ACM Sir Derek Hodgkinson

705PM GMT sixteen March 2010

Previous of Images Next Hodgkinson and Archbishop Makarios, with whom he struck up a great attribute Hodgkinson in front of a Vulcan bomber

After entering the RAF on a short-service commission in 1936, Hodgkinson assimilated No 220 Squadron, where he was one of the initial pilots to fly the American-built Hudson. On Nov twenty-five 1939 he was systematic to find the British submarine Triad, that the Admiralty believed was in difficulty off the Norwegian coast. He located the submarine and over the subsequent couple of days monitored the strained swell until a destroyer could arrive and take it in tow.

For the subsequent couple of months, and after the German advance of Norway, he patrolled an area stretching from Heligoland Bight in the south to Stavanger in the north. At the finish of May 1940 he and his armed troops craft confirmed consistent patrols over the English Channel via the depletion from the beaches of Dunkirk.

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Whilst on a rest debate as a armed troops craft leader, Hodgkinson and a little of his associate instructors were systematic to form blemish crews to take square in the third of "Bomber" Harris"s 1,000 bomber raids, the dispute on Bremen on the night of Jun 25/26 1942. The Hudsons were utterly unsuited for medium-level bombing over heavily shielded German targets, and five were lost.

Hodgkinson"s aircraft was set on glow by an rivalry night fighter. Despite being wounded, he managed to embankment his on fire aircraft in the sea, where it rught away sank; but he was means to stick on his badly-injured navigator in sticking to the usually square of disadvantage afloat, one of the main wheels. The rest of his organization perished.

Just as their strength was commencement to destroy in the serious seas, the aircraft"s boat unexpected floated past and they clambered aboard. Next sunrise they were cleared up on a Dutch island and taken prisoner.

After recuperating in hospital, Hodgkinson was sent to Stalag Luft III. He rught away contacted the shun cabinet and, as one of the comparison officers (though elderly only 25), he was allocated to one of the 3 critical posts underneath "Big X", Squadron Leader Roger Bushell.

Hodgkinson became "Big S", obliged for the security of the stay during the majority shun operations. He mutual a formidable network of lookouts and looked after the security of the large apparatus of shun element from income to maps, collection to shun clothes. After eighteen months he was allocated aide of the camp, fixation him at the centre of critical counts such as negotiations with the German authorities, Swiss inspectors and the Red Cross.

On the night of Jan twenty-eight 1945 the stay was evacuated and the prisoners forced to impetus westwards. As aide on the "Long March", Hodgkinson was kept bustling negotiating with his captors for food and shelter. He was released at the finish of April, and for his services as a PoW was referred to in despatches.

William Derek Hodgkinson was innate nearby Prestbury, Cheshire, on Dec twenty-seven 1917 and prepared at Repton prior to fasten the RAF.

On his lapse home at the finish of the war, he served for fifteen years in Coastal Command, heading dual squadrons (Nos 210 and 240) and assisting to set up the Australian Joint Anti-Submarine School at Nowra, New South Wales.

In 1961 he assimilated Lord Mountbatten, afterwards Chief of Defence Staff, as a personal staff troops military military military military officer with shortcoming for RAF issues and the Near and Middle East. The pursuit had the hazards, predominantly the dispute of loyalties involved. But Hodgkinson fast mastered the art of on feet the tightrope in in in between the Air Staff, who tended to think he had sole his essence to the devil, and Mountbatten, who was quite serious on those who he suspected competence not be revelation him the total truth.

Perhaps Hodgkinson"s glorious impulse came when Mountbatten was invited behind to India for the initial time given he had been Viceroy. Asked to suggest the supervision there (in the issue of the serious mauling the forces had perceived at the hands of the Chinese handling from Tibet) Mountbatten called on Hodgkinson to residence Nehru on the make use of of the Indian Air Force.

Shortly after returning home, Hodgkinson was promoted to air commodore. Mountbatten wrote a farewell note to him, observant "Congratulations, Derek, you have right away got your feet on the bottom stage of the ladder."

After spending a year at the Imperial Defence College and an additional as Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Andover, in 1966 Hodgkinson became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operational Requirements).

