Roderick Carr: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:56, 27 May 2021

Revision as of 15:46, 31 July 2021

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==Military career==

Educated at Fielding School and [[Wellington College (New Zealand)|Wellington College, New Zealand]], Carr was commissioned as a temporary flight sub-lieutenant in the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] in July 1915.<ref name=odnb>{{cite webODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/74578|title=Carr, Sir (Charles) Roderick|publisheryear=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/74578|accessdate=24 February 2016}}</ref> He saw action as a spotter at the [[Battle of Loos]] in October 1915 during the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref name=odnb/>

In 1919, Carr went to Russia to fight on the [[White movement|anti-Bolshevist]] side in the [[Russian Civil War|civil war]], where he won his [[Distinguished Flying Cross (British)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] for action against the enemy. The citation was as follows:<ref name=air>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Carr_CR.htm|title=Air Marshal Sir Roderick Carr|publisher=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation|accessdate=24 February 2016}}</ref>

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In 1927, Carr and Flight Lieutenant L.E.M. Gillman attempted a non-stop flight to India, in a specially modified [[Hawker Horsley]] aircraft carrying much extra fuel and taking off at a weight of over 14,000&nbsp;lb (6,350&nbsp;kg). Carr and Gillman took off from [[RAF Cranwell]] on 20 May 1927, but ran out of fuel ''en route'', [[water landing|ditching]] in the [[Persian Gulf]] near [[Bandar Abbas]], Iran. Despite this they had covered a distance of 3,420&nbsp;mi (5,506&nbsp;km), which was sufficient to set a new [[Flight distance record|world distance record]], but which was beaten in turn within a few hours by [[Charles Lindbergh]]'s solo Atlantic flight between New York and Paris in the ''[[Spirit of St. Louis]]'', covering 3,590&nbsp;mi (5,780&nbsp;km).<ref name="Mason Hawker p12-3">Mason, Francis K. ''Hawker Aircraft since 1920''. London:Putnam, Third edition, 1991. {{ISBN|0-85177-839-9}}., pp.&nbsp;12–13.</ref>

During the [[Second World War]], Carr served in [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] as [[Air Officer Commanding]] [[No. 4 Group RAF]] for the majority of the war. Carr was promoted and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff (Air) at the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force in June 1945, in the final stages of the North West Europe Campaign. Two months later, Carr became Air Marshal Commanding, HQ Base Air Forces South East Asia, and then BAFSEA was disbanded, and on 1 April 1946, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, [[Air Headquarters India]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Carr_CR.htm|title=C R Carr_P}}</ref> ("Chief of the Indian Air Force").

His war services were recognised with the award of Commander of the [[Legion of Honour]] and the [[Croix de guerre 1939–1945|Croix de Guerre]] by the President of France.<ref>M. Brewer, 'New Zealand and the Legion d'honneur: Officiers, Commandeurs and Dignites', The Volunteers: The Journal of the New Zealand Military Historical Society, 35(3), March 2010, p.&nbsp;137.</ref> In the [[1941 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|1941 New Year Honours]], Carr was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]],<ref>{{London Gazette |date=1 January 1941 |supp=y |issue=35029 |page=11}}</ref> and he was promoted to Knight Commander of the same order in July 1945.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=5 July 1945 |supp=y |issue=37161 |page=3489}}</ref> He was made a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in the [[1943 Birthday Honours|1943 King's Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette |date=2 June 1943 |supp=y |issue=36033 |page=2420}}</ref>