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Sir Roy Austen-Smith
Born 28 June 1924
Allegiance Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Ensign of the Royal Air Force Royal Air Force
Years of service 1943 - 1981
Rank Air Marshal
Commands held No. 73 Squadron RAF
No. 57 Squadron RAF
RAF Wattisham
Royal Air Force College Cranwell
British Forces Cyprus
Battles/wars World War II
Malayan Emergency
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Marshal Sir Roy David Austen-Smith KBE, CB, CVO, DFC (born 28 June 1924) is a former Royal Air Force officer who served as Commander of British Forces Cyprus.

RAF career[]

Educated at Hurstpierpoint College, Austen-Smith joined the Royal Air Force in 1943 during the Second World War.[1] After serving with No. 33 Squadron RAF in Malaya in the early 1950s, he became Officer Commanding No. 73 Squadron RAF in 1956 and Officer Commanding No. 57 Squadron RAF in 1964.[1] He went on to be Station Commander at RAF Wattisham in 1968, Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1972 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Near East Air Force in 1975.[1] After that he became Commander of British Forces Cyprus and Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas in 1976[2] and Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C. in 1978 before retiring in 1981.[3]

In retirement Austen-Smith served as a Gentlemen Usher to the Queen.[1]

References[]

Military offices
Preceded by
John Aiken
Commander British Forces Cyprus
1976–1978
Succeeded by
Reynell Taylor
Preceded by
Sir Rollo Pain
Head of the British Defence Staff in Washington, D.C.
1978–1981
Succeeded by
Anthony Boam
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Roy Austen-Smith and the edit history here.
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