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Air Commodore C D Tomalin (37548)


Charles Douglas                       b: 20 Aug 1914                        r: 29 Oct 1966             d: 19 Dec 1998

CBE – 11 Jun 1966 (OBE – 1 Jun 1953), DFC – 29 Oct 1943, AFC – 31 Mar 1942, MiD – 1 Jan 1946.

Act Plt Off (P): 20 Jan 1936, Plt Off: 25 Nov 1936, Fg Off: 25 May 1938, Flt Lt (WS): 25 May 1940, (T) Sqn Ldr: 1 Sep 1941, Act Wg Cdr: 30 Apr 1943?, (T) Wg Cdr: 1 Jul 1943, Sqn Ldr (WS): 1 Aug 1943, Act Gp Capt: 27 Dec 1943, Wg Cdr (WS): 27 Jun 1944, Sqn Ldr: 26 Mar 1946 [1 Jun 1944], Wg Cdr: 1 Jul 1947, Gp Capt: 1 Jan 1954, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1959.

20 Jan 1936:           Appointed to a Short Service Commission

20 Jan 1936:           Initial Training, RAF Depot?.

 8 Feb 1936:           U/T Pilot, No 8 FTS.

16 Aug 1936:          Pilot, No 151 Sqn.

23 Jul 1939:            Attended Instructors' Course, CFS

13 Sep 1939:          Instructor, RAF College (FTS)

xx xxx 1941:            Officer Commanding, No 2 Sqn, RAF College (FTS)

22 Nov 1942:         Flight Commander, No 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn.

 1 May 1943:          Officer Commanding, No 605 (County of Warwick) Sqn. (Mosquito II/VI)

25 Sep 1943:          Operations 3, HQ Fighter Command.

15 Nov 1943:         Operations 3, HQ Air Defence of Great Britain.

30 Dec 1943:         Officer Commanding, No 60 OTU/RAF High Ercall

20 Nov 1944:         ?

26 Mar 1946:         Appointed to a Permanent Commission in the rank of Squadron Leader (retaining rank current at the time) [wef 1 Sep 1945 antedated to 1 Jun 1944 on 25 Feb 1947]

18 May 1946:         Officer Commanding, RAF Bhopal

29 Jun 1946:           SASO, HQ, No 2 (Indian) Group

19 Jan 1948:            Air Staff, HQ Flying Training Command

xx xxx 1956:           Officer Commanding, RAF Celle

xx Oct 1957:           Officer Commanding, RAF Bruggen.

xx Dec 1959:

17 Feb 1961:          Director of Intelligence (A).

17 Jul 1963:            Senior Air Liaison Officer, South Africa.

He was a member of the Great Britain diving team at the 1936 Olympics and team manager at the 1948 games.  During his tenure at the helm of 605 squadron, he led it on it's first mission to 'The Big City', Berlin, on 23 August 1943.

Citation for the award of the Air Force Cross

"TOMALIN, Charles Douglas, S/L (37548, Royal Air Force) - Service Flying Training School, Cranwell

This officer has been employed as a flying instructor at the school since September 1939.  He is an extremely keen and efficient instructor and he has displayed great devotion to duty over a long period.  For the past six months, this officer has commanded No.2 Squadron."

Recommendation raised 5 January 1942 in following terms:

"This officer has been employed as a flying instructor at this unit since 13th September 1939 and has been Officer Commanding, No.2 Squadron, for six months.  He is extremely keen and is a very capable and efficient instructor.  Flying at this unit is worthy of special mention. His total flying time is 1,925 hours.  I strongly recommend him for the award of the Air Force Cross."

This was endorsed on 7 January 1942 by the Air Officer Commanding, No.21 (Training) Group, Air Vice-Marshal Willock, who wrote:

"I agree with the remarks of the Commanding Officer.  This officer’s devotion to duty over a long period as an instructor is worthy of recognition.  Strongly recommended."

(Source - Air 2/9621 drafted when he had flown 1,220 instructional hours, 222 in previous six months.)

This page was last updated on 19/12/23

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