Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Sir Denis Graham Smallwood, (13 August 1918 – 26 July 1997) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.

RAF career

Educated at King Edward VI School in Birmingham, 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 and in November 1941 he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 87 Squadron flying Hurricanes. 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 No. 3 Group (3 Gp) of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923–26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006. No. 3 Group was fi ...

. 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) 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 in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

.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