| Sir John Cotesworth (Jack) Slessor | |
|---|---|
Air Marshal Slessor, 1943 |
|
| Born | 3 June 1897 Ranikhet, British India |
| Died | 12 July 1979 (aged 82) Wiltshire, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1915–1952 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Royal Air Force |
| Unit | No. 17 Squadron RFC (1915–16) No. 5 Squadron RFC (1917–18) |
| Commands held | No. 4 Squadron (1925–28) No. 3 (Indian) Wing (1935–37) No.5 Group (1941–42) Coastal Command (1943–44) Imperial Defence College (1948–49) Royal Air Force (1950–52) |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (3) |
| Other work | Author High Sheriff of Somerset |
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth (Jack) Slessor GCB, DSO, MC (3 June 1897 – 12 July 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF). A pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, he held operational commands in World War II and served in the RAF's most senior post, Chief of the Air Staff, from 1950 to 1952. He was considered a strong proponent of strategic bombing and the nuclear deterrent, and published several books, including an autobiography. He was a cousin of the children's author Rosemary Sutcliffe who mentions "cousin Jack's" depression at being turned down for the Army in her memoir "Blue Remembered Hills".[1]
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The son of a serving army officer, Slessor was born at Ranikhet, British India, and educated at Haileybury. Lame in both legs as a result of polio, he was rejected for army service at the outbreak of World War I and only received a commission in the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 with the help of his family connections. He saw action with No. 17 Squadron in Egypt and the Sudan, where he was Mentioned in Despatches before being wounded in the thigh and invalided back to England in 1916. Lacking anesthetics, the bullet was extracted after Slessor had drunk two bottles of warm champagne and a slug of brandy. Slessor said the operation was bad "but the hangover was truly dreadful".[2] He returned to combat midway through the following year as a flight commander with No. 5 Squadron on the Western Front.[3] Awarded the Military Cross in 1917, he finished the war with the temporary rank of Major in the recently formed Royal Air Force (RAF).[4]
Having left the RAF in 1919, Slessor applied to rejoin the following year and was offered a short-service commission as a Flight Lieutenant. He served as Officer Commanding No. 4 Squadron from 1925 to 1928, and was appointed RAF Directing Staff Officer at the Army Staff College, Camberley in 1931. He became Officer Commanding No. 3 (Indian) Wing in March 1935, winning the Distinguished Service Order for operations in Waziristan.[4][5]
Slessor authored Air Power and Armies, an examination of the use of air power against targets on and behind the battlefield, in 1936. In this work he advocated army co-operation, interdiction to seal off battlefields from enemy reinforcements and supply, and the use of aerial bombardment as a weapon against enemy morale.[6] He did, however, acknowledge the limitations of his theory, stating:[7]
...the conditions envisaged throughout [this book] are those of a campaign on the land in which the primary problem at the time is the defeat of an enemy army in the field. ... in a war against a great Naval power at sea, or when the principle threat to the Empire at the time is the action of hostile air forces against this country or its possessions, the aim and objectives of the air forces of the Empire will not be the same as described in this book.
In May 1937, following his posting to India, Slessor was promoted Group Captain and appointed Deputy Director of Plans. Mentioned in Despatches in February 1938, he took over as Director of Plans in December that year.[4]
Slessor was promoted Air Commodore on the first day of World War II, 1 September 1939. On 10 January 1941, he was raised to temporary Air Vice Marshal and became Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No.5 (Bomber) Group in May. Mentioned in Despatches in January 1942, he was appointed Assistant Chief of the Air Staff and his rank made substantive that April.[4] Slessor was closely involved in planning the combined Allied air offensive in Europe. At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, he was able to influence Britain's Secretary for Air, Sir Archibald Sinclair, and Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, to agree to USAAF proposals that led to a 'round-the clock' bombing policy against Germany with the US mounting daylight precision attacks and the RAF conducting area bombing at night.[3]
Appointed AOC Coastal Command in February 1943, Slessor was credited with doing "much to start winning the Battle of the Atlantic", employing his thinly-stretched long-range bomber force against the U-boat threat, in close cooperation with naval forces. Promoted temporary Air Marshal on 1 June 1943, he went on to become Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East in January 1944, and deputy to Lieutenant General Ira Eaker as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. In this role he conducted operations in the Italian Campaign and Yugoslavia,[3] establishing the Balkan Air Force in the latter theatre. Slessor was made Air Member for Personnel in April 1945, his rank of Air Marshal becoming substantive on 6 June. He had been appointed a Companion of the Bath in January 1942 and Knight Commander of the Bath in June the following year.[4]
Slessor was promoted Air Chief Marshal on 1 January 1946.[4] He remained as Air Member for Personnel until the end of 1947, when he succeeded General Sir William Slim as Commandant of the Imperial Defence College, at the urging of the-then CAS, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Tedder. Slessor had been dubious about accepting the position, and sought assurances from Tedder that he would be next in line for the CAS post, particularly in light of Tedder's preference for Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane to succeed him.[8] In the event, Slessor took over from Tedder on 1 January 1950, and chose Cochrane as his Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Having been appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath on 10 June 1948, he was promoted Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 8 June 1950.[4][8] In late 1951, Slessor reluctantly became involved in the Australian Government's quest for a suitable RAF officer to serve as Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He eventually selected Air Marshal Donald Hardman as the "outstanding candidate" for the Australian post, trying to avoid what he called "the follies of some years ago", referring to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett's controversial tenure as RAAF CAS on secondment from Britain in the early years of World War II.[9]
As leader of the RAF, Slessor coined the term 'V-Force' to denote the its planned trio of strategic jet bombers: the Vickers Valiant, Handley Page Victor, and Avro Vulcan.[6] He played a key role in promoting nuclear weapons as an effective instrument of deterrence in early Cold War British strategy. In 1952, the RAF argued that, because bombers were such an important deterrent, conventional forces could be drastically reduced at a time when the Government was seeking significant public expenditure savings.[10] Slessor believed it unlikely that the United Kingdom would be able to meet a communist offensive without resorting to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.[11] He became one of the key propagandists of the 'Great Deterrent' (which he employed as the title of a book he wrote after he retired) on both sides of the Atlantic.[12]
Slessor completed his term as CAS on 31 December 1952 and retired from the RAF in the new year. He published two books in retirement: his autobiography, The Central Blue (1956), and The Great Deterrent (1957). A member of Somerset County Council from 1963 to 1974, he served as High Sheriff of Somerset from 1965 to 1966.[4] His son John also joined the RAF, rising to the rank of Group Captain.[13] Sir John Slessor died in Wiltshire on 12 July 1979.[3]
(Source for this section [4])
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Norman Bottomley |
Air Officer Commanding No. 5 Group 1941–1942 |
Succeeded by Alec Coryton |
| Preceded by Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté |
Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command 1943–1944 |
Succeeded by Sir William Sholto Douglas |
| Preceded by New Post |
Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East 1944–1945 |
Succeeded by Sir Guy Garrod |
| Preceded by Sir Bertine Sutton |
Air Member for Personnel 1945–1947 |
Succeeded by Sir Hugh Saunders |
| Preceded by Sir William Slim |
Commandant of the Imperial Defence College 1948–1949 |
Succeeded by Sir Charles Daniel |
| Preceded by Sir Arthur Tedder |
Chief of the Air Staff 1950–1952 |
Succeeded by Sir William Dickson |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by Richard Hill |
High Sheriff of Somerset 1965–1966 |
Succeeded by Sir Edward Malet |