Richard Gordon Wakeford
Encyclopedia
Air Marshal
Sir Richard (Dickie) Gordon Wakeford KCB
OBE
LVO
AFC
(20 April 1922 - 13 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force
for 36 years, from 1941 to 1977. Beginning as a pilot of flying boat
s with Coastal Command, he became a flying instructor, and commanded the Queen's Flight. After various operational commands, his last post was as Deputy Chief of Defence (Intelligence) at the UK Ministry of Defence.
. He was educated at Kelly College
in Tavistock, Devon.
He joined the RAF in 1941. After flight training with the US Navy at Naval Air Station Pensacola
in Florida
, he joined Coastal Command to fly anti-submarine missions. He flew Catalina
flying boat
s with No. 212 Squadron
for 18 months from November 1942, patrolling the Indian Ocean
from its base in Karachi
. After a period training other pilots of flying boats, he joined No. 210 Squadron
in October 1944, based at Sullom Voe
in the Shetland Islands
, patrolling the Norwegian Sea
. He flew in support of Russian convoys
and intercepted German submarines based in Norway
.
Wakeford was involved in the last sinking of a German U-boat
, on 8 May 1945. VE day was the previous day, and all German submarines had been ordered to travel on the surface: submerged U-boats were liable to be attacked. Flying a Catalina over the North Atlantic, Wakeford detected a submerged German submarine. Having run out of depth charge
s, he dropped some sonobuoy
s to track the U-boat before returning to base on the Shetland Islands. A second Catalina relieved him and damaged U-320. The German submarine was later scuttled off the coast of Norway
.
and York
transport aircraft
with Transport Command in the Far East. He became a flying instructor at the RAF College at Cranwell
. He married Anne Butler in 1948. He joined the Central Flying School
as an examiner, testing other flying instructors, and received the AFC
in 1953.
As a wing commander
, he served in Malaya
in 1955, during the Malayan Emergency
. He was appointed OBE in 1958. He was then commander of the Queen's Flight from 1959 to 1961, and was appointed MVO (4th Class). He spent two years at the RAF Staff College
, and was then promoted to Group Captain
. He became commander of the V-bomber base at RAF Scampton
in June 1964, in charge of three squadrons of Vulcan bombers. He was Assistant Commandant of the RAF College from 1966 to 1969, during the period when it merged with the RAF Technical College at Henlow
.
He was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal
in February 1969, and became Commander of the Northern Maritime Air Region, and Air Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (AOSNI), based at Pitreavie Castle
in Fife
, where he was responsible for the squadrons that tracked Russian forces in the North Atlantic. He was Director of Service Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence, and was the second commander of the short-lived ANZUK
Force, based in Singapore
, from 1973 until it was disbanded in January 1975. His last post was as Deputy Chief of Defence (Intelligence) at the Ministry of Defence, from 1975 to 1978. He was appointed KCB in 1976.
in 1977, where he enjoyed fly fishing
and golf
. He was director of the RAF Benevolent Fund
in Scotland from 1978 to 1989, and served as a trustee of the MacRobert Trust from 1980 (chairman from 1982 to 1994), supporting hospitals and welfare organisations that assist ex-servicemen, and other educational organisations. He became a Commander of the Order of St John in 1986 and was awarded the inaugural President's Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering
in 1987. He moved to Inchberry in Moray
in 1987.
His wife died in 2002. He died from cancer
of the oesophagus in Aberdeen
. He was survived by two sons, Richard and Christopher, and a daughter, Susan. A second daughter, Sally, predeceased him.
Air Marshal
Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir Richard (Dickie) Gordon Wakeford KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
LVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
AFC
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...
(20 April 1922 - 13 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
for 36 years, from 1941 to 1977. Beginning as a pilot of flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s with Coastal Command, he became a flying instructor, and commanded the Queen's Flight. After various operational commands, his last post was as Deputy Chief of Defence (Intelligence) at the UK Ministry of Defence.
Early life and war service
Wakeford was born in TorquayTorquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
. He was educated at Kelly College
Kelly College
Kelly College is a coeducational independent school situated in the outskirts of Tavistock, Devon, with around 350 students ranging from ages 11 to 18; there is an associated preparatory school for primary school children, Kelly College Preparatory School, nearby.The college has eight hectares of...
in Tavistock, Devon.
He joined the RAF in 1941. After flight training with the US Navy at Naval Air Station Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola
Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola , "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United States Navy base located next to Warrington, Florida, a community southwest of the Pensacola city limits...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, he joined Coastal Command to fly anti-submarine missions. He flew Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s with No. 212 Squadron
No. 212 Squadron RAF
No. 212 Squadron RAF is an inactive Royal Air Force aircraft squadron.The squadron was first formed as No. 12 Squadron RNAS as a training unit within No 1 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service at Hondschoote on 8 June 1917...
for 18 months from November 1942, patrolling the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
from its base in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
. After a period training other pilots of flying boats, he joined No. 210 Squadron
No. 210 Squadron RAF
No. 210 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit established in World War I. Disbanded and reformed a number of times in the ensuing years, it operated as a fighter squadron during World War I and as a maritime patrol squadron during the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Cold War before it was...
in October 1944, based at Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal. The word Voe is from the Old Norse vagr and denotes a small bay or narrow creek...
in the Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
, patrolling the Norwegian Sea
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is located between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea and adjoins the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a...
