Tedder: Quietly in Command (Studies in Airpower, 9)

465 Pages·2004·2.16 MB·English

by  Vincent Orange

ii
TEDDER
Frontispiece: Tedder sent this pencil sketch, made in Jerusalem in March 1942, to his
wife Rosalinde in England. ‘It’s rather your more tired and serious face’, she thought:
‘not your scintillating self – though I’m not sure that it isn’t the best portrait you have
had.’ Portrait in pencil by Sir Arthur Robitschek, Jerusalem 1942. [Family]
TEDDER
Quietly in Command
VINCENT ORANGE
University of Canterbury
Christchurch, New Zealand
Foreword by
WILLIAMSON MURRAY
FRANK CASS
LONDON • PORTLAND, OR
First published in 2004 in Great Britain by
FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS
Chase House, 47 Chase Side, Southgate
London N14 5BP
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
and in the United States of America by
FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS
c/o ISBS, 5824 N.E. Hassalo Street
Portland, Oregon, 97213-3644
Website: www.frankcass.com
Copyright © 2004 V. Orange
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Orange, Vincent, 1935–
Tedder: quietly in command
1. Tedder, Arthur 2. Great Britain. Royal Air Force –
Biography 3. Marshals – Great Britain – Biography 4. World
War, 1939–1945 – Biography
I. Title
358.4'1331'092
ISBN 0-203-50110-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-58122-9 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-7146-4817-5 (cloth)
ISBN 0-7146-4367-X (paper)
ISSN 1368-5597 (Print Edition)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Orange, Vincent, 1935–
Tedder: quietly in command/Vincent Orange; foreword by Williamson Murray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7146-4817-5 (cloth) – ISBN 0-7146-4367-X (paper)
1. Tedder, Arthur William Tedder, baron, b. 1890 2. Marshals–Great
Britain–Biography. 3. Great Britain. Royal Air Force–Officers–Biography. I. Title.
UG626.2.T44O73 2003
355'0092–dc21
[B]
2003043889
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced
into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher
of this book.
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Foreword by Williamson Murray xi
Series Editor’s Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xvii
PART I: 1890 TO 1914: RISING
1 A Boy of Philosophical Calm, Artistic and Fanciful: From 3
Glenguin to Croydon, July 1890 to July 1909
2 An Amiable Chap, with Many Interests but Few 7
Achievements: Cambridge, October 1909 to June 1912
3 A Sudden Sense of Absolute Intimacy, Harmony and 13
Understanding: From England to Fiji via Germany, June
1912 to December 1914
PART II: 1915 TO 1919: FLYING
4 Learning the Grammar of Command: From Wyke Regis to 25
Calais, January 1915 to January 1916
5 We Are a Pretty Cosmopolitan Lot: From Reading to Auchel, 31
January to December 1916
6 Unimpressive, a Wet Blanket, Not Much of a Leader?: From 42
the Western Front to Shawbury, January 1917 to May 1918
7 A Paper War on the Edge of a Gentleman’s War, in a Vile 49
Place: Egypt and Palestine, May 1918 to March 1919
PART III: 1919 TO 1940: CLIMBING
8 Shaping a Squadron in Peacetime at Home, on the Brink of 59
War Abroad: From Bircham Newton to Constantinople,
March 1919 to August 1923
vi Tedder
9 Good Stuff Separated from Scallywags for the Air Force: From 70
Greenwich to Andover, September 1923 to December 1931
10 Fathering Air Armament and Organising an Expansion of 81
Flying Training: From Eastchurch to Egypt, January 1932
to October 1936
11 The Finest Strategical Position in the World under the 90
Command of Our Next CAS but Two: Singapore, October
1936 to July 1938
12 Spotting Winners and Advancing Aircraft Production:From 103
London to Harrogate and Back, July 1938 to November 1940
PART IV: 1940 TO 1943: COMMANDING IN CAIRO
13 A Man of Nuts and Bolts, of Pen and Ink, with Strong 121
Hands, Velvet Gloved: Cairo and the Western Desert,
December 1940 to June 1941
14 Ending the Bad Old Days before There Was Mutual 137
Understanding and Faith between the Services: Cairo and
the Western Desert, June to September 1941
15 Condemned by Churchill, Saved by Freeman and 154
Auchinleck: Cairo and the Western Desert, October 1941
to January 1942
16 Winnie and Joe See Arthur as a Fighter: Cairo and the 171
Western Desert, February to October 1942
17 Seeking an Exciting New Command, Avoiding a Dismal 187
Desk in Whitehall, Suffering a Grievous Loss: From Cairo
to Algiers, October 1942 to January 1943
PART V: 1943 TO 1944: COMMANDING IN ALGIERS
18 Torch Bearers and Desert Heroes Jointly Countering the 205
Shibboleth of Pershing: Algeria and Tunisia, January to
May 1943
19 Honouring a Man of Cold Courage, Jollying a Suspicious 220
Dutchman: From Algeria to Sicily, April to September 1943
20 An Alarming Avalanche, Another Dardanelles, a New Job: 234
From Algeria to Italy, August 1943 to January 1944
PART VI: 1943 TO 1945: COMMANDING UNDER EISENHOWER
21 A Lousy Organisation, Smearing the RAF’s Good Name: 249
Bushy Park and Castle Coombe, December 1943 to May
1944
Contents vii
22 A Great and Noble Undertaking Challenged by a Toy that 262
Would Profoundly Affect both War and Peace: From London
to Paris, May to August 1944
23 Aunt Sallies, Red Herrings, and a Patchwork Quilt: From 274
London to Brussels, August to December 1944
24 Painting on a Bicycle and Winning Another Contest with 287
Churchill: From London to Germany via Moscow,
December 1944 to April 1945
PART VII: 1945 TO 1949: COMMANDING THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
25 Chief Aunt Sally in the Whirligig of Whitehall: London and 303
Elsewhere, May 1945 to December 1946
26 Avoiding Complete Subservience to Our Essential Ally in 317
Countering the Risk of Atomic War: London and Elsewhere,
January 1947 to June 1948
27 Working in a Strange and Secretive Society, Leaving the 331
Whirligig: London and Elsewhere, June 1948 to
December 1949
PART VIII: 1950 TO 1967: GIVING AND NOT COUNTING THE COST
28 Providing a Few Drops of Oil and Setting the College Flag 349
Flying:From London to Cambridge via Washington,
January 1950 to June 1954
29 A Strange Genius: From London to Pollochar and the End, 363
June 1954 to June 1967
Notes 378
Bibliography 410
Index 429
List of Illustrations
Frontispiece: Portrait in pencil of Tedder by Sir Arthur Robitschek,
Jerusalem 1942. [Family]
Between pages 236 and 237
1. Tedder’s parents, and Margaret, August 1925.
2. Tedder in uniform, not yet in the RFC, early in his career.
3. Married in England 1915.
4. FE 2b, flown by Tedder’s 25 Squadron on the Western Front from
November 1916.
5. Dick, Mina and John at Eastchurch, 1932.
6. Tedder with the King, 22 July 1940.
7. Wilfrid Freeman.
8. Studio portrait of Ros, c.1940.
9. Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, 1940–45.
10. Coningham and Tedder, November 1941.
11. Tedder seated on sand, surrounded by airmen, 1942.
12. Tedder of North Africa, 9 November 1942 issue of Time.
13. Tedder lighting pipe, surrounded by airmen, Malcolm Club, May
1943.
14. Toppy in Air House, Algiers, September 1943.
15. Tedder and ‘Daisy’, 1943.
16. Tedder on Lifecover, 31 January 1944.
17. ‘The Magnificent Seven’: Tedder, Eisenhower, Montgomery,
Bradley, Ramsay, Leigh-Mallory, Bedell Smith.
18. Three oil refineries in Hamburg burning after US air raids in June
1944.
19. Caen burning on D-Day after a heavy bombardment.
20. The Port du Graviere railway bridge, destroyed by Allied bombing,
June 1944.
List of Illustrations ix
21. V-2 site at Siracourt, July 1944.
22. Tedder in Moscow, January 1945.
23. Walking to Zhukov’s HQ, Berlin, 8 May 1945.
24. Tedder and Spaatz in Zhukov’s office.
25. Ike and Tedder in carriage, en route to Guildhall, 12 June 1945.
26. CAS is ‘in Conference’: Tedder with Richard.
27. Tedder and Arnold.
28. Meeting of Trustees of foundation of Churchill College, Cambridge,
1958.
29. Toppy, ‘farewell photo’.
30. Tedder cutting cake in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 1966, at celebrations
of 50th anniversary of foundation of 70 Squadron.
31. Tedder’s sketches: (a) profile of Smuts; (b) head of Churchill.