Air Commodore Colin McKay Grierson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(16 June 19061991) was a senior officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He joined the

(RAF) as an Aircraft Apprentice in 1921. In 1925 he became a Flight Cadet Sergeant. In 1927 he was on the staff of

RAF Calshot Royal Air Force Calshot or more simply RAF Calshot was initially a seaplane and flying boat station, and latterly a Royal Air Force marine craft maintenance and training unit. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, Hamp ...

with the rank of

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

. During the 1930s he held a number of different positions in the RAF as Armament and Engineering Officer. On 1 January 1941 he worked on the Air Staff in the Directorate of Plans. On 20 May 1944 he became Assistant Chief of Staff A2 (Intelligence),

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

(SHAEF) with the rank of Acting Air Commodore. At a press briefing two days after the Dresden raid on 14 February 1945, Grierson told journalists: One of the journalists asked whether the principal aim of bombing of Dresden would be to cause confusion among the refugees or to blast communications carrying military supplies. Grierson answered that the primary aim was communications to prevent them moving military supplies, and to stop movement in all directions if possible. He then added in an offhand remark that the raid also helped destroying "what is left of German morale" Howard Cowan, an

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war correspondent, subsequently filed a story saying that the Allies had resorted to terror bombing. This set in train a number of embarrassing questions on both sides of the Atlantic on the morality of this form of attack. He retired from the RAF on 31 August 1950 with the rank of Air Commodore.

References

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Cdre Grierson
* Taylor, Frederick; ''Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945''; Pub (Lon): Bloomsbury. .

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grierson, Colin Mckay Royal Air Force air commodores 1906 births 1991 deaths Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Trenchard Brats