Obituaries (1 Viewer)

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:salute: I have nothing but respect for the women in all countries who shrugged off the stereotypical role of the day and stood up against the Nazi regieme. :salute:
 
Air Vice-Marshal Aleksander Maisner, CB, CBE, Polish war veteran, was born on July 26, 1921. He died on December 21, 2008, aged 87
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Having survived the rigours of the Soviet Gulag system after being captured by the Russians in the wake of their invasion of Poland in September 1939, Aleksander Maisner was desperate to do his bit in the war. After a long odyssey, he reached England, joined the Air Force and learnt to fly. But he was just too late to get a combat posting before the war ended. He nevertheless became a fine pilot and went on to achieve higher rank in the RAF than any of his compatriots.

Aleksander Maisner was born in Hamburg of Polish parents in 1921. He was brought up in Poland, and went to school in Czestochowa, graduating in May 1939. The outbreak of war found him in Warsaw, where he was about to begin studies at the Polytechnic. He joined the Citizens' Guard and fought with it until the fall of Warsaw at the end of September 1939.

With the country overrun by the Germans and the Soviet Union, Maisner decided to make his way to France, where the Polish forces were re-forming. He was caught by the Russians while trying to cross the border into neutral Romania, and was sent to a labour camp in the far north of the Soviet Union, where he spent the next two years.

The German attack on Russia in June 1941 and the subsequent Polish-Soviet agreement brought an amnesty for the hundreds of thousands of Polish prisoners and the formation of a Polish army there under General Anders. Maisner joined this, and left the Soviet Union with it. He trained as an artillery officer in Iraq, but then volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was brought over to England in May 1943. He obtained his pilot's wings in November 1944 and from then until the end of the war served as a staff pilot at various navigator training schools.

When the Polish air force units were disbanded, he found himself in a quandary. He had not seen his family since September 1939, but he dared not return to communist-dominated Poland, so he settled in Britain.

The RAF were looking for officers, and Maisner was offered a permanent commission. He was posted to Transport Command, serving in various parts of the UK and overseas, and taking part in the Suez operation. Each of his flying assessments, on completion of his first two extended tours of duty, was marked "exceptional", and in 1955 he was awarded the Air Force Cross for distinguished service. He was not only a very fine pilot, but an inspiring instructor as well. Having been transferred to Bomber Command, he was involved in the introduction of versions of the Canberra and Vulcan. In 1960 he was sent on a tour of duty with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and was Officer Commanding Flying Wing, RNZAF Ohakea, where he introduced the Canberra B1-12 into service.

In 1962 Maisner went to the RAF Staff College at Andover, Hampshire, and in 1965 came his first tour of duty at the Ministry of Defence. As Deputy Director of Air Staff Plans, he was involved in planning the contraction of the RAF presence overseas. In this connection came a posting as Officer Commanding RAF Seletar in Singapore, which ended with the difficult task of closing it down and handing it over to the Singapore authorities.

On his return to Britain in 1969, Maisner was appointed CBE, and appointed Assistant Commandant (training) at RAF College Cranwell. His arrival there coincided with the introduction of the RAF Graduate Entry Scheme, and Prince Charles was one of his students. Maisner's combination of a quiet and gentle manner with a very strong character made him a good teacher and manager of men. He spent his last four years in the service back at the Ministry of Defence in a succession of senior personnel posts, culminating in that of Director General of RAF Personnel Management, responsible for the careers of some 20,000 officers and 65,000 other ranks.

In the year of his retirement from the RAF in 1977, Maisner was appointed CB. He took up a post at Reed International as personnel executive responsible for management development, succession planning and career counselling. In 1982 he became director of the Industry and Parliament Trust, an organisation devoted to increasing understanding between industry and MPs, which provided a fascinating challenge for the last four years of his working life. He was also an active president of the Polish Air Force Association.

After the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War he received a number of decorations from a new, democratic Government of his native country. These were the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1990; the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit (Poland) in 1992; and the Order of Merit with Star (Poland) in 1998.

source: Times Online
 

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William Stone- British WWI veteran dies aged 108 :salute:

One of only four surviving British veterans of World War I has died at the age of 108.

William Stone, from Watlington in Oxfordshire, was the last British serviceman to have seen active duty in both world wars.

Mr Stone, who was known as Bill, joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday in September 1918 and served on HMS Tiger.

In 2004 he was presented with the National Veterans' Badge. He died at a care home in Sindlesham, Berkshire.

Born in Ledstone, Kingsbridge, South Devon, on 23 September 1900, he followed his brothers into the navy, serving as a stoker.

During World War II he was a chief stoker on HMS Salamander and took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, making five trips to pick up troops from the beaches.

Mr Stone also served in the Sicily landings of 1943 with HMS Newfoundland and was mentioned in despatches after a torpedo attack as the ship made its way back to Malta.

In an interview with the BBC in 2007, Mr Stone said: "Dunkirk was the worst part of my life.

"One of our sister ships, Skipjack, was bombed, and 200 soldiers and all crew were killed.

"During our trips to Dunkirk, I was often stationed on the quarterdeck helping men get aboard Salamander as they swam out from the beach.

