Air Marshal Sir Ralph Squire Sorley, (9 January 1898 – 17 November 1974) was a senior commander in the

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 ...

(RAF). He began as a pilot in the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and rose to senior command 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 ...

. After the latter he held several senior appointments until his retirement in 1948. and in 1947 was made a

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

of the United States of America. Sorley was instrumental in the specification of the armament of both the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

and the

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 ...

, he founded the Empire Test Pilots' School, foresaw the need for air-to-air missiles in the post-Second World War world and, having left the RAF to join

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...

, provided the RAF with such a weapon system.

Military career

Sorley joined the

in 1914. He served with distinction as a pilot in the

, earning the Distinguished Service Cross "for the determined and successful bombing attacks on the '' Breslau'' and '' Goeben'' on 20 January 1918, and subsequent days, both by day and by night." In the immediate post-war years he served in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

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 ...

before returning in 1924 to join the staff of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment in

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

. Sorley was appointed Officer Commanding No. 8 Squadron in 1931 and squadron leader at the Operational Requirements section 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 1933. It was during his time as squadron leader in charge at the Operational Requirements section that the Operational Requirement F.36/34, which governed the procurement of both the

and the

, was amended on his recommendation to change the armament from two .303 in (7.7 mm)

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

s in each wing to four .303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings. This recommendation was based on extensive work carried out by Air Ministry staff, the mathematical calculations showing the need for eight machine guns being carried out by Captain F. W. "Gunner" Hill. Sorley went on to be Officer Commanding, No. 4 Armament Training Station at RAF West Freugh in 1937. In 1939 Sorley was made Station Commander at RAF Upwood and in 1940 he became Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), MOD Boscombe Down, after which he became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff. In his role as Controller of Research & Development, Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1943 he created the Test Pilots' Training Flight, which was soon renamed the Test Pilots' School, the world's first such training establishment. It became the Empire Test Pilots' School the following year. He was knighted in the King's Birthday Honours List in June 1944. After the War he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Technical Training Command. Upon his retirement from the RAF in 1948, Sorley joined the Board of De Havilland Propellers Ltd as its Managing Director, a post he held for twelve years. He recognised the need to diversify from manufacturing propellers due to the advent of the

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

and was instrumental in the development of the de Havilland Firestreak airborne

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

missile, which became the RAF's main air defence weapon at the time.

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

* * Glancey, Jonathan. ''Spitfire: The Illustrated Biography''. London: Atlantic Books, 2006. . * * Price, Alfred. ''Spitfire: A Documentary History''. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1977. .

External links

Service career of Air Marshal Sir Ralph S. Sorley, KCB, OBE, DSC, DFC (1898–1974)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorley, Ralph 1898 births 1974 deaths Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Legion of Merit Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Royal Naval Air Service aviators British World War I pilots Supermarine Spitfire Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts