Air Marshal Sir Alan Cyril Davies, (31 March 1924 – 27 January 1998) was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer who served as Deputy Commander of

RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air ...

in 1977.

RAF career

Davies joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1941 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

: he served in

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

,Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Alan Davies
/ref> and was commissioned in 1943.Debrett's People of Today 1994 After the war he was involved in the introduction of the

Avro Shackleton The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from their Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a developm ...

as a maritime reconnaissance aircraft. He was given command of the Joint Anti-Submarine School Flight in 1952 and the Air Sea Warfare Development Unit in 1958, where he was involved in the development of the

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...

, and then commanded No. 201 Squadron in 1959. He went on to be deputy director of Operational Requirements at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in 1964, Station Commander of

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...

in 1967 and Director of Air Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1969. Davies then became

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall. The post was originally established circa February 1938, but without being made a member of the A ...

in 1972, Deputy Chief of Staff at Headquarters

Allied Air Forces Central Europe Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) was the NATO command tasked with air and air defense operations in NATOs Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) area of command. History Allied Air Forces Central Europe was activated on 2 April 1951 at F ...

in 1974 and Deputy Commander of

in 1977. His final appointments were as Director of the International Military Staff at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1978, Head of the RAF Support Area Economy Review Team in 1981 and Co-ordinator for Anglo-American Relations in 1984. He retired in 1984. In retirement he became Chairman of the

Corps of Commissionaires The Corps of Commissionaires refers to a movement in Commonwealth countries of societies that provide meaningful employment for veterans of the armed services. The Commissionaires movement traces its roots to 1859, when retired army officer Captai ...

Family

In 1949 he married Julia Elisabeth Ghislaine Russell, who was born in Belgium; they had three sons (one of whom died).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Alan 1924 births 1998 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II