It was in this post a year later, whilst he was deeply concerned in the general negotiations for a destiny multi-role fight aircraft, that Hodgkinson was unexpected systematic to control an downright investigate of the troops military military military military officer career structure, being told to "drag the stream complement out of the past and fit it for the subsequent decade".

Despite his protestations, and those of his troops and municipal superiors intent in the critical negotiations per the destiny aircraft for the RAF, he was done to commence both jobs; and by the finish of the year he had constructed a inform that was mostly supposed by the Air Force Board.

At the time, the RAF had a two-tier troops military military military military officer opening scheme, with the infancy commissioned on the Supplementary List. This constructed a multiply of officers who, with majority justification, felt that they were treated with colour as second-class citizens.

Hodgkinson"s letter of reference that this list be abolished was accepted, and from afterwards on it was determined that graduation would go to those who valid their capability and intensity in-post rather than on the basement of how they had entered the service. The doing of the recommendations of the "Hodgkinson Report" had a surpassing outcome on the government and organization of the troops military military military military officer armed forces for some-more than dual decades, and a little measures still exist in today"s RAF.

Hodgkinson afterwards returned full-time to his heading purpose in the growth of the RAF"s benefaction front-line aircraft and equipment. The Anglo-French Variable Geometry Aircraft and American F-111 had been cancelled by the afterwards Labour government, and in 1967 Hodgkinson successfully negotiated the British entrance in to the European Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Consortium.

The residue of his time as ACAS (OR) was outlayed travelling in in in between London, Rome, Bonn and Munich in a successful try to get the alternative members of the consortium to accept the RAF"s order for a deep-strike aircraft rather than the short-range terrain aircraft they afterwards favoured. The outcome was the Tornado.

After his perfectionist dual years in the Air Ministry, Hodgkinson outlayed a year as comparison air staff troops military military military military officer at Training Command prior to going to Cyprus as C-in-C Near East Air Force, Commander British Forces Near East and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas.

His attainment in Cyprus in 1970 coincided with the choosing of Ted Heath"s Conservative government, and Hodgkinson was shortly sent on tactful missions to Greece, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. As C-in-C NEAF he had to revisit Malta, Gibraltar and Gan, where elements of his forces were stationed, as well as Oman, where a fight opposite invading Yemeni forces was being fought. He additionally had to compensate unchanging visits to the Shah of Iran, where his V-bombers had their brazen bases.

Back in Cyprus, the separate in in in between Greek and Turkish Cypriots was apropos some-more pronounced. But Hodgkinson struck up a great attribute with Archbishop Makarios, and the Sovereign Base Areas remained mostly unblushing by the indirect difficulty until 1974, after Hodgkinson had left.

On his lapse home, Hodgkinson became Air Secretary obliged for handling the careers, together with postings and promotions, of the RAF"s 20,000 officers and NCO aircrew. Although immensely rewarding in infancy respects, this was not a quite happy time for him as he had to understanding with the redundancies caused by the withdrawal from the Far East and the Gulf.

The RAF"s ride force was cut in half, creation a little 400 aircrew officers surplus at a stroke, and majority comparison officers with glorious annals additionally had to leave. Hodgkinson and his staff did all they could to lessen this deleterious blow, but the outcome adversely influenced spirit in the RAF for a little years.

Hodgkinson late in 1976. He was awarded a DFC in 1940 and an AFC in 1942, and allocated CBE (1960) and KCB (1971).

After withdrawal the RAF, he took on a series of intentional posts portion both his internal village and inhabitant organisations. The infancy rewarding was assisting to run the Regular Forces Employment Association, that helps to find jobs for soldiers, sailors and airmen when they retire. As vice-chairman, authority and in the future president, he served the RFEA for some-more than twelve years.

Hodgkinson was an glorious cricketer, representing the RAF both prior to and after the war. He served as boss of the RAF Cricketing Association for a series of years and was a part of of MCC. His alternative main seductiveness was fish fishing. He scored equally all his own flies and used to fish in Hampshire at slightest once a week during the season, promulgation majority of his most appropriate fish to a smokery at Stockbridge.

Derek Hodgkinson died on Jan 29. He married, in 1939, Heather Goodwin, who survives him with their son and daughter.