Conway Pulford
{{short description|Royal Air Force air marshal}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Conway Pulford
|image= File:Conway Pulford.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1892|01|26|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Agra, India
|death_date= {{death date and age|1942|03|10|1892|01|26|df=yes}}
|death_place= Chibia, Dutch East Indies
|placeofburial= Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= Royal Navy (1905–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–42)
|serviceyears= 1905–1942
|rank= Air Vice Marshal
|unit=
|commands= RAF Far East (1941–42)
No. 26 (Training) Group (1937–38)
RAF Heliopolis (1932–34)
RAF Bircham Newton (1931–32)
No. 7 Squadron (1929–31)
No. 210 Squadron (1920)
|battles= First World War
Second World War
|awards= Companion of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Air Force Cross
Mentioned in Despatches
Croix de guerre (France)
|spouse= Elinore Mildred Pulford
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Air Vice Marshal Conway Walter Heath Pulford, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CB|OBE|AFC}} (26 January 1892 – 10 March 1942) was a senior Royal Air Force officer during World War II. Pulford commanded British forces in the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the subsequent fall of Singapore.
Pulford died of exhaustion and malaria after his evacuation vessel was attacked by Japanese aircraft and ran aground on an uninhabited island.
Early life
Pulford was born in Agra, India the son of Russell Richard and Lucy Anne Pulford.
Naval career
Pulford began his career in the Royal Navy in 1905 as a Naval Cadet at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. After serving as a midshipman on {{HMS|Russell|1901|6}} and {{HMS|Lion|1910|6}}, and as a sub-lieutenant on {{HMS|Larne|1910|6}}, he became a pilot on the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Ark Royal|1914|6}} in December 1914.
RAF career
In January 1920, Pulford left the Navy for the Royal Air Force, becoming a squadron commander in 1921. Pulford attended the RAF Staff College in 1922 and the Imperial Defence College in 1929.
=Second World War=
File:Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945. CF1269.jpg
In 1941 he attempted to build up the RAF in the Far East to support all the forces under the Far East Command. But before the Japanese attacked on 8 December 1941, the Far East was given a low priority, so little was done. To bolster his very small staff now that the war had started, Air Vice Marshal Paul Maltby arrived and undertook duties as his deputy.{{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/maltby.html |title= Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul (Copeland) Maltby |date= 1999–2000 |work= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120325051613/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/maltby.html |archive-date= 25 March 2012 }} Pulford was authorised to evacuate himself on 5 February 1942. Ten days later Pulford and his naval counterpart, Rear Admiral Ernest Spooner, were amongst the last to leave. Their vessel, the Royal Navy ML 310,{{cite book |last=Gill |first=G. Hermon |title=Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942 | series =Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy | volume =1 |year=1957 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |location=Canberra |page=568 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 }} was attacked by Japanese aircraft and forced to run aground on a malaria-ridden island called Chibia (Tjibia, [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tjebia+Island,+Indonesia&hl=en&sll=38.003385,-79.420925&sspn=6.170753,8.250732&t=h&hnear=Pulau+Cebia&z=9 Tjebia]), part of the Juju group located north of Bangka Island, Indonesia, and was uninhabited. The survivors managed to hold out for two months before being forced to surrender to the Japanese, but the Air Vice Marshal and Rear Admiral had both died of exhaustion and malaria. When Pulford did not arrive in Java, Maltby took over command of RAF Far East Command, but was captured and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war of the Japanese.
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
{{commons category}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Pulford.htm |title=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – AVM Pulford |access-date=24 March 2009}}
- {{cite web|first=Klemen |last=L |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |title=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |date=1999–2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulford, Conway}}
Category:Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II
Category:Military of Singapore under British rule
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
Category:Royal Naval Air Service aviators
Category:People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne
Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies
Category:Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II
Category:Burials at Kranji War Cemetery
Category:Military personnel of British India