:''See also
Henry Broadhurst
:''See also Harry Broadhurst''
Henry Broadhurst (13 April 1840 – 11 October 1911) was a leading early British trade unionist and a Lib-Lab politician who sat in the House of Commons for various Midlands constituencies between 1880 and 190 ...
for the trade unionist and politician''
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst, (28 October 1905 – 29 August 1995), commonly known as Broady, was a senior
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) an ...
commander and
flying ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
of the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
.
Early life
Broadhurst was born in 1905 in
Frimley
Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The town is of Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086.
Train services to Frimley (on the line between ...
, Surrey, England. He joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
as a
second lieutenant in the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
and then, in 1926, transferred to 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) an ...
(RAF).
[Shores and Williams 1994, p. 150.]
Early RAF career
Completing his training, he joined
No. 11 Squadron RAF in India in 1928,
[Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst]
/ref> flying the Westland Wapiti
The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service.
First flying in 1927, the Wa ...
and Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...
over the North West frontier. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1931, joining No. 41 Squadron RAF
No. 41 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is the RAF's Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron ("TES"), based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Its official title is "41 TES". The squadron was formed in 1916 during First World War as part of the Royal ...
flying the Bristol Bulldog
The Bristol Bulldog is a British Royal Air Force single-seat biplane fighter designed during the 1920s by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. More than 400 Bulldogs were produced for the RAF and overseas customers, and it was one of the most fam ...
.[
By the mid-1930s, Broadhurst was an accomplished pilot, flying fighters and doing acrobatics at air shows, gaining a reputation as an aerial daredevil with a flair for aerial acrobatics. In 1936, as a Flight Lieutenant, he was personally congratulated by the ]king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
on his aerobatic showing in the Gloster Gauntlet
The Gloster Gauntlet was a single-seat biplane fighter designed and produced by the British aeroplane manufacturer Gloster Aircraft in the 1930s. It was the last fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to have an open cockpit, and ...
. Awarded an Air Force Cross in 1937,[ he served at the RAF Staff College in ]Andover
Andover may refer to:
Places Australia
*Andover, Tasmania
Canada
* Andover Parish, New Brunswick
* Perth-Andover, New Brunswick
United Kingdom
* Andover, Hampshire, England
** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station
United States
* Andove ...
.[ In January 1939 he was posted as ]Officer Commanding
The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, t ...
No. 111 Squadron.
War service
In May 1940 he was appointed Station Commander at RAF Coltishall
Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006.
It was a fighter airf ...
,[ before joining No. 60 Wing in France as ]wing commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
.[ Broadhurst participated in ground support during the Battle of France, an experience that taught him the importance of close air support for later operations in the war. He was heavily involved in the ]Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
and as Officer Commanding RAF Wittering
Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire i ...
,[ often flew with the squadrons under his command, both day and night fighter units.
]
In December 1940 he was posted to command the Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a l ...
Sector of No. 11 Group Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, oft ...
, and continued to fly on operations, even as a group captain.
On 4 July 1941, leading No. 54 Squadron as Red 1, he was involved in a dogfight with Bf 109s, claiming two Bf 109Es destroyed at 15.30 over Béthune before he was hit and his aircraft badly damaged by a Bf 109.[ He managed to return to base, belly landing his crippled Spitfire, even if with slight splinters in left arm and left thigh.][ On 7 July 1941 his Spitfire Mk.Vb was severely damaged by a ]JG 26
''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 (JG 26) ''Schlageter'' was a German fighter-wing of World War II. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French for ...
pilot. In the combat he was Red 1 and claimed 1-1-0 Bf 109F at 09.50 over Gravelines area. In May 1942 he became Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO), No. 11 Group, although he continued to fly operationally where possible. His final kill claims were made on 19 August 1942, bringing his total to 13 destroyed, seven probables and 10 damaged.[
]
In late 1942 he was posted to the Middle East and became Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) to Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham, commander of the Desert Air Force
The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 ...
(DAF).[ Broadhurst came into conflict with Coningham over the use and objectives of the Desert Air Force. Broadhurst took command of the DAF in January 1943,][ becoming (at the age of 38) the youngest (until Air Commodore ]Don Bennett
Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder F ...
was so promoted on 6 December 1943 at the age of 33) air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He quickly perfected the way he perceived fighter aircraft ought to be employed as ground support fighter-bombers. His fighter squadrons were trained intensively to strafe and bomb German and Italian vehicles, tanks, transport and communication lines. This aerial cover of the 8th Army won the approval and appreciation of General Bernard Montgomery and would form the basis of the ground attack principles used during the D-Day landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
and beyond.
