Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Edward Embry, (28 February 1902 – 7 December 1977) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1949 to 1953.
Early life and career
Basil Embry was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1902 and as a young boy at Bromsgrove School he developed an avid interest in aviation. In 1921 he joined the Royal Air Force with a short service commission as an Acting Pilot Officer. In 1922 he was sent to Mandatory Iraq, serving under future Air Marshals Arthur Harris and Robert Saundby. By 1926 Embry's enthusiasm, professional application, boundless energy and flair for the unconventional had put him on the fast track for promotion within the RAF, and he was rewarded with the Air Force Cross in that year's New Year Honours, and appointment to a permanent commission.
Promoted to flight lieutenant, Embry returned to Britain in 1927 and soon became an instructor at the Central Flying School, Uxbridge.
In 1934 he was posted to India to serve in the Indian Wing on the North West Frontier. He was promoted Squadron Leader in 1935, and served in the Second Mohmand Campaign of 1935. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for operations in Waziristan in 1938. He was further promoted in 1938 to wing commander. After five years' service he returned to Britain in 1939. On the outbreak of the Second World War Embry was Commanding Officer of No. 107 Squadron flying the Bristol Blenheim bomber.
Second World War
The energetic Embry led his squadron from the front, and he saw extensive action during the campaigns in Norway and France, often in the face of heavy losses and overwhelming opposition. On 25 September 1939 Embry led a 3-plane formation on a reconnaissance sortie into Germany. Intercepted by German fighters, Embry's aircraft suffered serious damage to wings and fuselage and he carried out a one-wheel forced landing on returning to RAF Wattisham in Suffolk. Throughout the remainder of 1939 and into early 1940 the unit made numerous attacks by day and night on a variety of targets, including U-boats.
On 6 April 1940 RAF photo-reconnaissance revealed that a German naval force, including the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, was at anchor off Wilhelmshaven. Embry and his 107 Squadron crews were soon involved in a series of attacks on these ships.
With the German invasion of Norway, 107 Squadron were detached to Scotland, and there carried out ten raids in just eight days on Stavanger and airfields in the area, often in treacherous weather conditions. Embry suffered from frostbite during this time. In April 1940 Embry was awarded a bar to his DSO.
The German invasion of France and the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940 and Embry's Squadron flew intensively against the German advance, each crew flying two or three sorties daily across the English Channel to France. His leadership and personal gallantry resulted in the award of a second bar to his DSO. On 12 May he led No. 107 Squadron and No. 110 Squadron RAF in an attack on two heavily defended bridges across the Albert Canal at Maastricht; the formation was savaged by ground fire and intercepted by numerous Messerschmitt fighters, losing seven Bristol Blenheims from the original force of 24. Two No. 107 Squadron aircraft crash-landed at Wattisham, and every surviving Blenheim had suffered some damage.
Due to the tremendous pressure of his operational flying in recent months Embry was then ordered to take an operational 'rest' and was given command of RAF West Raynham, with a promotion to group captain. He was to fly one more sortie before relinquishing command. On 27 May 1940, Embry was shot down from by anti-aircraft fire over Saint-Omer during a low-level bombing mission against advancing German Army columns. His aircraft crashed at Eperlecques. Of his crew, observer Pilot Officer T. A. Whiting was made prisoner while Air Gunner Corporal G. E. Long was killed.
Captured by the German Army, Embry was being marched away in a column of Allied prisoners when he saw a road sign "Embry, 3 km." Taking this as a good omen, he rolled down a bank unnoticed by the column's guards and made his escape. He successfully evaded recapture for two months in occupied France before eventually getting back to England via Spain and Gibraltar. His adventures while on the run are detailed in the book Wingless Victory by Anthony Richardson and originally published in 1950.