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 Frederick Rosier, (13 October 1915 – 10 September 1998) 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.

Early and wartime career

Born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 13 October 1915, son of E. G. Rosier, a railway engine driver, Fred Rosier was educated at Grove Park School and played rugby for

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

Schoolboys. He received a Short Service Commission in the

in 1935 and served with No. 43 Squadron flying

Hawker Fury The Hawker Fury is a British biplane fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a fast, agile aircraft, and the first interceptor in RAF service faster than in level flight. It was the fighter counterpart to the Hawke ...

aircraft at Tangmere from 1936 to 1939.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rosier
/ref> He was a flight commander with

No. 229 Squadron RAF No. 229 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, and is an officially accredited Battle of Britain Squadron. It became No. 603 Squadron RAF in January 1945. History Formation and World War I No. 229 Squadron RAF was formed on 20 ...

(

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

aircraft) by May 1940, having helped form and convert the squadron from the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...

aircraft. He first saw active service during the Second World War in France where he commanded a detachment of No. 229 Squadron at

Vitry-en-Artois Vitry-en-Artois (; literally "Vitry in Artois"; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Vitry-en-Artois is situated some northeast of A ...

near

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

and was shot down by a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

, receiving facial burns. Returning to active service by October 1940, he commanded 229 Squadron from

RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...

for the last 12 days of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

. He embarked with No. 229 Squadron for

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

on board and led the aircraft in a take-off from ship to North Africa via

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. Promoted to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

in 1941, he took charge of No. 263 Wing, where he had joint operational control of the Desert Air Force's fighter squadrons. In November 1941 he spotted an Australian

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Native Americans in the United States, Indian peoples and nations of North America, traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. Etymology The name comes from Powhatan langu ...

aircraft being forced down by enemy fighters and landed his single-seater to rescue the pilot. Having got Sergeant Burney aboard, he attempted to take off but suffered a burst tyre and crashed the aircraft. Both he and Burney walked across the desert for four days, avoiding large enemy patrols, to reach safety with a Guards unit. Rosier became the deputy commander of No. 211 Group and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

for operations over Libya in 1941. Returning to the UK in 1943, he became simultaneously officer commanding No. 52 Operational Training Unit and RAF Aston Down. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

mid that year, before being appointed to command

in 1944.

Post-war

He was appointed officer commanding

RAF Horsham St Faith Royal Air Force Horsham St Faith or more simply RAF Horsham St Faith is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station near Norwich, Norfolk, England which was operational from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as ...

in 1947 and then went on an exchange officer posting with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in 1948 and on return to the UK was appointed an instructor at the Joint Services Staff College in 1950. He went on to be group captain operations at Central Fighter Establishment in 1952, group captain plans at

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

in 1954 and aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1956. He was made director of joint plans at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

in 1958, air officer commanding Air Forces Middle East in 1961 and senior air staff officer at Headquarters Transport Command in 1964. His last appointments were as air officer commanding-in-chief at

in 1966, as UK permanent military deputy at

CENTRO Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

in 1968 and as deputy commander-in-chief Allied Air Forces Central Europe in 1970. Rosier was advanced to a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior military officers or senior civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His ...

in 1972, before he retired from the RAF the following year.

Retirement

In retirement he became a military advisor and director of the Preston Division of the

British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric, English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane ...

until 1977 when he was made director in charge of the

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

part of the company. He was the chairman of the Polish Pilots Benevolent Fund and received the Polish Order of Merit in 1998. For the last few years of his life he lived at Sun Bank, Trevor, near

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

Family

Sir Fred married Hettie Denise Blackwell of Wrexham in 1939; they had three sons and one daughter.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Image and Biography. The Encyclopaedia of Wrexham – W. Alister Williams – Published 2001
Be Bold.
Autobiography) by Frederick Rosier and David Rosier – Grub Publishing (June 2011).

External links

IWM Interview about his experiences during the Battle of BritainIWM Interview about his experiences in North Africa
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosier, Frederick 1998 deaths 1915 births Military personnel from Wrexham Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath People from Wrexham Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II The Few