Broadhurst's enthusiastic backing of the Army and his frank opinions did not always go down well with his superiors in the RAF. He returned to the UK in 1944 to command No. 83 Group,[ part of 2nd Tactical Air Force. In September 1945 he became Air Officer Administration at ]RAF Fighter Command
RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Britai ...
.[
]
Post-war
In August 1946 Broadhurst was made Air Officer Commanding No. 61 Group and in 1949 attended the Imperial Defence College
The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...
.[ After promotion to air vice marshal again in July 1949 he became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) in April 1952 and then Commander-in-Chief of ]Second Tactical Air Force
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...
in December 1953 in the rank of air marshal.[
Broadhurst was appointed Air Officer Commander-in-Chief ]Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
in January 1956.[ In 1956, at the peak of Broadhurst's career as Commander in Chief of ]RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
, his reputation suffered following a fatal accident to an Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) is a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe and ...
. Broadhurst took aircraft XA897, the first Vulcan delivered to the RAF, and a full Vulcan crew, on a round-the-world tour.[Blackman 2007, p. 142.] On return to the UK, Broadhurst was to land at London Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
Airport, a civil airport, to complete the successful tour before the assembled aviation media. However, the weather at Heathrow was poor and RAF aircraft were not equipped to use the Instrument Landing System
In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...
installed at Heathrow and other civil airports so a Ground-controlled approach (GCA) was carried out. XA897 struck the ground about 2,000 feet short of the runway just as power was applied. XA897 was damaged by the initial impact but rose back in the air. The pilot, Squadron Leader D.R. "Podge" Howard, and Broadhurst, who was occupying the co-pilot seat, both ejected from the aircraft and survived. The aircraft again hit the ground and broke up. The Vulcan had only two ejection seat
In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an ex ...
s, for the pilot and co-pilot. The other four occupants on XA897, including Howard's usual co-pilot, died in the accident.
In his book ''The Hidden Truth'' Maurice Hamlin, a former member of the RAF on duty the day of the crash, claims that Broadhurst ignored three direct orders to divert away from Heathrow due to the poor weather conditions (noting other aircraft had already been diverted). Pilots, he goes on to say, cannot ignore these orders but Hamlin believes that Broadhurst continued to attempt to land due to the waiting press and dignitaries. He further claims a fifty-year D-Notice
In the United Kingdom, a DSMA-Notice (Defence and Security Media Advisory Notice) is an official request to news editors not to publish or broadcast items on specified subjects for reasons of national security. DSMA-Notices were formerly called a ...
was placed on the incident (that has now expired).
The AAIB inquiry concluded that the inherent lag in the system of issuing of instructions by the ground controller combined with the Vulcan's normal higher than usual rate-of-descent in comparison with the types of aircraft normally handled by Heathrow's controllers, allowed the aircraft to descend below a safe height before corrective instructions could be issued and complied-with. Subsequently, the Vulcan later became one of the first aircraft qualified for full autoland
In aviation, autoland describes a system that fully automates the landing procedure of an aircraft's flight, with the flight crew supervising the process. Such systems enable airliners to land in weather conditions that would otherwise be dangero ...
.
Broadhurst was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in February 1957,[ and in 1959 he became Commander, ]Allied Air Forces Central Europe
Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) was the NATO command tasked with air and air defense operations in NATOs Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) area of command.
History
Allied Air Forces Central Europe was activated on 2 April 1951 at Fon ...
, until March 1961, when he retired from the RAF.[
After retiring, Broadhurst was appointed managing director of Avro Aircraft. In 1965 he became managing director of ]Hawker Siddeley Aviation
Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...
Ltd., and in 1968 a Director of the Hawker Siddeley Group Limited, retiring in 1976.[ ]
References
Notes
Bibliography
* ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', Tuesday, 2 October 1956; pg. 8
* Blackman, Tony. ''Vulcan Test Pilot: My Experiences in the Cockpit of a Cold War Icon''. London: Grub Street, 2007. .
* Shores, Christopher & Clive Williams. ''Aces High''. London: Grub Street, 1994. . page 150-151; full biog.
External links
Royal Air Force Officers 1939−1945
Imperial War Museum Interview
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadhurst, Harry
1905 births
1995 deaths
Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II
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