Air Commodore John Mortimer Warfield

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 ...

RAF was a bomber pilot during 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 opposin ...

, a senior RAF staff officer and commander during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

in the 1950s and, as an air commodore in his final tour, the ninth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps.

Service history

RAF service

Warfield joined 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 ...

on 29 December 1930 on a short service commission and commenced training at the RAF Central Depot, RAF Uxbridge and two months later transferred to the No. 2 Flying Training School as a pilot under instruction. On 29 December 1931 he was posted as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

in 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 ...

No. 13 Squadron RAF Number 13 Squadron, also written as XIII Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which operate the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from RAF Waddington since reforming on 26 October 2012. The unit first formed as par ...

. Promoted to flying officer in August 1932 and

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

in April 1936, Warfield was appointed as a flight commander with 13 Squadron, before being posted to as a supernumerary officer at the Air Armaments School just three months later. Following his course on 3 July 1937 he was posted as Armament Officer at No. 5 Armament Training Establishment at

RAF Penrhos RAF Penrhos is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Penrhos, Gwynedd and west of Porthmadog, Gwynedd, Wales, in the community of Llanbedrog. It was operational from 1 February 1937 to 21 October 1946 for armament training, air obs ...

. The following year he was posted overseas to

RAF Kalafrana RAF Kalafrana was a seaplane operations centre on the southernmost tip of Malta between 1917 and 1946 when it was transferred to the Royal Navy. It played an important role in both world wars, starting as a base for anti-submarine and anti-pirac ...

seaplane base on

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

where he was promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

. In February 1939, just before the Second World War started, Warfield was appointed as Command Armament Staff Officer at HQ Mediterranean Command at RAF Luqa serving under Air Vice Marshal Hugh Lloyd, a post he held until the spring of 1941 when he was promoted to wing commander and appointed as Officer Commanding of the Malta airbase RAF Ta' Qali. In December 1942 Warfield returned to the UK and was appointed as Officer Commanding

No. 226 Squadron RAF No. 226 Squadron RAF was a unit of the British Royal Air Force that existed as a bomber squadron during the First and Second World Wars, and as part of the UK's nuclear ballistic missile force in the early 1960s. Squadron history First formed o ...

flying Douglas Boston III twin-engined bombers from

RAF Wattisham Royal Air Force Station Wattisham or more simply RAF Wattisham is a former Royal Air Force station located in East Anglia just outside the village of Wattisham, south of Stowmarket in Suffolk, England. During the Cold War it was a major front- ...

in support of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during daylight raids over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In April 1943 Warfield was promoted in temporary rank of

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 ...

and served as the station commander of

, where he remained until near the end of the war, when he was reverted to the rank of wing commander briefly. When the war finished, he was serving as Senior Officer Administration at Headquarters No 12 Group RAF. Immediately after the war, Warfield was involved in the conflict with communist guerrilla forces on the Malayan Peninsula that created the

Malayan Union The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administratio ...

. He was posted as Command Armament Officer at Headquarters Far Eastern Air Command. The following year he was promoted as a substantive group captain and appointed as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at Air Headquarters Malaya, later moving to Advance AHQ Malaya. In 1950 Warfield returned to the UK as Officer Commanding

RAF Waddington Royal Air Force Waddington otherwise known as RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located beside the village of Waddington, south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England. The station is the RAF's Intelligence Surveillance Target A ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. In September 1955 Warfield was promoted to acting air commodore as Air Officer Commanding No. 66 (Scottish) Group RAF. In January 1957 the air commodore rank was made substantive and he was appointed as Air Officer Administration at Headquarters British Forces Arabian Peninsula.

Royal Observer Corps

On 29 June 1959 Warfield took over as Commandant Royal Observer Corps from Air Commodore J. H. T. Simpson. This was Warfield's final service appointment. He retired on 26 June 1961, handing over command to Air Commodore C. M. Wight-Boycott.

Honours and awards

* 28 December 1945 -

Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

. * 26 April 1949 -

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

to Acting Group Captain John Mortimer Warfield OBE RAF for distinguished service in Malaya.

References

External links

Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Commodore J M Warfield
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Warfield, John Mortimer 1912 births 1970 deaths Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Royal Air Force personnel of the Malayan Emergency People of the Royal Observer Corps Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English aviators Military personnel from Bideford