Willie Read

Wing Commander William Ronald Read, MC, DFC, AFC & Two Bars (17 May 1885[1] − 1972[2]) was a highly decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) officer of the First World War and the inter-war period. A pre-war member of the Royal Flying Corps (which became the RAF in 1918), he was one of only twelve officers to receive a second Bar to the Air Force Cross, signifying three awards of the medal.

William Read
Born(1885-05-17)17 May 1885
Died1972
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army (1906–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–32)
Years of service1906–1932
RankWing Commander
Commands heldRAF Boscombe Down
RAF Upavon
No. 216 Squadron RAF
No. 104 Squadron RFC
Battles/warsFirst World War
AwardsMilitary Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Force Cross & Two Bars

Early life and career

Read came from a wealthy family[2] and was the eldest son of W. T. Read of Hampstead.[3] Both his parents died when he was twelve and he and his siblings were raised by guardians.[2] He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Read was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Hampshire Carabiniers, a yeomanry (part-time volunteer cavalry) regiment, on 23 September 1906.[4] On 6 March 1907, after leaving Cambridge, he transferred to the 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards, a regular regiment.[5] After obtaining his pilot's licence in April 1913,[1][6] Read was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as a pilot on 28 April 1914[7] and joined No. 3 Squadron RFC.[6] He was promoted lieutenant on 14 June 1914.[8]

First World War

Read accompanied his squadron to France in August 1914.[6] He was wounded in December 1914. On 8 February 1915, he was appointed a flight commander in the Royal Flying Corps with the temporary rank of captain.[9][10][11] In December 1915 he was sent home to organise No. 45 Squadron RFC, returning to France in command in April 1916.[2] He was awarded the Military Cross on 1 January 1916,[12] and promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 19 August 1917.[13] In April 1917, disillusioned with heavy losses and with his superiors, he requested and received a transfer back to his regiment.[2] He did not much enjoy it, however, and returned to the RFC as the first commanding officer of No. 104 Squadron RFC, a bomber unit, in September 1917 with the acting rank of major.[14]

Read was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on 1 January 1919,[15] and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 3 June 1919 for services in France.[16]

Post-war

After the war Read remained in the Royal Air Force (RAF) with the rank of flight lieutenant, although technically still on attachment from his regiment.[17] He served in Palestine with No. 216 Squadron from 1919 to 1921,[6] and received a Bar to his AFC on 12 July 1920.[18] By October 1921, he had been promoted to squadron leader in the RAF, although still holding the rank of captain in the army,[19] and was in command of No. 216 Squadron.[1]

On 17 November 1921, Read finally transferred from the army to a permanent commission in the RAF.[20] He was awarded a second bar to his AFC in the 1922 New Year Honours.[21] He was promoted wing commander on 1 January 1924.[22][23] Having previously been commander of an apprentices' wing at RAF Halton,[1] in January 1928 he became station commander of RAF Upavon,[24][25] and he was appointed first commander of RAF Boscombe Down in September 1930.[6][25][26] In March 1931, he was appointed Inspector of Recruiting for the RAF.[6] He retired on 17 May 1932, his 47th birthday.[1][27]

Personal life

In December 1915, Read became engaged to Marjory Masters, daughter of an army chaplain.[3] However, he seems to have never actually married.[2] He was an amateur steeplechase rider, riding in many races,[28] and tennis player.[29]

Read's wartime diaries and papers are held by the Imperial War Museum.

Footnotes
  1. "Wing Commander Read Retires", The Times, 21 May 1932
  2. Linda R. Robertson, The Dream of Civilized Warfare: World War I Flying Ages and the American Imagination, University of Minnesota Press, 2003
  3. "Forthcoming Marriages", The Times, 7 December 1915
  4. "No. 27967". The London Gazette. 13 November 1906. p. 7630.
  5. "No. 28001". The London Gazette. 5 March 1907. p. 1575.
  6. "RAF Recruiting", The Times, 4 April 1931
  7. "No. 28831". The London Gazette. 15 May 1914. p. 3927.
  8. "No. 28840". The London Gazette. 16 June 1914. p. 4702.
  9. "No. 29075". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1711.
  10. "No. 30307". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 September 1917. p. 9950.
  11. "No. 30394". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 November 1917. p. 12104.
  12. "No. 29438". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 1916. p. 585.
  13. "No. 30322". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 October 1917. p. 10252.
  14. "No. 104 Squadron", The Times, 16 December 1935
  15. "No. 31098". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 97.
  16. "No. 31378". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 May 1919. p. 7032.
  17. "No. 31879". The London Gazette. 27 April 1920. p. 4850.
  18. "No. 31974". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1920. p. 7422.
  19. "No. 32487". The London Gazette. 14 October 1921. p. 8103.
  20. "No. 32719". The London Gazette. 13 June 1922. p. 4478.
  21. "No. 32563". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1921. p. 10719.
  22. "No. 32893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1924. p. 2.
  23. Flight, 3 January 1924
  24. "Two Flying Officers Killed", The Times, 6 June 1928
  25. "New Air Station", The Times, 26 September 1930
  26. "RAF Command at Upavon", The Times, 16 September 1930
  27. "No. 33826". The London Gazette. 17 May 1932. p. 3223.
  28. "Racing", The Times, 10 February 1925
  29. "The Army and RAF Championships", The Times, 14 July 1925
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