Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond

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Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond
2 June 1894 – March 27, 1945 (aged 50)
Air Commodore Peter Drummond, 1940
Place of birth	Perth, Western Australia
Place of death	Azores
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Air Marshal
Unit	No. 1 Squadron AFC (1917)
Commands held	No. 145 Squadron RAF (1918–19) No. 111 Squadron RAF (1919) RAF Tangmere (1931–33) RAF Northolt (1936–37) Air Member for Training (1943–45)
Battles/wars	World War I - Gallipoli Campaign - Middle East World War II - Middle East
Awards	Knight Commander of the Bath Distinguished Service Order and Bar Officer of the British Empire Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (4)

Air Marshal Sir Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond KCB, DSO and Bar, OBE, MC (2 June 1894 – 27 March 1945) was an Australian-born commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He rose from private soldier in World War I to Air Marshal in World War II. Drummond joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and saw action during the Gallipoli campaign the following year. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and became a fighter ace in the Middle Eastern theatre, scoring eight victories. He remained in the British armed forces for the rest of his life. Between 1925 and 1927 Drummond was seconded to the Royal Australian Air Force as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. From 1941 to 1943 he served as Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Middle East. He died in a plane crash in 1945.

[edit] Early career

Drummond was born in Perth, Western Australia, and christened Roy Maxwell. During his schooling at Scotch College he acquired the nickname "Peter", formally adopting it as his first name in 1943. Drummond served in cadets and worked as a bank clerk before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 September 1914.^[1]

[edit] World War I

At 5ft 7in (171cm) in height, Drummond was judged too slight of build for the infantry and was instead assigned to the 2nd Stationary Hospital of the Australian Army Medical Corps as an orderly. In December 1914, Drummond's unit arrived in Egypt. He was sent to Gallipoli in April 1915 and served on a hospital ship. Drummond was evacuated later that year, suffering from dysentery. In December, he applied for a transfer to the British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and was discharged from the Australian Army in April 1916.^[1]

Following pilot training in the UK, Drummond received the rank of Lieutenant and was attached to No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, in early 1917. Based in Egypt, he was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in combat with six enemy aircraft.^[1] He became a flight commander with the squadron in May. In October 1917 Drummond joined No. 111 Squadron RFC as a flight commander, with the temporary rank of Captain.^[1][2] On 12 December 1917 he was escorting two Australian aircraft in his Bristol Fighter near Tul Karem, Palestine, when they were spotted by three German Albatros scouts. Drummond attacked and destroyed all three of the enemy aircraft.^[2] This achievement won him the Distinguished Service Order.^[1]

On 27 March 1918, again near Tul Karem, Drummond and another pilot scrambled to attack a German scout. As his wingman dealt with the intruder, Drummond, flying a Nieuport, single-handedly engaged six other German aircraft that had suddenly appeared. After he had destroyed one and "sent another down in a spin", Drummond developed engine trouble and had to land behind enemy lines. Finding his engine firing again, he took off before he could be captured by Turkish troops and gained a start over the four still-circling German scouts, "who had also concluded that the fight was over". Drummond was forced to land three more times in enemy territory — once in a cavalry camp where he "carried away a line full of washing" with his undercarriage in his escape — before he shook off all but one of the pursuing fighters and landed safely behind Allied lines.^[2] He was awarded a Bar to his DSO for his actions.^[1]

Drummond kept the temporary rank of Captain when the RFC merged with the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. He was given command of No. 145 Squadron RAF on 19 July 1918 and made an acting Major in September.^[3] He finished the war an ace, with eight victories,^[4][5][6] and was twice Mentioned in Despatches.^[3]

[edit] Inter-war years

Drummond continued to serve in the RAF following World War I, taking command of No. 111 Squadron on 20 February 1919 and receiving his permanent commission as a Flight Lieutenant that August.^[3] He was based in the Sudan in 1920-21, putting down local rebellions. As acting Squadron Leader, he commanded "H" Unit, the entire complement of which consisted of two aircraft. He was appointed an OBE in recognition of a successful reconnaissance and bombing campaign against Garjak Nuer tribesmen.^[3][7]

