Ralph Sorley

Sir Ralph Sorley
Air Marshal R S Sorley, Controller of Research and Development, Ministry of Aircraft Production
Born	9 January 1898
Died	17 November 1974
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy  Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914 - 1948
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	No. 8 Squadron RAF Upwood No 4 Armament Training Station Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment Technical Training Command
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Marshal Sir Ralph Squire Sorley, KCB, OBE, DSC, DFC, FRAeS, FRSA (9 January 1898 – 17 November 1974) was a World War I pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force, who was also a senior commander during World War II. After the War he held several senior RAF appointments until his retirement in 1948 in the rank of Air Marshal.^[1] and in 1947 was made a Commander of the Legion of Merit of the United States of America.

He was instrumental in the specification of the armament of both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, he founded the Empire Test Pilots' School, foresaw the need for air-to-air missiles in the post-World War II world and, having left the RAF to join De Havilland, provided the RAF with such a weapon system. ^[2]

Career

Sorley joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914.^[2] He served with distinction as a pilot in World War I, earning his DSC "for the determined and successful bombing attacks on the "Breslau" and "Goeben" on 20 January 1918,and subsequent days, both by day and by night."^{[3][nb 1]} In the immediate post-war years he served in Iraq and Palestine before returning in 1924 to join the staff of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment in Felixstowe.^[2]

He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 8 Squadron in 1931 and Squadron Leader at the Operational Requirements section at the Air Ministry in 1933.^[2] It was during his time as Squadron Leader in charge at the Operational Requirements section that the Operational Requirement F.36/34, which governed the procurement of both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, was amended on his recommendation^[5] to change the armament from two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns in each wing to four .303 in (7.7 mm) Brownings.^[6] He went on to be Officer Commanding, No 4 Armament Training Station at RAF West Freugh in 1937.^[2]

In 1939 he was made Station Commander at RAF Upwood and in 1940 he became Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE), MOD Boscombe Down, after which he became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.^[2] In his role as Controller of Research & Development, Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1943 he created the Test Pilots' Training Flight, which was soon renamed the Test Pilots' School, the world's first such training establishment. It became the Empire Test Pilots' School the following year.^[7][8] He was knighted in the King's Birthday Honours List in June 1944.^[9] After the War he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Technical Training Command.^[2]

Upon his retirement from the RAF in 1948, Sorley joined the Board of De Havilland Propellers Ltd as its Managing Director, a post he held for twelve years. He recognised the need to diversify from manufacturing propellers due to the advent of the jet engine and was instrumental in the development of the de Havilland Firestreak airborne infrared missile, which became the RAF's main air defence weapon at the time.^[2]

Honours and awards

• Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath - 8 Jun 1944 (CB - 11 Jun 1942)
• Officer of the Order of the British Empire - 23 Jun 1936
• Distinguished Service Cross - 14 Sep 1918
• Distinguished Flying Cross - 28 Oct 1921
• Commander of Legion of Merit (United States) - 6 May 1947
• Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

References

Footnotes

1. The attack on the Breslau became the subject of the first claim by the recently-formed RAF in the Prize Court, in which a share in the bounty for the destruction of the Breslau was claimed under the Naval Prize Act, 1918. A affidavit was presented to the court which included the following: "In addition to His Majesty's ships there took part in and were present at the destruction of the Breslau certain aircraft, a part of the Air Force, embarked in H.M.S. Ark Royal. The names of the crews, being the pilots and observers of the said aircraft, are as follows : Captain Ralph Squire Sorley, Captain J.W.B. Grigson, Captain T.R. Hackman, Captain T.H. Piper, Captain P.K. Fowler, Captain C.B. Wincott, Lieutenant D.F. Murray, Lieutenant F.C. Smith and Lieutenant O.R. Gayford." The motion was not opposed.^[4]

Citations

1. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 38015. p. 3255. 15 July 1947. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
2. Barrass, M.B. (2009-05-05). "Air of Authority". A History of RAF Organisation. M B Barrass. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30900. p. 10849. 14 September 1918. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
4. "Honours - Awards for Air Work at Dardanelles" (PDF). Flight Magazine (London: Reed Business Information) X (38). 1918-09-19. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
5. Glancey 2006, pp. 37-38.
6. Price 1977, p. 32.
7. Johnson, 1986, p.19.
8. "Origins of Flight Test". QinetiQ Group plc. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
9. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36544. p. 2568. 2 June 1944. Retrieved 2011-02-12.

Bibliography

• "The Empire Test Pilots' School - Twenty Five Years". ETPS Brochure (4th ed.) (HMSO for The Empire Test Pilots' School): 68 pp. 1968.
• Glancey, Jonathan. Spitfire: The Illustrated Biography. London: Atlantic Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84354-528-6.
• Johnson, Brian (1986). Test Pilot. BBC Books. p. 287. ISBN 0-563-20502-4.
• Price, Alfred. Spitfire: A Documentary History. London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1977. ISBN 0-354-01077-8.

External links

• Service career of Air Marshal Sir Ralph S. Sorley, KCB, OBE, DSC, DFC (1898-1974)