Fighter pilots are something of a ‘breed apart’, and Fred Rosier was certainly no exception to this. At the conclusion of hostilities in 1945, amongst those born within the British Isles many who had survived the war intact stayed in the Royal Air Force. Generally speaking, and perhaps not surprisingly, the majority and particularly those who had distinguished themselves during the war, would follow successful careers, either in the service, or in other chosen professions or industries.
Of those remaining in the service, at least twenty reached ‘Air’ rank, more than half of these receiving promotions beyond the rank of air vice-marshal. Indeed, two achieved the ultimate appointment as marshals of the Royal Air Force. Of this ‘elite’ group, four became air officers commanding (AOC) Fighter Command, and one of a similar position with Bomber Command. One of the former quartet was Sir Frederick Rosier.
Of this select group of twenty, twelve had joined the regular RAF in the years prior to the outbreak of war. Of the seven who had entered the service following the commencement of hostilities, no less than three had been serving with the Cambridge University Air Squadron, one was a member of the exclusive Auxiliary Air Force, and two had joined the Volunteer Reserve before September 1939. Only one was too young to have commenced any form of service before this date, but he had ‘history’, being the son of an air vice-marshal who had been a First World War fighter ‘ace’. Of this latter group, two commenced their service as sergeants, one of them, Neil Cameron, ultimately becoming one of the marshals of the RAF, and chief of the defence staff.
Against this background, it is particularly interesting to note Fred Rosier’s entry to the service in 1935. It needs to be remembered that at that time the United Kingdom – and England in particular – was considerably more ‘class conscious’ than it is today. All the rest of the dozen future leaders were the product of the public school system, or similar establishments in the Commonwealth; indeed, three were also products of the RAF College, Cranwell. Fred records how on commencing his training, he was the only state school pupil in his group. That he was accepted for training for a short service commission, and by his fellow officers, says much for his personality, probably considerably reinforced by his sporting prowess, not least on the rugby field.
Serving initially with one of Fighter Command’s most notable squadrons, he rapidly became a flight commander and an accomplished fighter pilot. Moving in these circles, he came increasingly to build a wide range of friends amongst the close-knit community of the command. One of the fascinating aspects of his account, to this reader at least, is the liberal ‘seasoning’ thereof with the well-known names of many of the pilots with whom he served.
His posting to form and command a new unit at the outbreak of war meant that he did not enter action as part of an established and well-practised ‘team’, as would have no doubt been the case had he still been with 43 Squadron in June 1940. Being shot down and quite badly burned so early in the war meant that he was effectively out of action during the months which followed, preventing his chance to become one of the ‘aces’ of the Battle of Britain.
The move to the active, but difficult, Western Desert theatre the following year rapidly provided opportunities for his leadership skills to be demonstrated to the full, resulting in he and his close friend, ‘Bing’ Cross becoming the operational leaders of the first two fighter wings of the Western Desert Air Force in time for Operation Crusader, the biggest British offensive of the war up to that time – November 1941.
The extent of the successful tactics and operations he and Cross developed and led despite their squadrons being equipped with aircraft of generally inferior performance to the opposition, resulted in the awards both received of the Distinguished Service Order in February 1942 at the end of the Crusader operation. At this time only four such awards had previously been made to fighter pilots of RAF, Middle East, since the outbreak of war there in June 1940. The experiences gained during that period rendered Fred an enthusiast for inter-service co-operation which he was able to develop to excellent effect during the rest of the war, accompanied by concurrent rapid promotion.
Whilst the section devoted to the war years may require some further background reading, it nonetheless has fascinating detail. Moreover, the latter part of the book dealing with his subsequent career I found to be most enjoyable and illuminating, and of great interest. It rapidly becomes clear that he was one of the ‘chosen few’, earmarked at higher levels for future high command. Consequently the usually enjoyable and varied postings he received prepared him admirably for what was to come on his way to the top.
I only had the pleasure of meeting Sir Frederick once, at Grub Street’s publication party for ‘Bing’ Cross’ autobiography; I wish I had been able to see him again and get to know him better. However, the book very clearly brings out the humanity, generosity, sense of fun and attractive personality, as well as the great professional gifts of this outstanding officer. Being asked to write this appreciation of him came as a rare privilege and a great pleasure.
Christopher Shores, March 2011