After returning to Britain, Drummond attended the RAF Staff College, Andover, graduating in April 1923. Seconded to the RAAF in June 1925, he served as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff until 1927, then as Director of Operations and Intelligence until November 1929. He graduated from the Imperial Defence College, London, in December 1930.^[1][3] Drummond was promoted Wing Commander on 1 July 1931. He commanded RAF Manston for a brief period in mid-1931, followed by RAF Tangmere between November 1931 and June 1933. In September 1936 he was made Officer Commanding RAF Northolt, gaining promotion to Group Captain on 1 January 1937. He was posted to Cairo in September 1937 as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) RAF Middle East and raised to Air Commodore on 1 July 1939.^[3]

[edit] World War II

Air Vice Marshal Drummond (left) with British Minister of State of the Middle East Richard Casey (centre) and Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder (right) in May 1942

Drummond was still in his position as SASO RAF Middle East when Britain declared war on 3 September 1939. Having been made temporary Air Vice Marshal in January 1941, he was appointed acting Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Middle East that May, following Air Marshal Arthur Tedder's elevation to acting AOC-in-C. Tedder's and Drummond's posts were made permanent in June.^[3][4][8] Both officers have been credited with developing their command as "a mobile strike-force capable of co-operating fully with the other two services".^[1]

In early 1942 the Australian Government sought Drummond for the position of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of the RAAF, to succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett at the completion of the latter's two-year term.^[9] Although initially supportive of the plan, the British Air Ministry eventually declined to release Drummond from his role in the Middle East, partly to avoid disruption to the region's command and also because it did not believe that Drummond's operational abilities would be put to sufficient use in the largely administrative role of CAS.^[10] Drummond himself was reportedly dubious about the appointment because of the division of authority between RAAF Headquarters and Allied Air Force Headquarters, South West Pacific Area (SWPA).^[11]

Air Chief Marshal Burnett had recommended his deputy, Air Vice Marshal William Bostock, for CAS but in May 1942 the position went to acting Air Commodore George Jones. Bostock in turn became Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command, Australia's main operational organisation under SWPA. An ongoing conflict between Jones (now promoted Air Vice Marshal) and Bostock led to moves in April 1943 to bring in an officer senior to both men to head the RAAF in a unified command structure, and Drummond was once more approached by the Australian Government. Drummond had indicated that he was happy to serve in Australia but the Air Ministry again refused to release him, having selected him for a posting to the Air Council as Air Member for Training.^[12][13]

Drummond took up his appointment as Air Member for Training on 27 April 1943, succeeding Air Marshal Sir Guy Garrod.^[14] He was promoted to temporary Air Marshal on 1 June 1943 and made a Knight Commander of the Bath. The following year he turned down the position of Air Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command. Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory accepted it instead, and died in an aircraft accident on his way to take up the post. On 27 March 1945, Drummond was en route to Canada with other dignitaries to attend a ceremony marking the closure of the Empire Air Training Scheme. His plane, a B-24 Liberator that was formerly the personal transport of Winston Churchill, disappeared near the Azores and all aboard were presumed killed.^[3] Peter Drummond was survived by his wife Isabel, whom he married in 1929, and three children.^[1] He was twice Mentioned in Despatches for his service in World War II, in 1942 and 1946.^[3]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Barrass, Malcolm (2001–2008). Air Marshal Sir Peter Drummond. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation.
• Cutlack, F.M. [1923] (1941). The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 (11th edition): Volume VIII – The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914–1918. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. 
• McCarthy, John (1996). "Drummond, Sir Peter Roy Maxwell (1894 - 1945)", Australian Dictionary of Biography: Volume 14. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. 
• Gillison, Douglas (1962). Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. 
• Helson, Peter (2006). "Ten Years at the Top". . University of New South Wales
• Herington, John (1954). Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Three (Air) Volume III – Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. 
• Odgers, George [1957] (1968). Australia in the War of 1939-1945: Series Three (Air) Volume II – Air War Against Japan 1943-45. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. 
• Stephens, Alan [2001] (2006). The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195555414.