Military Wiki
in: Articles using infobox military person, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, 1912 births,
and 11 more

Harold Maguire

Sign in to edit
Sir Harold Maguire
Born 12 April 1912 (1912-04-12)
Died 1 February 2001 (2001-03) (aged 88)
Allegiance Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Ensign of the Royal Air Force Royal Air Force
Years of service 1933-1968
Rank Air Marshal
Commands held No. 229 Squadron
No. 226 Wing
RAF Linton-on-Ouse
RAF Odiham
No. 13 Group
No. 11 Group
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Air Marshal Sir Harold John Maguire, KCB, DSO, OBE, (12 April 1912 – 1 February 2001) was Director-General of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence from 1968 to 1972.

RAF career[]

Harold Maguire was born in Kilkishen in County Clare in Ireland.[1] Educated at Wesley College, Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, Maguire joined the Royal Air Force in 1933.[2] He served in World War II as Officer Commanding No. 229 Squadron and then as Officer Commanding No. 226 Wing based in Sumatra.[2] He was awarded the DSO in 1946 for the gallant example he had set to his fellow captives while he was a Prisoner of War during the Japanese invasions of Sumatra and Java in 1942.[2]

After the War he became Station Commander at RAF Linton-on-Ouse and then Group Captain, Operations at RAF Fighter Command.[2] He was appointed Station Commander at RAF Odiham in 1950, Senior Air Staff Officer at AHQ Malta in 1952 and Director of Tactical and Air Transport Operations in 1956.[2] He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 11 Group in 1958, Air Officer Commanding No. 13 Group in 1959 and Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1961.[2] After that he was made Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Far East Air Force in 1962, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence) in 1964 and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Intelligence) in 1965 before retiring in 1968.[2]

In retirement he was Director-General of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defence from 1968 to 1972.[2]

Maguire was appointed OBE in 1950 and CB in 1958.[2] He was appointed KCB in 1966.[2]

Family[]

In 1940 he married Mary Elisabeth Wild; they had a son and a daughter.[1]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Obituary: Air Marshal Sir Harold Maguire Daily Telegraph, 12 February 2001
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Marshal Sir Harold Maguire
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Norman Denning 		Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Intelligence)
1965–1968 		Succeeded by
Sir Richard Fyffe
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Alfred Earle 		Director-General Intelligence
1968–1972 		Succeeded by
Sir Louis Le Bailly
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Harold Maguire and the edit history here.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.