Air Commodore Edye Rolleston Manning (14 February 1889 – 26 April 1957) was an Australian-born senior officer in the Royal Air Force. In the early days of the Second World War he was tasked with establishing a string of airfields in the Far East from Lashio to Mingladon.

Early life

Edye Rolleston Manning was born in Australia on 14 February 1889, the son of William Alexander Manning, a solicitor practising in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. He was educated at Bedford Modern School in England before going on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

Military career

When the First World War broke out, Manning ceased his studies at Edinburgh and joined the cavalry, serving in France and Belgium with the

15th Hussars The 15th The King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. First raised in 1759, it saw service over two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 19th Royal Hussars into the 15th/19th The King's Roya ...

. Frustrated by the stalemate of trench warfare he transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

where he attained RAeC Certificate No. 2253 on 9 October 1916. He was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 while serving with No. 3 Squadron. As Commanding Officer of No. 6 Squadron, Manning was responsible for the evacuation of the British High Commissioner from Suliemanieh in Kurdistan, after which he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. In 1928 he chose to go on half-pay in order to attempt a flight from England to Australia in a Westland Widgeon he owned privately. He got as far as Tunis before crashing at Lebda; Manning was uninjured but his plane was a write-off and he was forced to abandon the attempt. After his aborted flight, Manning became Officer Commanding of RAF Hornchurch (1930) and RAF Manston (1933) before retiring in 1935 to become a stockbroker in Sydney. At the advent of the Second World War he was persuaded to return to the Royal Air Force, becoming Officer Commanding No. 221 Group (RAF) as a

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

in March 1941, establishing a "string of airfields stretching from Lashio to Mingladon". In January 1942 he was appointed Air Commodore of the Group. Manning died on 26 April 1957. There is a photographic portrait of Manning at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

, London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Edye Rolleston 1889 births 1957 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Bedford Modern School