Edye Rolleston Manning | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 February 1889 Sydney, Australia |
| Died | 26 April 1957 (aged 68) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–45) |
| Years of service | 1914–1935 1939–1945 |
| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Commands held | No. 221 Group RAF (1941) RAF Manston (1933–36) RAF Hornchurch (1930–33) No. 7 Squadron (1928–29) RAF Northolt (1927–28) No. 6 Squadron (1922–24) No. 6 Stores Depot (1919–20) |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross |
Air Commodore Edye Rolleston Manning CBE DSO MC (14 February 1889 – 26 April 1957) was an Australian-born senior officer in the Royal Air Force.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In the early days of the Second World War he was tasked with establishing a string of airfields in the Far East from Lashio to Mingladon.[7][8][9]
Early life
Edye Rolleston Manning was born in Australia on 14 February 1889, the son of William Alexander Manning, a solicitor practising in Sydney, Australia.[4][10] He was educated at Bedford Modern School in England before going on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh.[4]
Military career
When the First World War broke out, Manning ceased his studies at Edinburgh and joined the cavalry, serving in France and Belgium with the 15th Hussars.[4][11] Frustrated by the stalemate of trench warfare he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps where he attained RAeC Certificate No. 2253 on 9 October 1916.[12] He was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 while serving with No. 3 Squadron.[12]
As Commanding Officer of No. 6 Squadron, Manning was responsible for the evacuation of the British High Commissioner from Suliemanieh in Kurdistan, after which he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.[12] In 1928 he chose to go on half-pay in order to attempt a flight from England to Australia in a Westland Widgeon he owned privately.[13][14] He got as far as Tunis before crashing at Lebda; Manning was uninjured but his plane was a write-off and he was forced to abandon the attempt.[12]
After his aborted flight, Manning became Officer Commanding of RAF Hornchurch (1930)[15] and RAF Manston (1933)[16] before retiring in 1935 to become a stockbroker in Sydney.[11][12] At the advent of the Second World War he was persuaded to return to the Royal Air Force, becoming Officer Commanding No. 221 Group (RAF) as a group captain in March 1941, establishing a "string of airfields stretching from Lashio to Mingladon".[12][17] In January 1942 he was appointed Air Commodore of the Group.[12]
Manning died on 26 April 1957.[11] There is a photographic portrait of Manning at the National Portrait Gallery, London.[18]
References
- ^ Obituary in The Times, Air CDRE. E.J. Manning, 29 April 1957, p.12
- ^ "Manning, Air Commodore Edye Rolleston, (14 Feb. 1889–26 April 1957), RAF (ret.); member of Sydney Stock Exchange". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U240333. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
- ^ "Who's who in Australia". google.com. 1950. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d "The Aeroplane". google.com. July 1935. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage ..." google.com. 1931. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ The London Gazette, 8 June 1945, Issue 37124, p. 3073
- ^ Grehan, John; Mace, Martin (30 March 2015). Disaster in the Far East 1940– 1942. ISBN 9781783462094. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Jackson, Ashley (9 March 2006). The British Empire and the Second World War. ISBN 9780826437600. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Burton, John (23 September 2013). Fortnight of Infamy. ISBN 9781612515243. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage". google.com. 1931. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ a b c "E R Manning_P". rafweb.org. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g Grounds, Eric (28 September 2015). The Quiet Australian. ISBN 9781861514783. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Flight International". google.com. 1928. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Aviation Week and Space Technology". google.com. April 1928. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "1930 – 0503 – Flight Archive". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "1935 – 2- 0259 – Flight Archive". flightglobal.com. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Grehan, John; Mace, Martin (30 September 2014). Far East Air Operations 1942–1945. ISBN 9781473841215. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Edye Rolleston Manning". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 20:24