Alec Coryton

Air Chief Marshal Sir William Alec Coryton, KCB, KBE, MVO, DFC (16 February 1895 – 20 October 1981), known as Alec Coryton, was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) commander in the Second World War. He was considered by his peers as one of the RAF's most capable group commanders.[1][2]

Sir William Alec Coryton
Air Commodore Coryton c. 1940
Born(1895-02-16)16 February 1895
Pentillie, Pillaton
Died20 October 1981(1981-10-20) (aged 86)
Langton Matravers
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Army (1914–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–51)
Years of service1914–1951
RankAir Chief Marshal
Commands heldAHQ Burma (1945)
Third Tactical Air Force (1944)
No. 5 Group (1942–43)
No. 16 Squadron (1925–28)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Member of the Royal Victorian Order
Distinguished Flying Cross
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (France)
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)

Early life and First World War

Coryton was born at Pentillie Castle in Cornwall on 16 February 1895.[1] He was commissioned as an officer in the British Army's Rifle Brigade (Special Reserve) during the First World War. In 1918 he was transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RAF) as a lieutenant. When the RFC became the Royal Air Force, he resigned his army commission and became an officer of the Royal Air Force.

RAF career

From 1925 to 1928, Coryton was Officer Commanding 16 Squadron, based at Old Sarum, Wiltshire, operating the Bristol F.2 Fighter in the tactical reconnaissance role.

In 1938 Coryton was made Director of Operations (Overseas) at the Air Ministry.[1] He held this post until April 1942, when he was assigned Air Officer Commanding No. 5 Group RAF. While there he presided over the introduction of the Avro Lancaster into service.[1] In February 1943 Coryton was relieved and replaced by Ralph Cochrane. Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett asserted that Coryton was sacked by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris for refusing to send a force of 24 of his Lancasters in poor weather conditions on a sneak raid to Berlin.[1][2] Coryton was moved to the Air Staff at the Air Ministry, where he served as Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations). On 25 August 1944 Coryton was made Commander, RAF Third Tactical Air Force.

On 4 December 1944 Coryton was made Commander, RAF in Bengal & Burma. Ten days later he was made Assistant Air Commander, Eastern Air Command, a position he held until May 1945.

Coryton retired from the RAF in 1951. He died on 20 October 1981 at Langton Matravers, Dorset.[1]

gollark: Using my patented ***ALGORITHM*** of basic statistics and wild guessing™.
gollark: That's basically what I said (the extra volume of halloween stuff mucks up the ratios).
gollark: Any opinions on my theory of what's going on with the pricing? Basically, I said that if extra dragons are introduced to the total but not the rest of the system (golds, whatever else), then rarer stuff's ratios will be affected more than common stuff, so the gold pricing goes crazy and nebulae stay the same.
gollark: 3.
gollark: My theory of what's up, copied from the forum thread:If many new eggs are being introduced to the system, then that will most affect the stuff which is rarest, by making it rarer by comparison, but commons will stay the same. As for why it happened now? Weekly updates, possibly.Example:Imagine there are 200 dragons, 5 of which are golds.The ratio of golds to total dragons is now 5:200 = 1:40. If the target ratio is 1:50 then prices will be higher to compensate.Now imagine there are an extra 200 dragons added, none of which are golds.The ratio would then be 5:400 = 1:80. Then, assuming the same target, prices will drop.This is of course simplified, and the ratios may not work like this, but this matches observed behavior pretty well.

References

  1. "Bomber Command Commanders of World War II". Bomber Command. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. "Bennett, Donald Clifford Tyndall, (Oral history)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
Military offices
Preceded by
John Slessor
Air Officer Commanding No. 5 Group
1942–1943
Succeeded by
Ralph Cochrane
Preceded by
Jack Baldwin
Air Officer Commanding Third Tactical Air Force
Post downgraded to AOC HQ RAF Bengal and Burma on 4 December 1944
Post renamed AOC HQ RAF Burma on 1 June 1945

1944–1947
Post disestablished
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