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 Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris, (16 March 1917 – 28 September 2003) 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). A squadron commander during 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 ...

, he later served as Commander-in-Chief

RAF Germany Royal Air Force Germany, commonly known as RAF Germany, and abbreviated RAFG, was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and part of British Forces Germany (BFG). It consisted of units located in Germany, initially in what was known as West G ...

in the late 1960s.

Early life

Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris was born on 16 March 1917, a younger son of Major John Percivall Foxley-Norris (1886–1924) and his wife, Dorothy Brabant Smith. His paternal grandfather was the clergyman William Foxley Norris, who served as

Dean of Westminster The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the abbey's status as a royal peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterb ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and then

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, where he read law. He joined the Oxford

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...

in 1936. Foxley-Norris was awarded a Harmsworth scholarship (worth £200) to read for the Bar. The outbreak of war prevented him from taking his final exams. The Bar Council requested the money back, but Foxley-Norris made an arrangement with them that he would leave it to them in his will.

Second World War

Foxley-Norris was commissioned in the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force (RAF) in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force ( ...

after graduating and was called up for active service in 1939. He undertook initial flying training at No. 9 Flying Training School at

RAF Hullavington Royal Air Force Hullavington, or more simply RAF Hullavington, was a Royal Air Force station located at Hullavington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. The station opened in June 1937 and was primarily used for training. It closed on 31 Marc ...

and completed the training at No 1 School of Army Co-operation. His first posting on completion of training was to

No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as pa ...

flying Lysanders in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. Following the fall of France and the start 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 ...

, the need for Army Co-operation pilots was greatly reduced while that for fighter pilots was increased. As such, Foxley-Norris was posted to No. 3 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 ...

from

RAF Turnhouse Royal Air Force Turnhouse, or more simply RAF Turnhouse, is a former Royal Air Force Sector Station located in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is now Edinburgh Airport. History A landing ground was first established at Turnhouse in 1915. The airfield ...

. He 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 his actions, published in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' on 29 May 1945:

Post-war RAF career

After the war, Foxley-Norris became station commander at

RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...

and then at

RAF West Malling Royal Air Force West Malling or more simply RAF West Malling is a former Royal Air Force station located south of West Malling, Kent and west of Maidstone, Kent, England. Originally used as a landing area during the First World War,

. He undertook the Senior Officers' War Course at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, and a course at the Imperial Defence College (now the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

) in Belgrave Square in 1961. He went on to be Director of Organisation 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 1962,

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Min ...

in 1963 and Air Officer Commanding No. 224 Group in 1964. In 1967, Foxley-Norris was appointed Director-General of RAF Organisation at the newly unified

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. He was promoted to air marshal and took command of

and of the

2nd Tactical Air Force The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, an ...

in 1968. Foxley-Norris was knighted in the

1969 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1969 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

. His final post, with the rank of

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 ...

, was Chief of Personnel and Logistics in 1971. He retired from active service in 1974. Foxley-Norris was one of the umpires for the 1974 Sandhurst wargame on

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

. UK pro-smoking lobby organisation

FOREST A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

was launched on 19 June 1979, with Foxley-Norris as its chairman. Foxley-Norris retired as the organisation's public figurehead in 1989, and was replaced by

Lord Harris of High Cross Ralph Harris, Baron Harris of High Cross (10 December 1924 – 19 October 2006), was a British economist. He was head of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a neoliberal think thank, from 1957 to 1988. Early life and education Harris, the son ...

Family

Foxley-Norris married Joan (née Lovell Hughes, now Lady Foxley-Norris) in 1948. They had no children. Joan served as a nurse during the war, and worked with injured pilots. Following his death, she took his place at many Battle of Britain events which were held and was also a regular visitor to

RAF Benson Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) List of Royal Air Force stations, station located at Benson, Oxfordshire, Benson, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line st ...

. His funeral took place at St Mary Devoted at

Turville Turville is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the Chiltern Hills, west of High Wycombe, east-southeast of Watlington, north of Henley-on-Thames and 2 miles (3 km) from the Oxfordshire border. The name is Anglo- ...

, near

Stokenchurch Stokenchurch is a village and civil parish in south-west Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, about south of Chinnor in Oxfordshire and west of High Wycombe. Stokenchurch is a commuter village, served by junction 5 o ...

, on 7 October 2003. Memorial services were held at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on 29 January 2004 and at St. Clement Danes, the Central Church of the Royal Air Force, London in April 2004.

References

Bibliography

External links

* * *
Medal Bar of Air Chief Marshal Sir Christopher Neil Foxley-Norris GCB, DSO, OBE, FRSA
at the Royal Air Force Museum. , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Foxley-Norris, Christopher Royal Air Force air marshals 1917 births 2003 deaths British World War II fighter pilots Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford People educated at Winchester College Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Air Force pilots of World War II Military personnel from Birkenhead The Few Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts