Finlay Crerar: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=AprilFebruary 20122021}}

|battles= [[Second World War II]]

|awards= [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]]

On 15 June 1937 Crerar was granted an Auxiliary Air Force commission in the immediate rank of [[Squadronsquadron Leaderleader]] and was appointed as the first Officerofficer Commandingcommanding of No. 612 (County of Aberdeen) Squadron Auxiliary Air Force. In November 1939 he was promoted to [[Wing Commander (rank)|Actingacting Wingwing Commandercommander]] and appointed as Stationstation Commandercommander of [[RAF Dyce]]. His status was amended to [[Wing Commander (rank)|Temporarytemporary Wingwing Commandercommander]] on 1 September 1940. On 17 February 1942 he was appointed as the Operationsoperations Officerofficer at Headquarters Maintenance Command RAF, where he would later be promoted to [[Groupgroup Captaincaptain]].<ref name=air>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Crerar_F.htm|title=Air Commodore F Crerar|publisher=Air of Authority -– A History of RAF Organisation|accessdate=7 June 2015}}</ref>

Crerar was promoted to [[Airair Commodorecommodore]] and appointed Commandantcommandant of the Royal Observer Corps on 23 June 1943<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Organsation/Grp09.htm|title=Units directly responsible to Ministry level|work=rafweb.org|accessdate=7 June 2015}}</ref> when his predecessor, [[Geoffrey Ambler|Air Commodore [[Geoffrey Ambler]] moved across the road at [[RAF Bentley Priory]] to [[RAF Fighter Command]] as Deputydeputy Seniorsenior Airair Staffstaff Officerofficer (DSASO). Crerar immediately generated controversy within the ROC when his first decision was to make retirement at age fifty mandatory for all centre personnel, including the duty officers. No similar changes were to be applied to post personnel, many of whom were already in their 70s and even 80s. The furore rumbled on for the next few years, but the new policy was to remain extant until after the end of the [[Second World War]]. Crerar's vision of a younger, fitter and more flexible centre workforce became the norm during hostilities, although many forcibly 'retired' centre personnel immediately re-enlisted on local posts.

During Crerar's command the ROC played a major part in combating the German hit-and-run raids on the south and south-east coasts of Great Britain. He ordered a large number of additional satellite spotter posts to be quickly constructed along the coast giving a more complete low -level coverage. This was vital as radar could not pick up all the low-flying aircraft deliberately under flying the radar beams. For the first time air raid warnings to most coastal towns were sounded directly from the ROC posts to speed up the advance notification of raids.

In November 1945 Crerar handed over command of the ROC to Air Commodore [[Percy Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon]] who was to oversee both the temporary stand down of the Corps in the immediate post war period and its rectivationreactivation for the [[Cold War]].

In November 1945 Crerar was appointed as the Inspectorinspector of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and in February 1952 he became [[Aide aide-de Camp-camp]] to [[King George VI|HRH King George VI]] just before the King’sKing's death. On 10 June 1952 he became Aide aide-de Camp-camp to [[Queen Elizabeth II|HRH Queen Elizabeth II]], an appointment he held until his retirement from the RAF in 1957.<ref name=air/>

On retirement in March 1957 Crerar accepted the appointments as Honoraryhonorary Airair Commodorecommodore with two Auxiliary Air Force squadrons, ''No. 612 (County of Aberdeen) Sqn RAuxAF'' and ''No. 2612 (County of Aberdeen) Field Sqn RAuxAF Regiment''. In January 1961 he also became Honoraryhonorary Airair Commodorecommodore for ''No. 3612 (County of Aberdeen) Fighter Control Unit, RAuxAF''.<ref name=air/>

* [http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Crerar_F.htm Air of Authority -– A History of RAF Organisation -– Air Commodore F Crerar]

{{s-bef|before=[[Geoffrey Ambler|G H Ambler]]}}

{{s-ttl|title=[[Commandant Royal Observer Corps]]|years=1943 &ndash; 19451943–1945}}

[[Category:Royal Air Force officersair commodores]]