Air Marshal Sir Roy Austen-smith
Pilot who flew Spitfires over Germany and led sorties against communist terrorists in Malaya
AIR MARSHAL SIR ROY AUSTEN-SMITH, who has died aged 96, flew on operations during the final weeks of the war in Europe, saw action in Malaya and later held senior appointments overseas.
He trained as a pilot in Canada, and in March 1945 joined 41 Squadron based at Eindhoven flying the Spitfire XIV. For the next six weeks he flew almost every day on armed reconnaissance sorties and fighter sweeps into Germany.
The squadron moved frequently and was near Hanover by mid-april. On March 2, during a patrol over Schwerin airfield, he shot down a Fiesler Storch and damaged a second.
At 6.20 on the morning of May 5, a formation of six Spitfires, including Austen-smith, took off to patrol between Hamburg and Lubeck. They had nothing to report and landed at 8am as the cessation of hostilities in North-west Europe came into effect.
Within days, the squadron flew to Copenhagen to take part in the Victory Day celebrations later in the month before moving to the former Luftwaffe airfield at Lubeck. Austen-smith remained with the squadron until the end of March 1946.
After a staff tour, he returned to flying duties and in 1950 joined 33 Squadron as a flight commander at Butterworth near Penang. The squadron, the last to operate the Tempest, was heavily engaged in the Malayan Emergency mounting ground attack sorties against the communist terrorists (CT). In March 1951 the squadron converted to the twin-engine Hornet, a derivative of the Mosquito.
Austen-smith led many sorties armed with bombs, rockets and cannons. Infantry regiments called up the airborne Hornets to mount strikes to hit CT camps, and also to flush out the terrorists from the jungle to allow Army patrols to ambush them. After a strike in Perak, the ground force commander thanked him for his “phenomenally accurate” strike.
Austen-smith had an unusually long period on operations, and when he left the squadron in June 1953, the squadron record book commented: ”During his extended and noteworthy tour, Flight Lieutenant RD A-smith obtained a wife, a son and a Distinguished Flying Cross.” His DFC, for “gallant and distinguished service in Malaya”, was announced in March 1953.
Roy David Austen-smith was born on June 28 1924 in Melbourne, two years after his parents emigrated to Australia. Ten years later the family returned to England, where his father managed the family fruit farm in Kent. Roy was educated at Hurstpierpoint College and joined the RAF in 1942, spending a year at St Andrews University.
After returning from Malaya, he served as a squadron commander in the cadet wing at the RAF College Cranwell. In 1956, following a jet conversion course, he assumed command of 73 Squadron in Cyprus. Initially, the squadron flew the single-seat Venom fighter-bomber before converting to the Canberra medium bomber in March 1957. With the creation of the Baghdad Pact, and the aftermath of the Suez affair, tensions rose in the Middle East, and Austen-smith and his crews deployed frequently to airfields in the region.
After an appointment in the MOD and attendance at the Joint Services Staff College Course, Austen-smith returned to flying duties in 1964. He assumed command of a Victor bomber squadron, No 57, based at Honington in Suffolk, which formed part of the UK’S strategic nuclear deterrent force with some aircraft maintained at a high readiness state.
His squadron also made regular deployments overseas, and Austensmith led a detachment to Tengah in Singapore during the Indonesian Confrontation. In 1966 he left for Germany, where he served in the operational plans division of the Second Allied Tactical Air Force based at Rheindahlen, near Monchengladbach, where officers of the Belgian, German and Netherlands Air Forces, together with RAF officers, were on his staff.
On return from Germany in 1968 he took command of RAF Wattisham in Suffolk, the home of two Lightning squadrons providing air defence for the UK. One of his squadron commanders described him as: “The perfect example of gentlemanly behaviour. No matter whether dealing with his superiors, or subordinates, he carried an air of affability and commanded complete respect.”
In 1970 he served at the MOD as the Director of Personnel (Air), responsible for the postings and career management of aircrew officers. In September 1972 he become the Air Officer Commanding and Commandant of the RAF College Cranwell.
His arrival coincided with a series of major reorganisations. The flight cadet entry system, which had served the RAF so well for 53 years, was being gradually replaced by a graduate entry scheme. On March 16 1973, Austensmith presided over the passing out parade of No 101 Entry, the last of the flight cadet entries. The RAF College of Air Warfare at RAF Manby closed and the Department of Air Warfare was established at Cranwell.
The HQ of the University Air Squadrons also arrived, and Austensmith took the opportunity to attend the annual dinners at all 15 squadrons and to meet the university vice-chancellors and student pilots. Throughout this time, the flying training school, based on two airfields, continued to train pilots, and Austensmith flew the Jet Provost when time allowed. Personable and popular, he and his wife were generous hosts to local dignitaries.
In November 1975 Austen-smith was appointed senior air staff officer of the Near Air Force (NEAF) in Cyprus. In July 1974, Turkey had invaded the north, resulting in the partition of the island and the withdrawal of the resident RAF squadrons, leaving only a helicopter squadron at Akrotiri. The base, however, remained a key staging post and airhead for operations in the region, with fighter squadrons also deploying on a regular basis for tactical and armament training.
With the disbandment of NEAF in April 1976, Austen-smith became Commander of British Forces Cyprus and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAS). The sensitivities following the partition of the island still prevailed and the resident United Nations Peacekeeping Force was expanded to supervise the 180-mile ceasefire line and the buffer zone between the Turkish Cypriot zone in the north and the Greek Cypriot forces in the south.
While Austen-smith was very familiar with the military and operational aspects of his appointment, the complex political situation on the divided island presented very different issues, requiring all his diplomatic skills and tact in the delicate negotiations with international and local parties. “It was a difficult but very interesting time,” he recalled.
After leaving Cyprus in the summer of 1978, Austen-smith headed for Washington to become Defence Attaché and head of the British Defence Staff, a post he held for three years before retiring in November 1981 after 38 years’ service, 15 of which were spent overseas.
Austen-smith was appointed CB in 1975 and KBE in 1979. In 1994 he was made a Gentleman Usher to the Queen, a post he held for 12 years until 1994, when he was appointed CVO. After leaving the RAF, he worked as a consultant for the US aerospace company Boeing.
Austen-smith was a fine rugby player, turning out for Harlequins, the RAF and Combined Services. During his service in Malaya he appeared for the Combined Forces Malaya and for the RAF, on one occasion flying to Saigon, where the RAF beat the French air force.
He retired to Wiveton in Norfolk, where he enjoyed playing golf and supporting the local RAFA branch in Sheringham. He served as the treasurer for Wiveton Church for a number of years.
Roy Austen-smith married Ann Alderson in Singapore in 1951. She and their two sons survive him.