Coningham, Air Marshal Sir Arthur (1895–1948).Born in Australia but brought up in New Zealand, Coningham served as a soldier in Samoa and Egypt before being invalided home and discharged on medical grounds in April 1916. He immediately sailed to England, was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps, became a distinguished fighter pilot and squadron commander, was decorated three times and accepted the nickname ‘Mary’ (derived from ‘Maori’), to which he answered for the rest of his life.
After the
First World War he confirmed his reputation as a pilot and leader in the UK, Iraq, Egypt, and the Sudan. In 1925 he earned a fourth decoration by leading the first east–west flight across Africa (from Cairo to Kaduna in Nigeria and back): 10,460 km. (6,500 mi.) in 24 days.
As commander of Fourth Group in Bomber Command, from July 1939 to July 1941, he attracted the attention of
Tedder (head of Middle East Air Command) who summoned him to Egypt to command what became the
Western Desert Air Force. His leadership before, during and after the vital second
battle of El Alamein was critical to the eventual defeat of
Rommel. Coningham initiated and developed methods of co-operation with the British Eighth Army which were adopted by the US war department in July 1943: air and land power were recognized as ‘co-equal and interdependent forces’, neither of them ‘an auxiliary of the other’. After leading Allied air forces in Tunisia, Sicily, and Italy in 1943, he was among the outstanding commanders gathered in England to prepare for the Normandy landings (see
OVERLORD) and headed the Second Tactical Air Force which accompanied the Allied armies from Normandy to Berlin. He retired in 1947 and was killed in an aircraft accident in January 1948.
Vincent Orange
Bibliography
Orange, V. , Coningham (London, 1990).
