Anthony Charles Bartley, (28 March 1919 – 18 April 2001) was a British film and television executive, and fighter pilot. As a
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) Spitfire pilot, Bartley was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during 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 ...
, during which he became a
fighter ace.
Early life
Bartley was born in
Dacca
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, India, on 28 March 1919, the son of an Irish barrister, Sir Charles Bartley, a
Calcutta High Court judge.
Bartley attended
Stowe School,
a boarding
independent school for boys in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
, in
Buckinghamshire.
RAF career
In 1938, Bartley learned to fly.
He was commissioned as an acting
pilot officer in 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 ...
on 18 April 1939; this rank was made permanent, albeit on probation, on 21 October 1939.
He flew with
No. 92 Squadron through the
Battle of France, seeing action over Dunkirk, and then during
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 was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in October 1940, by which time he had been credited with shooting down "at least eight enemy aircraft".
After serving in
No. 74 Squadron in early 1941, Bartley undertook an instructional role at several operational training units before undertaking a role as a test pilot at Vickers Supermarine in July 1941. In early 1942, he returned to operational flying, being posted
No. 65 Squadron; initially, he filled the role of flight commander, but later took command of the squadron in May 1942. In August 1942, he took command of
No. 111 Squadron, and led them during
Operation Torch, in North Africa, until January 1943. For his service in North Africa, he received a
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
to his DFC in February 1943.
After returning to the United Kingdom, he then served on the staff of
No. 83 Group RAF, before departing in October 1944 for the US to attend the
Command and General Staff College
The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
, and then at the School of Air Tactics. His next posting was as a liaison officer to the
70th Fighter Wing
The 70th Fighter Wing (70th FW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947.
History
Established ...
. In October 1944 he joined
RAF Transport Command in the Far East.
At the end of the war Bartley's combat total included 12 (and 1 shared) destroyed, 1 unconfirmed destroyed, 5 'probables' and 8 'damaged'.
On 19 November 2021, it was announced that the seven medals Bartley received for his wartime service would be auctioned by
Dix Noonan Webb
Noonans Mayfair, formerly Dix Noonan Webb, is an auction house based in London. It specialises in coins, medals, jewellery and paper money. Since being established, the firm has sold over 400,000 lots.
Noonans was established in 1990 as Buckland D ...
in London in December 2021.
Film industry
Following his demobilisation in 1946,
Bartley returned to
Vickers-Armstrong
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...
, where he worked as both a sales executive and a test pilot. After marrying actress
Deborah Kerr in November 1945, he later moved to
Hollywood, having met her when she shared a flat with his elder sister,
Patricia Bartley, who had worked at
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...
during the war as a codebreaker.
His post war work in the film industry included roles in the United States, Canada, Barbados and Ireland, and included the establishment of several companies, writing and producing films for television, work in sales and production and executive roles.
Personal life
Bartley and Kerr had two daughters, Francesca and Melanie. Through Francesca they have three grandsons, actors
Lex Shrapnel and Tom Shrapnel as well as the writer Joe Shrapnel. Bartley and Kerr divorced in 1959 and he married again in 1965 to Victoria Mann.
Bartley died in 2001.
[ He was survived by Mann and their two daughters, Cindy and Teresa. Mann passed away in 2019.
]
Bibliography
*Bartley, Anthony. (1984). ''Smoke Trails in the Sky''. William Kimber.
*Bartley, Tony. (1997). ''Smoke Trails in the Sky: The Journals of a Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot''. Crecy Publishing Ltd; 2nd edition.
References
External links
*
* Autobiography "Smoke Trails in the Sky" (1984)
"The Daily Telegraph" Obituary
Imperial War Museum Interview
Memorial Notice for Victoria Bartley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartley, Tony
1919 births
2001 deaths
British World War II flying aces
English aviators
People educated at Stowe School
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Air Force squadron leaders
Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
The Few
People from Dhaka
British people in colonial India