Air Vice Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...
Forster Herbert Martin "Sammy" Maynard, (1 May 1893 – 26 January 1976) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force and a flying ace credited with six aerial victories during the First World War. He also served as the Air Officer Commanding Malta during the early part of the Second World War.
His son, Nigel Maynard, also became an air marshal in the RAF.
Early life
He was born in New Zealand to a Church of England clergyman. The family returned to England two years later and he was educated at
St John's School, Leatherhead
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Maynard joined the Royal Naval Division in 1914 as an engineer. He transferred to the
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
the following year. After training, he became an instructor until 1916.
In January 1917, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron RNAS on the Western Front. While there, flying a Sopwith Triplane, he ran up a string of six victories from 29 April through 1 June 1917; his final tally included an enemy fighter set afire, another one destroyed in conjunction with a couple of squadron mates, and four enemy planes driven down out of control, including one shared with
Cyril Ridley
Flight Lieutenant Cyril Burfield Ridley (15 January 1895 – 17 May 1920) was a British World War I flying ace, who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force, before being killed in a flying accident in 1920.
Early life ...
and six other pilots.
In September 1917, he was transferred to the aircraft depot at
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Imperial Defence College. He was posted to HQ
Iraq Command
Iraq Command was the Royal Air Force (RAF) commanded British Armed Forces, inter-service Command (military formation), command in charge of United Kingdom, British forces in Iraq in the 1920s and early 1930s, during the period of the British Man ...
and served administrative positions for the Air Staff.
World War II
When Italy declared war in June 1940, a part of the very limited strength of the fighter squadron based at Malta were four Gloster Gladiators, which were found in crates marked "Boxed Spares – Property of the Royal Navy" (these having been left by in April). Maynard obtained permission to assemble them, and three of these units, named "Faith", "Hope", and "Charity", they were part of the initially limited defence during the Siege of Malta.''Playfair'', Vol. I, page 98.
After he was replaced on Malta, he was AOA, HQ RAF Coastal Command. In 1944 he was AOC of No. 19 (Reconnaissance) Group.