Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British i ...

Sir Denis Graham Smallwood, (13 August 1918 – 26 July 1997) was a senior

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 ...

commander.

RAF career

Educated at King Edward VI School in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, Smallwood joined the Royal Air Force in 1938.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Smallwood
/ref> Hurricane IIC 87 Sqn RAF in flight 1942

Smallwood took part in 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 ...

and in November 1941 he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 87 Squadron flying

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

. In 1948 he became Officer Commanding No. 33 Squadron and in 1959 he joined the Directing Staff at the Joint Staff Services College before becoming Station Commander at RAF Biggin Hill in 1953. He became Group Captain, Plans for the Air Task Force in 1956 and then Officer Commanding RAF North Coates in 1959 before becoming Commandant of the College of Air Warfare in 1961. In 1963 he was made Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) and in 1965 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group. He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Bomber Command in 1967, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Strike Command in 1968 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Near East Air Force (including responsibility for British Forces Cyprus and Administration of the

Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia (), officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA), is a British Overseas Territory made of two non-contiguous areas on the island of Cyprus. The areas, which include British military bases and instal ...

) in 1969. Finally he was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff in 1970, Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Strike Command in 1974 and Commander-in-Chief, UK Air Forces in 1975 before retiring in 1976. He lived at

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England; it is located about south of Aylesbury and northwest of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

.Debrett's People of Today 1994

Family

In 1940 he married Frances Jeanne Needham ; they had one son and one daughter.

References

External links

Photo of Smallwood in 87 Squadron Hawker Hurricane
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Denis Graham 1918 births 1997 deaths Royal Air Force air marshals British World War II pilots Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Military personnel from Buckinghamshire Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts