1. John Slessor went on to serve in the RAF's most senior post, Chief of the Air Staff, in the early 1950s, and was considered a strong proponent of strategic bombing and the nuclear deterrent.
39 Facts About John Slessor
1. 2.
John Slessor was appointed to the Special Reserve as a flying officer on 9 September 1915, and confirmed in his rank of second lieutenant on 28 September.
3.
John Slessor saw action with No 17 Squadron in Egypt and the Sudan, where he was credited with arresting the escape of Sultan Ali Dinar and 2,000 men on 23 May 1916, following the Sultan's defeat at Beringia.
4.
John Slessor was promoted to the temporary rank of captain on 1 December 1916.
5.
John Slessor transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force in April 1918 and, having been promoted to the temporary rank of major on 3 July 1918, was posted to the Central Flying School at Upavon as an instructor on 14 July 1918.
6.
John Slessor joined the staff at the Directorate of Training and Staff Duties in the Air Ministry in February 1923.
7.
John Slessor attended the RAF Staff College, Andover, in 1924, and was promoted squadron leader on 1 January 1925.
8.
John Slessor commanded No 4 Squadron, which flew Bristol Fighters out of RAF Farnborough, from April 1925 to October 1928, when he joined the air planning staff at the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence at the Air Ministry.
9.
John Slessor attended the Staff College, Camberley, in 1931, and was appointed RAF Directing Staff Officer there in January 1932.
10.
John Slessor was promoted acting wing commander on 1 January 1932.
11.
John Slessor became Officer Commanding No 3 Wing at Quetta in March 1935, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for operations in Waziristan between 25 November 1936 and 16 January 1937.
12.
In 1936, John Slessor published Air Power and Armies, an examination of the use of air power against targets on and behind the battlefield.
13.
John Slessor did acknowledge the limitations of his theory, stating:.
14.
On 17 May 1937, following his posting to India, John Slessor was promoted acting group captain, and appointed deputy director of Plans at the Air Ministry.
15.
John Slessor was promoted to substantive group captain on 1 July 1937.
16.
John Slessor was appointed Air Aide-de-Camp to the King on 1 January 1939.
17.
John Slessor was promoted air commodore on 1 September 1939, and was succeeded as Air Aide-de-Camp by Group Captain Ralph Cochrane.
18.
John Slessor was closely involved in planning the combined Allied air offensive in Europe.
19.
John Slessor's assigned personal pilot was Flight Lieutenant Owen Phillipps DFC, an Australian from No 14 Squadron RAF and a distinguished veteran of the Mediterranean conflict.
20.
John Slessor was credited with doing much to turn the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic in the Allies' favour by employing his thinly stretched long-range bomber force against the U-boat threat, in close cooperation with naval forces.
21.
John Slessor became Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East in January 1944, and deputy to Lieutenant General Ira Eaker as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces.
22.
John Slessor joined the Air Council as Air Member for Personnel on 5 April 1945.
23.
John Slessor was awarded the Grand Cross of the Greek Order of the Phoenix on 6 September 1946.
24.
John Slessor was promoted air chief marshal on 1 January 1946.
25.
John Slessor continued to serve as Air Member for Personnel, responsible for overseeing the demobilisation of the wartime RAF, until 1 October 1947.
26.
At the urging of the-then Chief of the Air Staff, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Tedder, John Slessor succeeded General Sir William Slim as Commandant of the Imperial Defence College.
27.
John Slessor had been dubious about accepting the position, and sought assurances from Tedder that he would be next in line for the post of Chief of the Air Staff, particularly in light of Tedder's preference for Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane to succeed him.
28.
Meanwhile, John Slessor was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 10 June 1948, and became Principal Air Aide-de-Camp to the King on 1 July.
29.
John Slessor was promoted Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 8 June 1950.
30.
John Slessor eventually selected Air Marshal Donald Hardman as the "outstanding candidate" for the Australian post, trying to avoid what he called "the follies of some years ago", referring to Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett's controversial tenure as Chief of the Air Staff in Australia on secondment from Britain in the early years of the Second World War.
31.
John Slessor played a key role in promoting nuclear weapons as an effective instrument of deterrence in early Cold War British strategy.
32.
John Slessor believed it unlikely that the United Kingdom would be able to meet a communist offensive without resorting to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.
33.
John Slessor became one of the key propagandists of the "Great Deterrent" on both sides of the Atlantic.
34.
John Slessor attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953.
35.
John Slessor served as Honorary Air Commodore of No 3 Maritime Headquarters Unit, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, from 23 May 1963 to 5 May 1969.
36.
On 24 March 1965, John Slessor was appointed Sheriff of Somerset for the following year.
37.
John Slessor was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset in April 1969.
38.
John Slessor was a director of Blackburn Aircraft and governor of several schools.
39.
John Slessor died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Wroughton, in Wiltshire on 12 July 1979.