Air Marshal Sir Leslie Deane Mavor, (18 January 1916 – 2 October 1991) 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 ...

officer.

RAF career

Educated in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Mavor joined the Royal Air Force in 1935.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Leslie Mavor
/ref> He was trained at the School of Army Co-operation and was then posted to No 31 Squadron, which at the time was based in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

in India. In 1942, 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 opposi ...

, Mavor received the Air Force Cross for Army Co-Operation and Transport operations which he performed with his squadron in India, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. In 1959 he became Station Commander at

RAF Lindholme Royal Air Force Station Lindholme or more simply RAF Lindholme is a former Royal Air Force station in South Yorkshire, England. It was located south of Thorne and north east of Doncaster and was initially called RAF Hatfield Woodhouse. Ea ...

and in 1961 he became Director of Air Staff Briefing at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

. In 1964 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 ...

and on graduation he became Air Officer Commanding No 38 Group. In 1966 he was moved to Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy). On promotion to air marshal in 1969 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command and he retired on 18 January 1973. Mavor was appointed Principal of the Home Office Home Defence College. Retiring as Principal in 1980 he continued in the new post of Co-ordinator of Voluntary Effort in Civil Defence until 1984. His appointment reflected a review of ''Civil preparedness for home defence'' carried out by the new

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Government in 1979 shortly after it was elected.Struggle for Survival, Governing Britain after the Bomb, File 7 From Civil Defence to Emergency Planning
/ref> Mavor was made a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

on 13 June 1964, appointed an

Officer of the Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British British monarchy ...

on 30 January 1966, and knighted as a Knight Commander of the

on 1 January 1970. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows, ...

, and was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

on 24 May 1976.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavor, Leslie 1916 births 1991 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Military personnel from Aberdeen Deputy Lieutenants of North Yorkshire Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Officers of the Order of St John Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II