Leaders of the second front –
Man who beat Luftwaffe in 1940 leads fighters under Gen. ‘Ike’
Leigh-Mallory hailed as victor in Battle of Britain in England’s dark days
By Boyd Lewis, United Press staff writer
A handful of Allied leaders will lead millions of soldiers in the “second front” against the Nazis on the continent of Europe. Who are these men? Where are they like? Are they capable of the big job before them?
In this, the fourth of a series of articles, Boyd Lewis of the United Press tells the story of Marshal Leigh-Mallory, the hero of the Battle of Britain, who haws been chosen by Gen. Eisenhower to command the air fleet that will help the Allies back to France.
When the American, British and Canadian armies swarm across the English Channel in their supreme assault upon Hitler’s “Fortress Europe,” a quiet-spoken, dapper, middle-aged former lawyer will sit in a secret headquarters somewhere in England directing the greatest air armada in the world’s history.
For Air Marshal Sir Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory, Allied air commander-in-chief under Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, that will be an historic day.
As his planes hammer the enemy’s stronghold and provide an umbrella of protection without which the ground assault would not be possible, he will be reliving the Battle of Britain, when, as commander of the famed Fighter Command Group No. 11, he was one of the men chiefly responsible for saving Britain from invasion.
Prime Minister Churchill said of the RAF:
Never have so many owed so much to so few.
The Spitfires and Hurricanes exacted so punishing a price from the German Air Force for its bombing that it was compelled to call off its mass raids when a few more weeks of smashing attacks upon British industrial centers might have turned the tide of the war.
Predicted disaster
The dark-haired, trim-mustached ex-barrister had organized his forces coolly and helped produce a result which he had forecast. He had said before the outbreak of war:
Although the enemy may send over very large numbers, I believe that with the organization we have, the enemy’s efforts would not last very long.
In August 1942, he made further impression upon the Allied Command by organizing the fighter umbrella thrown across the Channel to protect the skies over the famous Dieppe Raid, an operation which dragged the wary Luftwaffe off the ground and cost it 170 planes.
To airmen, Marshal Leigh-Mallory’s appointment caused no surprise because he is famed among them as one of the most capable and methodical of air chiefs.
He is 50
The public was inclined to ask, “Who’s he?” Marshal Leigh-Mallory has always sought to avoid the spotlight, even to the extent of not disclosing his age in Who’s Who. He is 50.
Had it not been for the First World War, he might have spent his life in the wig and robe of a lawyer instead of the uniform of a commander of fighter pilots. He had a typical “upper middle class” education at Haileybury College and studied law at Cambridge.
In August 1914, he joined the army. Two years later, he joined the Royal Flying Corps, then in its infancy. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for service in France.
When peace came, Leigh-Mallory turned his back on the law and decided to make a career as an air officer. He was commissioned a squadron leader. For several years he commanded the School of Army Cooperation. He is married and has two children.
Progress is steady
His progress was like his methods – steady. Outbreak of this war found him a vice marshal in command of Fighter Group 11. He has stuck with the fighters across the Channel in relentless sweeps which have all but driven the German planes out of the sky during daylight.
His dogged philosophy is illustrated by recent advice to British air cadets:
When we have our “downs,” don’t get the jitters. We can take it and we mean to go on taking it until we have defeated them.
A year ago, he issued this Christmas order of the day:
Best of luck in 1943 and damnation to the Luftwaffe.
It was a prophetic order: The RAF had excellent hunting in 1943. Now it is ready to carry rout Marshal Leigh-Mallory’s further orders and bring “damnation to the Luftwaffe” so that the Allied forces may fight under friendly skies.
