Edye Rolleston Manning
| Edye Rolleston Manning | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
14 February 1889 Sydney, Australia |
| Died | 26 April 1957 (aged 68) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
British Army (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–45) |
| Years of service |
1914–1935 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Commands held |
No. 221 Group (1941) RAF Manston (1933–36) RAF Hornchurch (1930–33) No. 7 Squadron (1928–29) RAF Northolt (1927–28) No. 6 Squadron (1922–24) No. 6 Stores Depot (1919–20) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross |
Air Commodore Edye Rolleston Manning, CBE, DSO, MC (14 February 1889 – 26 April 1957) was an Australian-born senior officer in the Royal Air Force.[1][2][3][4] In the early days of the Second World War he was tasked with establishing a string of airfields in the Far East from Lashio to Mingladon.[5][6][7]
Early life
Edye Rolleston Manning was born in Australia on 14 February 1889, the son of William Alexander Manning, a solicitor practising in Sydney, Australia.[2][8] He was educated at Bedford Modern School in England before going on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh.[2]
Military career
When the First World War broke out, Manning ceased his studies at Edinburgh and joined the cavalry, serving in France and Belgium with the 15th Hussars.[2][9] Frustrated by the stalemate of trench warfare he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he attained RAeC Certificate No. 2253 on 9 October 1916.[10] He was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 while serving with No. 3 Squadron.[10]
As Commanding Officer of No. 6 Squadron, Manning was responsible for the evacuation of the British High Commissioner from Suliemanieh in Kurdistan, after which he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.[10] In 1928 he chose to go on half-pay in order to attempt a flight from England to Australia in a Westland Widgeon he owned privately.[11][12] He got as far as Tunis before crashing at Lebda; Manning was uninjured but his plane was a write-off and he was forced to abandon the attempt.[10]
After his aborted flight, Manning became Officer Commanding of RAF Hornchurch (1930)[13] and RAF Manston (1933)[14] before retiring in 1935 to become a stockbroker in Sydney.[9][10] At the advent of the Second World War he was persuaded to return to the Royal Air Force, becoming Officer Commanding No. 221 Group as a group captain in March 1941, establishing a "string of airfields stretching from Lashio to Mingladon".[10][15] In January 1942 he was appointed Air Commodore of the Group.[10]
Manning died on 26 April 1957.[9] There is a photographic portrait of Manning at the National Portrait Gallery, London.[16]
References
- ↑ "Who's who in Australia". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 "The Aeroplane". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage ...". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37124/supplement/3073/data.pdf
- ↑ "Disaster in the Far East 1940– 1942". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "The British Empire and the Second World War". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Fortnight of Infamy". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- 1 2 3 "E R Manning_P". rafweb.org. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Quiet Australian". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Flight International". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Aviation Week and Space Technology". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "1930 – 0503 – Flight Archive". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "1935 – 2- 0259 – Flight Archive". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Far East Air Operations 1942–1945". google.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ↑ "Edye Rolleston Manning". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2015.