Years of service 1914–1953 Name Edgar McCloughry | Rank Air vice-marshal | |
Allegiance Australia
United Kingdom Commands held No. 38 Group
No. 18 Group
Allied Expeditionary Air Force Bombing Committee
No. 44 Group
No. 4 Squadron Battles/wars First World War
Western Front
Second World War
Operation Overlord Awards Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar
Mentioned in Despatches (3) Relations Wilfred McClaughry (brother) Died November 15, 1972, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Books Defense: Policy and Strategy, The Direction of War: A Critique of the Political Direction and High Command in War Battles and wars Western Front, World War II, Operation Overlord Service/branch First Australian Imperial Force, Australian Flying Corps, Royal Air Force | ||
Air Vice Marshal Edgar James Kingston-McCloughry, (10 September 1896 – 15 November 1972), born Edgar James McCloughry, was an Australian fighter pilot and flying ace of the First World War, and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He shot down 21 aircraft and military balloons during the former war, making him the 6th highest-scoring Australian ace. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar as well as being Mentioned in Despatches.
McCloughry joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1914, and served as a military engineer in Egypt and France before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in December 1916. He graduated from flying training in August 1917 and was posted to 23 Squadron RFC on the Western Front. He was seriously injured in a crash shortly thereafter and, after recovering in hospital, was reassigned as a flight instructor. He was reassigned again in the summer of 1918 to the Australian Flying Corps (AFC). He scored most of his victories there in the last few months of the war.
McCloughry left the AFC in August 1919 and pursued a career as an engineer in the United Kingdom before joining the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1922. He served there in a strategy-planning capacity through the Second World War. In 1940, under the influence of Lord Beaverbrook, he circulated a series of anonymous memos which were highly critical of senior RAF figures; in response, he was posted to South Africa, but the fallout continued and by the end of the year the Chief of the Air Staff and several other commanders had been replaced.
He retired from the RAF in 1953 as an air vice marshal, and died in 1972 in Edinburgh.