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 ...

Harold Arthur Cooper "Birdie" Bird-Wilson, (20 November 1919 – 27 December 2000) 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) and ...

officer, and a

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 opposin ...

Early life

Bird-Wilson was born in

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that the ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

, on 20 November 1919. His father was a tea-planter in Bengal, and his parents remained in India, sending Bird-Wilson to boarding school. He later went to

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian E ...

Military career

On 30 November 1937, having had a few weeks initial officer training, he was granted a short-service commission in the RAF. In August 1938 he was assigned to No. 17 Squadron, learning the rudiments of being a fighter pilot in

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 ...

s. The Squadron was re-equipped with

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s in June 1939. Ten weeks later, he was flying a

BA Swallow The B.A Swallow was a British light aircraft of the 1930s. It was a license-built version by the British Klemm Aeroplane Company (which later became known as the British Aircraft Manufacturing Co.) of the German Klemm L.25. A total of 135 were ...

out of

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

when he crashed in bad weather. His passenger was killed, and Bird-Wilson was left without a nose. He was treated by pioneering plastic surgeon

Archibald McIndoe Sir Archibald Hector McIndoe (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew. Early life Archi ...

, who offered Bird-Wilson the nose of his choice, and went on to treat many disfigured RAF pilots during the war. Bird-Wilson subsequently became a member of the

Guinea Pig Club The Guinea Pig Club, established in 1941, was a social club and mutual support network for British and allied aircrew injured during World War II. Its membership was made up of patients of Archibald McIndoe in Ward III at Queen Victoria Hospit ...

, composed of McIndoe's former patients.

Second World War

In April 1940 Bird-Wilson was back on active service, in time to fly Hurricanes for the British retreat from France in the following weeks. As an already accomplished pilot, he was one of the elite selected for one of

Cuthbert Orde Captain Cuthbert Julian Orde (18 December 1888 – 19 December 1968) was an artist and First World War pilot. He is best known for his war art, especially his portraits of Allied Battle of Britain pilots. Family background Orde was born on 18 D ...

's iconic charcoal portraits, which was drawn on 11 September 1940. On the morning of 24 September, flying Hurricane P3878 near

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, he became the 40th kill of

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

ace

Adolf Galland Adolf Josef Ferdinand Galland (19 March 1912 – 9 February 1996) was a German Luftwaffe general and flying ace who served throughout the Second World War in Europe. He flew 705 combat missions, and fought on the Western Front and in the Defen ...

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 ...

. Baling out on fire, he landed in the Thames and was picked up by a navy boat. Yet again he was hospitalised. In 1941 he went back into service as an instructor at No. 56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) before seeing action flying

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

s with

No. 234 Squadron RAF No. 234 Squadron RAF had a long career within the RAF, being operational on flying boats in World War I and on fighter aircraft in World War II. After the war it remained a fighter unit till 1957. In its last incarnation the squadron was in turn ...

, participating in raids over northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He returned for a spell commanding a unit at No. 56 OTU later in the year. In 1942 he commanded

No. 152 Squadron RAF No. 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during both World War I and World War II. Squadron history World War I No 152 Squadron was first formed on 1 October 1918 at RAF Rochford as a Sopwith Camel night ...

and No. 66 Squadron RAF as they led fighter escorts for bombing raids to the northern European coast, moving on to lead Wings in 1943. In 1944 he attended command training in the US at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

, before returning to action over the

Normandy Invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

. He ended the war commanding No. 1335 Jet Conversion Unit, the first jet unit in the RAF.

Post-war career

Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945

For many years after the war Bird-Wilson held a variety of posts in the Central Flying Establishment. In 1946 he was given command of the air fighting development squadron. In 1948 he moved to Middle East operations, becoming personal staff officer to Air Chief Marshal

Sir John Baker John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to: Military figures *John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named *John Baker (RAF officer) (1897–1978), British air marshal ...

, Middle East Air Force Commander-in-Chief in 1949. In 1954, he joined the British Joint Services Mission in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He returned to be 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 ...

from June 1959 to November 1961, then held a post 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 ...

from 1961 to 1963; before two years commanding the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...

; and a further two years as air officer commanding Hong Kong, 1965–1967. In 1967 he took up a post at the Ministry of Technology. From 1970 to March 1973, his penultimate posting was commanding

No. 23 Group RAF No. 23 Group RAF was a group of the Royal Air Force, first established in 1918, and finally disbanded in 1975. The group was reformed as No 23 (Training) Group in RAF Inland Area on 12 April 1926, at RAF Spitalgate, by re-numbering No. 3 Group RA ...

RAF Training Command Training Command was the Royal Air Force's command responsible for flying and ground training from 1936 to 1940 and again from 1968 to 1977. Training Command was formed from RAF Inland Area on 1 May 1936 and absorbed into RAF Support Command on 13 ...

, responsible for flying training. Finally, he commanded the Southern Maritime Air Region ( No. 18 Group RAF, Strike Command) until 1 June 1974, when he retired at his own request. He died in 2000.

Family

Bird-Wilson married Audrey Alma Wallace (b. 27 May 1923) in 1942. They had a son, Robert, in 1943 and a daughter, Carol, in 1945. Audrey died in 1991. He was remarried, to Margaret McGillivray Butler, in 1994.England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916 — 2005 – Date of Registration: Apr 1994, Registration district: Surrey, Volume Number: 761, Page Number: 949. Retrieved from ancestry.co.uk, 31 October 2010.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bird-Wilson, Harold Birdie 1919 births 2000 deaths British World War II flying aces Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at Liverpool College Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Airman's Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Welsh military personnel The Few Members of the Guinea Pig Club People from Prestatyn