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Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Murray Longmore GCB, DSO (8 October 1885 – 10 December 1970) was an early naval aviator, before reaching high rank in the Royal Air Force. He was Commander-in-Chief of the RAF's Middle East Command from 1940 to 1941. ==Biography== Born in Manly, New South Wales, Australia, the son of Charles Croker Longmore and Janet Murray, he was educated at Benges School, Hertford and Foster's Academy, Stubbington〔(Arthur Longmore at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography )〕 before entering Dartmouth Naval College.〔(Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore )〕 He was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1904.〔 Having developed an interest in flying, he volunteered for pilot training when the Navy accepted an offer of training facilities by the Royal Aero Club, and was one of the four officers to be selected. He obtained flying certificate No.72 in April 1911.〔〔 That year, assisted by Oswald Short of Short Brothers, he devised a way of mounting streamlined air bags on the undercarriage struts and under the tail of an Short Improved S.27 biplane with the construction number S.38—later often referred to as the "Short S.38"—and on 1 December 1911, using the air bags for flotation, then-Lieutenant Longmore became the first person in the United Kingdom to take off from land and make a successful water landing in a seaplane when he landed Improved S.27 No. 38 on the River Medway off Sheerness.〔(Bruce, J. M., M.A, "The Short Seaplanes, Part 1," ) Flight International, 14 December 1956, p. 922〕 Longmore joined the Royal Naval Air Service〔Arthur Longmore, ''From Sea to Sky'' (Geoffrey Bles, London, 1946), Chapter II〕 in 1912. Before the outbreak of World War I he served as a flight instructor at the newly formed Central Flying School, Upavon and was then appointed commander of the seaplane base at Cromarty and later of the experimental seaplane establishment at Calshot.〔 During the war he served as Officer Commanding No. 3 Squadron RNAS and then as Officer Commanding No. 1 Squadron RNAS before being transferred back to sea duties an officer on the battlecruiser HMS ''Tiger'' in 1916; during his service aboard ''Tiger'' he took part in the Battle of Jutland〔 He obtained a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force in 1920 and was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group later that year before being given command of the RAF Depot in 1921.〔 He was made Air Officer Commanding No. 7 Group in 1924, Director of Equipment at the Air Ministry in 1925 and Chief Staff Officer at Headquarters Inland Area in 1929.〔 Subsequent appointments included Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in December 1929, Air Officer Commanding Inland Area in 1933 and Air Officer Commanding Coastal Area (which was renamed RAF Coastal Command under his leadership) in 1934.〔 He went on to be Commandant of the Imperial Defence College in 1936.〔 The outbreak of the Second World War found Longmore an Air Chief Marshal and in charge of RAF Training Command.〔 On 2 April 1940, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding in the Middle East. He did not long enjoy the full confidence of Winston Churchill in that position and was relieved of his command in May 1941.〔 His last role before his formal retirement in 1942 was as Inspector-General of the RAF.〔 The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says the following about Longmore during the first few months of 1941: Longmore's constant demands for reinforcements resulted in some unwelcome attention from Churchill, who hated pessimists and senior commanders who complained about their lack of resources. After some acerbic correspondence, in which Churchill accused Longmore of failing to make proper use of the manpower and aircraft he had, Longmore was recalled to London in May 1941. He was succeeded in the Middle East by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. In retirement he was Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.〔 Longmore’s memoirs, ''From Sea to Sky 1910-1945'', were published in 1946. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur Longmore」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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