was a senior Royal Air Force commander.-Early life:...
's Desert Air Force
Desert Air Force
The Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...
, a sub-command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham
Arthur Coningham (RAF officer)
Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham KCB, KBE, DSO, MC, DFC, AFC, RAF was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, he was at Gallipoli with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a flying ace...
's Northwest African Tactical Air Force
Northwest African Tactical Air Force
The Northwest African Tactical Air Force was a sub-command of the Northwest African Air Forces which itself was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command...
. Later that year he transferred to Headquarters 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...
and in 1944 he moved to Headquarters 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...
in preparation 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...
. He spent the closing stages of the War as Commandant of the Fighter Leaders' School and then as Commandant of the Central Fighter Establishment
Central Fighter Establishment
The Central Fighter Establishment was a Royal Air Force formation that dealt with the development Fighter aircraft tactics. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment. It also dealt with the training of squadron and flight commanders. It was formed on 1 October 1944 as part of No. 12 Group...
.
Post-war
After the War he was appointed Commandant of the Royal Air Force College CranwellRoyal Air Force College Cranwell
The Royal Air Force College is the Royal Air Force training and education academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to be commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and is responsible for all RAF recruiting along with...
before becoming Chief of the Air Staff for the Royal Pakistani Air Force in 1949 and then Air Officer Commanding No. 12 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...
in 1951. He went on to be Head of the RAF Staff in Washington D. C. in 1953 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Flying Training Command
RAF Flying Training Command
Flying Training Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force which controlled units responsible for delivering flying training. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire.-History:...
in 1955 before retiring in 1959.
In retirement he became Sales Director at Folland Aircraft Limited.
Honours and awards
- Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 31 May 1956 (CBE - 5 July 1945, OBE - 1 January 1941)
- Companion of the Order of the Bath - 8 June 1950
- Air Force CrossAir Force Cross (United Kingdom)The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...
- 1940, BarMedal barA medal bar or medal clasp is a thin metal bar attached to the ribbon of a military decoration, civil decoration, or other medal. It is most commonly used to indicate the campaign or operation the recipient received the award for, and multiple bars on the same medal are used to indicate that the...
– 24 Sep 1941 - Mentioned in Despatches - 17 March 1941, 11 June 1942, 1 January 1945
- War Cross (Norway) - 18 December 1942