. He flew in support of Russian convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
and intercepted German submarines based in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Wakeford was involved in the last sinking of a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
, on 8 May 1945. VE day was the previous day, and all German submarines had been ordered to travel on the surface: submerged U-boats were liable to be attacked. Flying a Catalina over the North Atlantic, Wakeford detected a submerged German submarine. Having run out of depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s, he dropped some sonobuoy
Sonobuoy
A sonobuoy is a relatively small expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic research....
s to track the U-boat before returning to base on the Shetland Islands. A second Catalina relieved him and damaged U-320. The German submarine was later scuttled off the coast of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
.
Post-war career
After the war, Wakeford flew long-range LiberatorB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
and York
Avro York
The Avro York was a British transport aircraft that was derived from the Second World War Lancaster heavy bomber, and used in both military and airliner roles between 1943 and 1964.-Design and development:...
transport aircraft
Cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft designed or converted for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. They are usually devoid of passenger amenities, and generally feature one or more large doors for the loading and unloading of cargo...
with Transport Command in the Far East. He became a flying instructor at the RAF College at Cranwell
Cranwell
Cranwell is a village situated in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire. It is part of the Civil Parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap and is located 3.95 miles north-north-west of Sleaford and 16.3 miles south-east of the county town of Lincoln...
. He married Anne Butler in 1948. He joined the Central Flying School
Central Flying School
The Central Flying School is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 it is the longest existing flying training school.-History:...
as an examiner, testing other flying instructors, and received the AFC
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...
in 1953.
As a wing commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
, he served in Malaya
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. The Federation became independent on 31 August 1957...
in 1955, during the Malayan Emergency
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
. He was appointed OBE in 1958. He was then commander of the Queen's Flight from 1959 to 1961, and was appointed MVO (4th Class). He spent two years at the RAF Staff College
RAF Staff College
The RAF Staff College may refer to:*RAF Staff College, Andover *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park *RAF Staff College, Bracknell...
, and was then promoted to Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
. He became commander of the V-bomber base at RAF Scampton
RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Station Scampton is a Royal Air Force station situated north of Lincoln in England, near the village of Scampton, on the site of an old First World War landing field.-First World War:...
in June 1964, in charge of three squadrons of Vulcan bombers. He was Assistant Commandant of the RAF College from 1966 to 1969, during the period when it merged with the RAF Technical College at Henlow
Henlow
Henlow is a village and civil parish in the district of Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England.RAF Henlow, is located nearby, but is in fact nearer to the village of Stondon...
.
He was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
in February 1969, and became Commander of the Northern Maritime Air Region, and Air Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (AOSNI), based at Pitreavie Castle
Pitreavie Castle
Pitreavie Castle is a country house, located between Rosyth and Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland. It was built in the early 17th century, and was extensively remodelled in 1885. The house remained in private hands until 1938, when it was acquired by the Air Ministry, and became RAF Pitreavie Castle...
in Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, where he was responsible for the squadrons that tracked Russian forces in the North Atlantic. He was Director of Service Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence, and was the second commander of the short-lived ANZUK
ANZUK
ANZUK was a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asian Pacific region after the United Kingdom withdrew forces from the east of Suez in the early seventies. The ANZUK force was formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1974....
Force, based in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, from 1973 until it was disbanded in January 1975. His last post was as Deputy Chief of Defence (Intelligence) at the Ministry of Defence, from 1975 to 1978. He was appointed KCB in 1976.
Later life
He retired to PerthshirePerthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
in 1977, where he enjoyed fly fishing
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. He was director of the RAF Benevolent Fund
RAF Benevolent Fund
The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund is the Royal Air Force's leading welfare charity, providing financial, practical and emotional support to serving and former members of the RAF - regardless of rank - as well as their partners and dependents.They help members of the RAF family deal with a wide...
in Scotland from 1978 to 1989, and served as a trustee of the MacRobert Trust from 1980 (chairman from 1982 to 1994), supporting hospitals and welfare organisations that assist ex-servicemen, and other educational organisations. He became a Commander of the Order of St John in 1986 and was awarded the inaugural President's Medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Royal Academy of Engineering
-Overview: is the UK’s national academy of engineering. The Academy brings together the most successful and talented engineers from across the engineering sectors for a shared purpose: to advance and promote excellence in engineering....
in 1987. He moved to Inchberry in Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
in 1987.
His wife died in 2002. He died from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
of the oesophagus in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
. He was survived by two sons, Richard and Christopher, and a daughter, Susan. A second daughter, Sally, predeceased him.