32 Facts About Wilfrid Oulton

Wilfrid Oulton was in charge of the British nuclear tests of hydrogen bombs in the Pacific Ocean in Operation Grapple in 1957.

Wilfrid Ewart Oulton was born in Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, on 27 July 1911, the first of eight children of Llewellin Oulton, a schoolteacher.

Wilfrid Oulton was educated at Abertillery County School, where his father was the chemistry teacher.

Wilfrid Oulton was awarded a scholarship to University College, Cardiff, where he studied engineering, but in 1929 he entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.

Wilfrid Oulton represented the RAF College at boxing and was awarded the Abdy Gerrard Fellowes Memorial Prize.

Wilfrid Oulton trained as a pilot at No 3 Flying Training School, and then as a flying boat pilot at RAF Calshot.

Wilfrid Oulton was posted to No 202 Squadron in Malta on 19 August 1932; he was promoted to flying officer on 25 January 1933.

Wilfrid Oulton joined the staff of RAF Hal Far on 29 November 1933, and married Sarah Davies in Malta in 1935.

Wilfrid Oulton returned to the United Kingdom as a student at the Air Navigation School on 17 March 1936, and became an instructor at the school on 11 November 1936.

Wilfrid Oulton was promoted to squadron leader on 1 December 1938.

Wilfrid Oulton was mentioned in despatches on 20 February 1940.

Wilfrid Oulton was promoted to wing commander on 1 March 1941, and sent to Washington, DC, to organise training in North America for RAF navigators.

In October 1943, Wilfrid Oulton became commander of RAF Lajes, a newly established base in the Portuguese Azores.

Wilfrid Oulton was promoted to group captain on 1 January 1944, and became commander of the flying boat base at RAF Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland.

Wilfrid Oulton was mentioned in despatches a second time on 2 June 1944.

In March 1945, Wilfrid Oulton was appointed deputy director of maritime operations in Northern Ireland.

Wilfrid Oulton was mentioned in despatches a third time on 8 June 1945.

In 1946, Wilfrid Oulton became the director of the Joint Anti-Submarine School at RAF Ballykelly in Northern Ireland.

Wilfrid Oulton joined the faculty of the Joint Services Staff College in 1948, and was promoted to group captain again on 1 Jan 1949.

Wilfrid Oulton was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1953 Coronation Honours.

Wilfrid Oulton attended the Imperial Defence College in 1954, and joined the directorate of staff training before becoming director of operations.

Wilfrid Oulton was promoted to air commodore on 1 January 1955.

Wilfrid Oulton was appointed TFC on 6 February 1956, with the acting rank of air vice-marshal from 1 March 1956.

Wilfrid Oulton was promoted to the substantive rank of air vice-marshal on 1 January 1958, and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1958 New Year Honours.

Wilfrid Oulton's final posting was on 21 April 1958, as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Coastal Command at RAF Northwood.

Wilfrid Oulton retired from the RAF at his own request on 1 January 1961.

Wilfrid Oulton joined the board of EMI Electronics, where he oversaw the company's military programmes, and forged a business partnership with Hughes Electronics in the United States.

Wilfrid Oulton was an honorary fellow of Cardiff University, and a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and of the Institute of Electronic and Radio Engineers.

Wilfrid Oulton was a member of the Royal Institute of Navigation Council from 1962 to 1965, and was its Vice President in 1965.

Wilfrid Oulton wrote two books, Christmas Island Cracker, about his experiences in Operation Grapple, and Technocrat, a biography of the American nuclear scientist Allen Crocker.

Wilfrid Oulton died of bladder cancer and prostate cancer at Lymington, Hampshire, on 31 October 1997.

Wilfrid Oulton's remains were cremated, and his ashes scattered over the Bay of Biscay by an aircraft of No 206 Squadron.