Arthur Coningham (RAF officer)

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Arthur Coningham
19 January 1895 – presumably January 29 or 30 1948
Image:Arthur Coningham (RAF officer).jpg Air Marshal Coningham
Nickname	Mary
Place of birth	Australia
Place of death	Bermuda Triangle (presumed)
Allegiance	Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
Service/branch	Image:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914–1947
Rank	Air Marshal
Battles/wars	World War I, World War II

Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham KCB KBE DSO MC DFC AFC RAF (19 January, 1895 – presumably January 29 or 30 1948) was a senior Royal Air Force commander and was the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief 2nd Tactical Air Force (and subsequently the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Flying Training Command). Coningham is chiefly remembered as the person most responsible for the development of tactical air power, which he developed as commander of the Western Desert Air Force between 1941 and 1943, and as commander of the tactical air forces in the Normandy campaign in 1944. In 1948, Coningham mysteriously disappeared (along with all passengers and crew) while aboard the airliner Star Tiger when it vanished without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle.

Contents 1 Military career 1.1 World War I service 1.2 World War II service 2 Retirement and disappearance 3 Popular Culture 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Military career

[edit] World War I service

Coningham volunteered for service in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in 1914, and fought at Gallipoli. In 1916 he volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps. By the end of the war he was a Squadron Leader and had destroyed nine enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of four others, which were recognised with the award of a Distinguished Flying Cross. During this time he acquired the nickname 'Mary', possibly derived from 'Maori' (due to being a New Zealander). After the war he remained with the Royal Air Force, slowly rising through the ranks.

[edit] World War II service

Coningham began the war commanding Bomber Command's No.4 Group, which he led for two years in the bombing offensive against Germany. In 1941 he was sent to the Middle East, where he assumed command of the Western Desert Air Force. Faced with equipment shortages, a hostile desert environment, and superior enemy planes, Coningham, through judicious deployemnt of his squadrons, gradually achieved air superiority in the North African campaign. In particular, Coningham developed the use of fighter-bombers, able to fight as fighter planes in the air or in bombing and strafing attacks of enemy ground targets. Coningham developed an efficient ground support system to keep planes flying, and a command and control system to allow ground observers to radio in air attacks. Coningham's Western Desert Air Force, in continuous air attacks of enemy ground targets, was instrumental in stopping the enemy offensive at Alamein in July 1942. Coningham formed a close relationship with the new commander of Eighth Army, General Bernard Montgomery. Montgomery and Coningham recognised the importance of joint operations. The air power doctrine devised by Coningham is the basis of modern joint operations doctrine. The dominance of the Allied air force was a critical factor in the British victory at Alamein in November 1942. Coningham's doctrine of tactical air power would reach its fruition in early 1943, when RAF and USAAF fighter-bombers and bombers savaged enemy land forces.

Coningham was commander of the 1st Allied Tactical Air Force in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy during 1943. As the leading exponent of tactical air warfare, he was the obvious choice to command the Allied tactical air forces in the North-West European campaign. As commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, Coningham commanded the allied fighter-bombers which savaged German land forces and played a crucial role in the Normandy campaign. He remained commander of the 2nd Tactical Air Force until January 1945.

[edit] Retirement and disappearance

Coningham retired in 1947. He was killed five months later when the airliner he was travelling in crashed in the Bermuda Triangle.

[edit] Popular Culture

In the film Patton, Sir Arthur confirms to General George S Patton that he will see no more German planes. As he has completed his sentence, German planes strafe the compound.

[edit] See also

• List of people who have disappeared

[edit] References

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Marshal Coningham
• Coningham: A Biography of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham
• Orange, Vincent (1990). Coningham - A biography of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham, Methuen, ISBN 0-413-14580-8

Military offices
Preceded by J H D'Albiac	Commander-in-Chief Second Tactical Air Force 1944–1945	Succeeded by Sir Sholto Douglas As C-in-C British Air Forces of Occupation

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