Sir Walter Lloyd Dawson | |
---|---|
Born | May 6, 1902 |
Died | 1994 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
Years of service | 1919 - 1960 |
Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
Commands held | Air Headquarters Levant |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order |
Air Chief Marshal Sir Walter Lloyd Dawson KCB CBE DSO RAF (6 May 1902 – 1994) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the 1950s. He was the last RAF commander in Palestine, before the creation of the State of Israel.
RAF career[]
Dawson joined the Royal Air Force as a boy mechanic in 1919.[1] He served in World War II on the air staff at RAF Middle East and then in the Directorate of Plans at the Air Ministry.[1] He continued his war service as Station Commander at RAF St Eval from 1942, Director of Operations (Naval Co-operation) from 1943 and Director of Plans from 1944.[1] After the War he was made Air Officer Commanding AHQ Levant at a difficult time when the State of Israel was being established.[1] He was appointed Commandant of the School of Land/Air Warfare in 1948 and then served as Senior RAF Instructor at the Imperial Defence College from 1950 before becoming Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) in 1952.[1] He went on to be Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans & Policy at Headquarters SHAPE in 1953, Inspector-General of the RAF in 1956 and Air Member for Supply and Organisation in 1958 before he retired in 1960.[1]
He died in 1994.[2] Dawson's Field in Jordan, where the Dawson's Field hijackings took place is named after him.[1]
References[]
The original article can be found at Walter Dawson (RAF officer) and the edit history here.