"Those were awful days but one just carried on as if nothing had happened - there was nothing else that you could do."

Mr Stone married Lily in 1938 and their daughter Anne was born the year after.

He went on to run a tobacconist and hairdressing shop in Devon, retiring in 1968 to move to Oxfordshire.

Mrs Stone died in 1995.

In a statement, Mr Stone's daughter said: "[He] had a remarkable, long, healthy and happy life.

"He thoroughly enjoyed going to events, meeting people and, whenever possible, regaling those around him with his fund of naval stories and jokes.

"He was a very determined character both in his naval career and in civilian life and, no doubt, this contributed greatly to his longevity.

"He was a man of great faith and his recipe for long life was: clean living, contented mind and trust in God. His motto - 'keep going'.

"William will be sadly missed by his family and many friends".

The other known remaining British veterans of World War I are 112-year-old Henry Allingham and 110-year-old Harry Patch, who both live in Britain, and 107-year-old Claude Choules who lives in Australia.

Minister for Veterans Kevan Jones MP paid tribute to Mr Stone.

"We owe a great deal to the men and women who served this country with such distinction during those wars to protect our liberty," he said.

"[Mr Stone] was a man who represented the courage, spirit and determination of his generation. He was an inspiration to us all."

Mr Stone died on Saturday at the Masonic Care Home at Sindlesham near Wokingham, where he lived for the past two years.

A funeral will be held later in the month at St Leonard's Church in Watlington.

source: BBC News
 
January 16, 2009

Vice-Admiral Sir David Clutterbuck

David Clutterbuck's naval career included front-line service throughout the whole of the Second World War, and he took part in several of its significant battles.

His career began at the hard school of the training ship Conway, moored in the Mersey primarily for the education of young Merchant Navy officers. On graduation, he was awarded the King's Gold Medal and won the Torr Prize. Promoted to midshipman in January 1931, he served in the cruiser Sussex in the Mediterranean and, after the normal progression of courses, examinations and promotions, was appointed as a watchkeeping lieutenant in the cruiser Dunedin in the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Defying the dictum that early promotion depended upon "paying attention to detail and marrying late", Clutterbuck, below the age of entitlement to "marriage allowance", met his wife Rose Mere Vaile in Auckland and they were married in London in 1937.

After commanding a motor torpedo boat at Portsmouth, he qualified as a specialist navigator and was appointed to the sloop Deptford based at Bombay on the East Indies station, arriving in March 1939. When war broke out, Deptford was recalled and deployed from January 1940 to Liverpool for the defence of Atlantic convoys in the Western Approaches.

Clutterbuck joined the light cruiser Ajax as the navigating officer in May 1940, the ship having been repaired after the close-fought victory over the pocket battleship Graf Spee at the River Plate. In the Mediterranean, Ajax was first engaged with the Italian navy in October when, surprised at night by three torpedo boats, she suffered damage and 35 casualties including 13 killed, her defensive fire sinking two of the opposition. Four Italian destroyers arrived on the scene, Ajax so damaging the Artigliere and Aviere that Artigliere later sank. The C-in-C, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham was full of praise for Ajax's resolution and skill, "as this was the first night action by a newly-commissioned ship".

Ajax then took part in virtually all the major engagements of the Eastern Mediterranean, escorting several convoys to beleaguered Malta, bombarding shore targets at Tobruk, Bardia and Benghazi, landing and then evacuating troops from Greece, including Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg, VC, commander of the New Zealand Division.

The cruiser fought fierce night actions against Italian convoys and during the German seaborne invasion of Crete. In March 1941 her radar was useful in Cunningham's famous night victory off Cape Matapan which resulted in the sinking of three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers. She escorted the important "Tiger" convoy of May 1941 to Alexandria with tanks for the Middle East. Ajax was twice damaged by near-misses from the Luftwaffe at the end of May during the inevitable evacuation of Crete, an operation which in Cunningham's words was "a disastrous period in our naval history" with a terrible toll of sinkings, damage and casualties. But the rescue of 18,000 British and Imperial troops prompted him to remark that it only took two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition.

At one point Ajax was one of only two serviceable light cruisers in the theatre. She was withdrawn for a well-earned refit at Chatham, arriving in June 1942.

There was little rest for Clutterbuck, however, who, now a lieutenant-commande r, was appointed in October as the navigating officer of the new heavy cruiser Newfoundland. On completion of trials and work-ups, she was deployed in February 1943 to the Mediterranean, where the tide had definitely turned.

Her actions included the bombardment and landings on the island of Pantelleria and the subsequent invasion of Sicily that involved several attacks on towns and coastal installations. Clutterbuck was awarded a mention in despatches for his contribution.

While on passage in July she was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Ascianghi, causing her to have to make for the United States and repairs in the Boston Navy Yard, steering all the way on main engines as her rudders were unusable.

Newfoundland emerged in February 1944 and, having returned to Britain for radar updates, proceeded to the eastern Mediterranean and eventually to Sydney as part of the British Pacific Fleet. Thereafter, awed by the immense size, professionalism and logistic expertise of the US Navy, he assisted in the capture of New Guinea by the Australians in May 1945, the pre-invasion bombardment of Truk and, finally, bombardments of the Japanese mainland of Honshu, Tokyo and Yokohama.

After the dropping of the two atom bombs, he was present at the signing of the Japanese instrument of surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Newfoundland was then employed collecting and succouring prisoners of war. Clutterbuck was awarded a second mention in dispatches.

Promoted to commander, he commanded the modern Battle-class destroyers Sluys and Cadiz. As a captain, he was appointed naval attaché in Bonn in 1954 and also commanded the 3rd Training Squadron in HMS Zest, based at Londonderry. His final sea command, from 1960 to 1962, was the newly commissioned cruiser Blake with its fully automatic 6in and 3in gunnery armament, the last conventional cruiser to be built for the Royal Navy.

Blake was the flagship of the admiral commanding the Mediterranean flotillas, and a contemporary remarked on Clutterbuck's sharp intellect, his high standards and his solid but unostentatious professional self-confidence. His courtesy and his gentle good humour made him easy company afloat and ashore. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1963, Clutterbuck was chief of staff to the C-in-C Home Fleet, which subsumed the Nato post of C-in-C Allied Forces Eastern Atlantic. He was appointed CB in 1965.

His final tour as a vice-admiral was deputy to the Nato Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic based in Norfolk, Virginia. As this American admiral was also C-in-C of the US Atlantic fleet, Clutterbuck's role was primarily to make sure that Nato interests, strategies and war plans — especially those of European nations — were not neglected. He was appointed KBE and retired in 1968.

He became the first director-general of the Association of Masters of Business Administration. He was noted as a talented watercolour painter and played the piano beautifully. In his youth he was tried for the navy rugby team. He skied, and sailed his boat, Starsight, annually until he was 85.

His wife, Mere, died on January 12. Their two daughters survive their parents.

Vice-Admiral Sir David Clutterbuck, KBE, CB, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, 1966-68, was born on January 25, 1913. He died on December 13, 2008, aged 95
 
Honolulu Advertiser
Sunday, February 1, 2009

By William Cole
Advertiser Columnist

Bruce Matheson, 87, member of famed WWII unit | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

The legends of the air from World War II have one fewer name on their rapidly dwindling rolls.

Retired Marine Brig. Gen. Bruce J. Matheson, who lived in Kailua, died on Thursday from a combination of lung cancer and a heart attack, his family said. He was 87.When he was sent to the South Pacific in 1943, Matheson was the youngest member of the famed "Black Sheep" squadron under the command of Maj. Greg Boyington — who was later awarded the Medal of Honor, and whose exploits inspired the 1970s TV show "Baa Baa Black Sheep."
On Oct. 17, 1943, Matheson shot down a Japanese Zero in the Solomon Islands. He was hit with shrapnel in his legs but was able to land his damaged F4U Corsair.
By the end of his second Black Sheep tour, Matheson had three confirmed kills and one-and-a-half "probable" kills, his family said. Matheson also confirmed Boyington's final aerial victory before Boyington was shot down.
The Black Sheep brought down 97 Japanese aircraft — 95 of which were fighters — and received a Presidential Unit Citation, said the Marine pilot's son, Scott Matheson.
Out of 51 in the squadron, only 10 are still alive, Scott Matheson said.
It's a similar story for other famous units of World War II.
When navigator Thomas Griffin made a visit to Hawai'i for the recent 67th anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, he did so as one of only nine surviving members of the "Doolittle Raiders."
The Raiders flew 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers off the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet to attack Japan.
The Black Sheep's Boyington, an ace with the Flying Tigers in China, pulled together unassigned pilots in the South Pacific to form Marine Fighter Squadron 214, or VMF-214.
Scott Matheson said his father didn't talk much about his combat exploits, but he did talk about and have respect for Boyington.
"He was quite a colorful figure and had lots of foibles," Matheson said of Boyington. "He drank heavily and he brawled, but he was an absolute terror in the sky. He was very, very proficient, and these guys loved him. He kept them alive. He taught them how to do it, and what to do."
Matheson said it was a misconception that Boyington was called "Pappy."
"That was something they put together after the war and the TV series," he said. "They called him Gramps or Skipper."
Bruce Matheson later flew night escort for Air Force bombers in an F3D Skyknight in Korea, and had about 400 missions flying Huey helicopters in Vietnam.
He received three Legions of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, more than 30 Air Medals and a Purple Heart.
He was stationed in Hawai'i in the early 1950s and late 1960s, and he and his wife, Mary Jo, bought a house here. After a 34-year Marine Corps career, Matheson sang with the Barbershop Society, the Honolulu Symphony Chorus and Hawai'i Opera Theater Chorus, and was vice president and treasurer of Windward Realty Inc.
For 25 years, Bruce Matheson ran and later walked the beach in Kailua, notching five miles a day. "He walked me into the ground," said Scott Matheson. " ... He was fit. He was tough — those Marines."
Scott Matheson said his father didn't want to have any funeral services. Bruce Matheson also is survived by his wife, Mary Jo, and another son, Kerry.
 

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