Allegiance United Kingdom Role RAF officer Years of service 1930–1971 Battles and wars World War II | Battles/wars World War II Name David Lee Rank Air chief marshal | |
Commands held Air Member for PersonnelAir Forces Middle EastRAF ScamptonNo. 904 Wing Books Flight from the Middle East, Wings in the sun Awards Order of the British Empire, Order of the Bath | ||
Air Chief Marshal Sir David John Pryer Lee, (4 September 1912 – 13 February 2004) was a Royal Air Force officer during the Second World War and a senior commander in the 1950s and early 1960s.
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RAF career
Educated at Bedford School, Lee joined the Royal Air Force in 1930. He served in the Second World War as a pilot with No. 61 Squadron and then with No. 106 Squadron before becoming Deputy Director of Plans at the Air Ministry. He completed his war service as Officer Commanding No. 904 Wing in the Dutch East Indies where he was responsible for repatriating prisoners of war.
After the War he joined the Directing Staff at the RAF Staff College, Bracknell, and was then was appointed Deputy Director, Policy at the Air Ministry before becoming Station Commander at RAF Scampton in 1953. He went on to be Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1956, Air Officer Commanding Air Forces Middle East in 1959 and Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Bracknell in 1962. He last appointments were as Air Member for Personnel in 1965 and UK Military Representative to NATO in 1968 before retiring in 1971.
Family
In 1938 he married Denise Hartoch; they had a son and a daughter.
Books
Lee wrote three official histories of the RAF overseas:
He also wrote two accounts of his own time in the RAF: