Air
Officer Commanding-in Chief, Fighter Command,
Air Chief Marshal Sir
Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding G.C.B., G.C.V.O.C.M.G.,
A.D.C.
Hugh Dowding
is considered one of the masterminds behind the victory in
the Battle of Britain - one of the most prominent battles in
World War Two. Dowding is seen as one of the more important
military commanders of the war.
Dowding was born in Scotland in April 1882 and educated at
Winchester College and the Royal Military Academy at
Woolwich. Dowding served in Ceylon, Gibraltar, Honk Kong and
then for six years in India. When he returned to Britain
from this tour of duty, Dowding took up flying and received
his flying license in 1913. Following this, he joined the
newly created Royal Flying Corps and fought in World War One
where he commanded 16 Squadron. During this war, he clashed
with the head of the Royal Flying Corps - General Hugh
Trenchard - over the issue of rest for pilots exhausted by
constant flying sorties. As a result, Dowding was sent back
to Britain. He was promoted to brigadier-general, but took
no more active part in the war itself.
After the war, Dowding joined the newly established Royal
Air Force becoming a vice-marshal in 1929. In 1933, he was
promoted to air marshall and in 1934, Dowding was knighted.
It was in the 1930's that Dowding made his real mark. He was
a believer in research and development and pushed hard for
this aspect of the RAF to be adequately funded. He knew that
the days of the bi-plane were numbered and pushed for a fast
fighter. The led to a competition that ended with the
construction of the legendary Supermarine Spitfire. By
1937/38, Dowding became convinced that a war with Nazi
Germany was a real possibility and the Nazis had done little
to disguise the growth of the Luftwaffe. In April 1937, the
Luftwaffe had demonstrated its ability to destroy an
undefended city with the bombing of Guernica in Spain. For
this very reason, Dowding believed that Britain had to be in
a position to defend itself from German bombers - hence his
part in pushing for the development and manufacture of both
the Spitfire and Hurricane. Dowding also pushed for the
development of the radar - to give the British an adequate
warning of an enemy attack.
In 1938, Dowding believed that Britain was not able to
adequately protect itself against the Luftwaffe. For this
reason, he advised Neville Chamberlain to pursue a policy of
appeasement at Munich. Whereas Chamberlain has been
criticised for 'giving in' to Hitler and not making a firm
enough stand against him, Dowding believed that he needed
more time to develop Fighter Command to enable Britain to
defend itself.
In 1940, Dowding played his part in providing what fighter
cover he could give to the men being evacuated at Dunkirk.
However, both he and Winston Churchill believed that any
full use of what resources Dowding had would be reckless,
especially for what many considered to be a lost cause. In
this, Dowding proved to be correct.
Dowding's resources as head of Fighter Command were about to
be given a massive test - one which they could not fail. In
the Battle of Britain, the men of Fighter Command were
pushed to the limit. As in World War One, Dowding clashed
with other senior officers in the RAF over tactics. Men like
Air Vice Marshall Douglas and Air Vice Marshall
Leigh-Mallory wanted the pilots of Fighter Command to engage
the Luftwaffe before they crossed the English coastline.
Dowding rejected this approach as he believed that any
British/Allied pilot that parachuted out over the English
Channel was more liable to be drowned. Any combat over the
mainland that led to a pilot parachuting out, meant that the
pilot had a greater chance of survival. Dowding knew that
Fighter Command was not short of fighter planes. But it was
short of experienced pilots and he resolved that Fighter
Command could not lose any more. Hence why he engaged the
Luftwaffe on 'home' soil.
The victory in the Battle of Britain ended any hope of
Hitler launching "Operation Sealion". In recent years, some
historians have re-assessed the importance of the battle,
claiming that Hitler's heart was not in an invasion of
Britain and that he was fully focused on the an attack on
Russia. However, no-one in Britain would have known this in
August/September 1940 and no chance could be taken that the
barges on the French and Belgium northern coastline were
there only as a threat.
Dowding has been given the credit for the victory in
September 1940 - along with the "few". For this he was
awarded the Knight Grand Cross. However, his career did not
end in the glory many feel it should have done. Air Chief
Marshall Portal, the chief of air staff, did not agree that
Dowding had used the right tactics and in November 1941, the
man who had masterminded the victory that was the Battle of
Britain was forced to retire from the position as head of
Fighter Command. Age was not an issue as Dowding was only
59. Dowding was replaced as head of Fighter Command by one
of his chief critics - Air Vice Marshall Douglas.
Dowding was given 'special duties' to do in America
involving aircraft production. However, he retired from the
Royal Air Force in July 1942 and was given a baronetcy in
1943.
Dowding died on February 15th, 1970. |