Guy Garrod

Guy Garrod
Garrod as the Air Member for Training at his desk at Adastral House, London.
Born	13 April 1891
Died	3 January 1965 (aged 73)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force  British Army
Years of service	1914–1948
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	Mediterranean and Middle East
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Mention in Despatches (3)
Other work	Chairman of Malkay Investments Ltd

Air Chief Marshal Sir Alfred Guy Roland Garrod GBE KCB MC DFC (13 April 1891 – 3 January 1965) was a senior British Royal Air Force officer.

RAF career

He was born the third eldest son of Herbert Baring Garrod, barrister-at-law and educated at Bradfield College and University College, Oxford.^[1] Garrod was originally commissioned into The Leicestershire Regiment of the British Army in 1914 and only transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915.^[2] His younger brother Roland Perceval Garrod was killed in action the same year.^[3] Garrod was given the Temporary rank of Major in the newly formed Royal Air Force in April 1918.^[1] He joined the Directing Staff at the RAF Staff College in 1923 and then became Chief Instructor at Oxford University Air Squadron in 1928 before moving to RAF Headquarters in Iraq in 1931.^[2] He was made Deputy Director of Organisation at the Air Ministry in 1934 and Air Officer Commanding the Armament Group in 1937.^[2]

He served in World War II initially as Director of Equipment at the Air Ministry and then as Air Member for Training from 1940.^[2] He continued his war service as Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, India from May 1943 and as Deputy Allied Air Commander-in-Chief at South East Asia Command from October 1943.^[2] In November 1944 he temporarily stepped up to be Allied Air Commander-in-Chief when Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the nominated successor to the then incumbent Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse was killed in an air crash on his way to take up the appointment. Garrod held this acting appointment until February 1945 when Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park took up the permanent appointment.^[4] In March 1945 Garrod was appointed RAF Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean and Middle East.^[2]

After the War he was made Permanent RAF Representative on the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations and then Head of the RAF delegation to Washington D. C. from 1946 until he retired in 1948.^[2]

Family

In 1918 he married Cicely Evelyn Bray. Following the death of his first wife in 1960, he married Doris Eleanor Baker in 1961.^[1][5]

Honours and awards

• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire - 1 January 1948 (OBE - 6 May 1932)
• Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath - 2 June 1943 (CB - 1 January 1941)
• Military Cross - 18 February 1915
• Distinguished Flying Cross - 3 Jun 1919,
• Mention in Despatches - 17 February 1915, 15 June 1916, 20 May 1918,
• Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) - 9 October 1945
• Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Necklet (China) - 14 June 1946
• Grand Officer of the Order of George I (Greece) - 6 September 1946
• Master of Arts (University College, Oxford) – 1913
• Hon LL.D (Aberdeen)

References

1. Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Chief Marshal Sir Guy Garrod
2. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
3. Commonwealth War Graves Commission
4. Woodburn Kirby, Major-General S. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO:1965]. Butler, Sir James, ed. The War Against Japan, Volume IV: The Reconquest of Burma. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. pp. 118 and 119. ISBN 1-845740-63-7.
5. M. J. Dean, ‘Garrod, Sir (Alfred) Guy Roland (1891–1965)’, rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010 accessed 8 July 2011

External links