Air Marshal Sir Hector Douglas McGregor, (15 February 1910 – 11 April 1973) 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

Born in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and educated at Napier Boys' High School,New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum
McGregor joined the Royal Air Force in 1928. He served as a pilot but in 1931 he attended the Aircraft Engineering Course and he subsequently undertook several engineering-related tours.
/ref> He served before and during

World War II 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 ...

Officer Commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

No. 33 Squadron at Heliopolis in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and on attachment at

Lydda Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, where he earned 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 his leadership during policing duties. He went on to be Officer Commanding No. 213 Squadron at

RAF Biggin Hill London Biggin Hill Airport is a minor commercial airport serving Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south-southeast of Central London. It specialises in general aviation, handling a spectrum of traffic from private aviati ...

in 1940, Station Commander at

RAF Ballyhalbert Royal Air Force Ballyhalbert or more simply RAF Ballyhalbert is a former Royal Air Force sector station at Ballyhalbert on the Ards Peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland. RAF Kirkistown was a satellite to the larger Ballyhalbert. Constru ...

in 1941 and then Senior Air Service Officer at No. 82 Group later the same year before being made Officer Commanding, Tangmere Sector in 1942. He became deputy director, Operations, Intelligence and Plans at Headquarters

Mediterranean Air Command The Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) was a World War II Allied air force command that was active in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) between February 18 and December 10, 1943 . MAC was under the command of Air Chie ...

in 1943 and Air Officer Commanding Air Headquarters Levant in 1944. After the War, he became Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group in 1951 before being appointed Director of Guided Missile Development at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

in 1953. He went on to be Assistant Controller, Aircraft at the Ministry of Supply in 1956, Chief of Staff (Air Defence) at Headquarters

SHAPE A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

in 1957 and Commander-in-Chief of

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 1959. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Air Force in 1962 before he retired in 1964. In retirement, McGregor became Chairman of the New Zealand News Consultative Board in 1964.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Hector 1910 births 1973 deaths New Zealand military aviators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Legion of Merit People educated at Napier Boys' High School People from Wairoa Royal Air Force air marshals British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine Mandatory Palestine military personnel of World War II