John Slessor

Infobox Military Person
name= John Cotesworth Slessor
lived= 3 June 1897 – death date and age|1979|7|12|1897|6|3|df=yes
placeofbirth= Ranikhet, British India
placeofdeath=


caption=Air Marshal Slessor
nickname=
allegiance=flag|United Kingdom
serviceyears=1915–1952
rank= Marshal of the Royal Air Force
branch= air force|United Kingdom
commands= No. 4 Squadron (1925–1928)
No. 3 (Indian) Wing (1935–1937)
No.5 Group (1941–1942) Coastal Command (1943–1944)
Royal Air Force (1950–1952)
unit=
battles= World War I
World War II
awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
laterwork= High Sheriff of Somerset

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Cotesworth Slessor GCB, DSO, MC (3 June, 1897 – 12 July, 1979) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. A pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, he held operational commands during World War II and served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1950 to 1952.

World War I

The son of a serving Colonel, Slessor was educated at Haileybury. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, seeing action in Egypt and the Sudan, and later on the Western Front. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 and finished the war with the temporary rank of Major. [http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Slessor.htm Marshal of the RAF Sir John Slessor] at [http://www.rafweb.org/Index.htm "Air of Authority"] . Retrieved on 19 January 2008.]

Inter-war years

After leaving the RAF in 1919, Slessor was offered a short-service commission the following year as a Flight Lieutenant. He served as Officer Commanding No. 4 Squadron from 1925 to 1928, and attended Staff College, Camberley in 1931. Slessor became Officer Commanding No. 3 (Indian) Wing in March 1935, winning the Distinguished Service Order for operations in Waziristan. [LondonGazette|issue=34462|startpage=7741|date=10 December 1937|accessdate=2008-01-19] He authored "Air Power and Armies", an examination of the use of air power against targets on and behind the battlefield, in 1936. In this work he advocated army co-operation, interdiction to seal off battlefields from enemy reinforcements and supply, and the use of aerial bombardment as a weapon against enemy morale. [http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcms/mediafiles/374F3212_1143_EC82_2E801D2FE37E9617.pdf History of British Air Power Doctrine] at [http://www.raf.mod.uk/ "Royal Air Force"] . Retrieved on 19 January 2008.] In May 1937, following his posting to India, he was promoted Group Captain and appointed Deputy Director of Plans; he took over as Director in December 1938.

World War II

Slessor became Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No.5 Group in 1941, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in 1942 and AOC Coastal Command in 1943. He went on to become Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East in 1944 and Air Member for Personnel in 1945. He was promoted Temporary Air Vice Marshal on 10 January 1941 (made substantive on 14 April 1942) and Temporary Air Marshal on 1 June 1943 (made substantive on 6 June 1945). Slessor was appointed Companion of the Bath in 1942 and Knight Commander of the Bath the following year.

Post-war career

Slessor was promoted Air Chief Marshal on 1 January 1946. He remained as Air Member for Personnel until the end of 1947, when he was made Commandant of the Imperial Defence College. On 10 June 1948 he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Bath. Slessor served in the RAF's most senior post, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), from 1 January 1950 to 31 December 1952. He was promoted Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 8 June 1950. As CAS, Slessor coined the term 'V-Force' to denote the RAF's trio of strategic jet bombers: the Vickers Valiant, Handley Page Victor, and Avro Vulcan.

During his term as CAS, Slessor played a key role in promoting nuclear weapons as an effective instrument of deterrence in early Cold War British strategy. In 1952 the RAF argued that, because bombers were such an important deterrent, conventional forces could be drastically reduced at a time when the Government was seeking significant public expenditure savings. [cite book|last=Ball | first=S.J. | year=1995| title=The Bomber in British Strategy | location=| publisher=Westview Press| url=http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=89757465 | isbn= | pages=p.49] Slessor believed that it was improbable that the United Kingdom would be able to meet a communist offensive without resorting to tactical nuclear weapons. [cite journal | author = House of Commons Defence Committee| title = The Future of the UK's Strategic Nuclear Deterrent: Memorandum from Paul Rogers| journal = Hansard| pages=para 26 | year = 2007 | url = http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmselect/cmdfence/225/225ii.pdf] He became one of the key propagandists of the 'Great Deterrent' (which he employed as the title of a book he wrote after he retired) on both sides of the Atlantic. [cite book|last=Slessor | first= Sir John | year=1957| title=The Great Deterrent| location=| publisher=Cassell. ASIN B0000CJSE5]

Later life

Slessor published two books after his retirement from the RAF in 1953: his autobiography ""The Central Blue" (1956) and "The Great Deterrent" (1957). He served as a Somerset County Councillor from 1963 to 1974, and was High Sheriff of Somerset from 1965 to 1966. His son John also joined the RAF, rising to the rank of Group Captain. [cite book|last=Orange | first=Vincent | year=1957| title=Tedder: Quietly in Command | location=London | publisher=Frank Cass | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=epklB2o79_8C&pg=PR18&lpg=PR18&dq=%22john+slessor%22+raf&source=web&ots=9TuUXi0h6o&sig=Ku0-TrHBuAZgm5rSLbOitJEDLag | isbn=0714648175 | pages=p.xviii Retrieved at Google Book Search on 20 January 2008.]

Notes

References

*cite web | last=Barrass | first=Malcolm | year=2001–2008 | title=Marshal of the RAF Sir John Slessor | work=Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation | url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Slessor.htm
*cite book|last=Probert | first=H. | year=1991| title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force| location=| publisher=HMSO| isbn=0-11-772635-4

Further reading

*cite book|last=Slessor | first=Sir John | origyear=1956 | year=1993| title=The Central Blue| location=| publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd.| isbn=

succession box
title=Air Officer Commanding No. 5 Group
before= Norman Bottomley
after= Alec Coryton
years=1941–1942succession box
title=Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command
before=Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
after=Sir William Sholto Douglas
years=1943–1944
-
-succession box
title=Chief of the Air Staff
before=Sir Arthur Tedder
after=Sir William Dickson
years=1950–1952succession box
title = High Sheriff of Somerset
years = 1965–1966
before = Richard Hill
after = Sir Edward Malet