Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton, who died on 31 October 1997, aged 86, was one of that select group of distinguished Royal Air Force pilots who became equally distinguished navigators. Much of his early Service experience in World War II was spent in Coastal Command, where his natural flying ability...
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1998
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s037346339800784x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S037346339800784X |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s037346339800784x 2024-03-03T08:47:06+00:00 Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton 1998 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s037346339800784x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S037346339800784X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Journal of Navigation volume 51, issue 2, page 277-278 ISSN 0373-4633 1469-7785 Ocean Engineering Oceanography journal-article 1998 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s037346339800784x 2024-02-08T08:35:21Z Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton, who died on 31 October 1997, aged 86, was one of that select group of distinguished Royal Air Force pilots who became equally distinguished navigators. Much of his early Service experience in World War II was spent in Coastal Command, where his natural flying ability combined with his acquired navigator's knowledge and skill led to exceptional operational achievements. In 1943, German submarines were taking a devastating toll of Allied shipping in the North Atlantic and Wilf Oulton was flying long-range patrols over the Bay of Biscay. In May of that year, commanding a Halifax bomber which had been converted for maritime operations, he attacked with depth charges and sank two U-boats and shared in the destruction of a third. For these outstanding successes, which helped mark the Battle of the Atlantic turning in our favour, he was awarded the DSO. Later, and completely different, with the cessation of hostilities, Oulton was jointly responsible for the introduction of the first Air Traffic Control system at Heathrow. And, different again, his ability to inspire confidence and co-operate extremely well with others led to the most challenging peace-time appointment as Joint Task Force Commander of ‘Operation Grapple’, which supported the British hydrogen bomb tests at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Cambridge University Press Pacific Journal of Navigation 51 2 277 278 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Ocean Engineering Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ocean Engineering Oceanography Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Oceanography |
description |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton, who died on 31 October 1997, aged 86, was one of that select group of distinguished Royal Air Force pilots who became equally distinguished navigators. Much of his early Service experience in World War II was spent in Coastal Command, where his natural flying ability combined with his acquired navigator's knowledge and skill led to exceptional operational achievements. In 1943, German submarines were taking a devastating toll of Allied shipping in the North Atlantic and Wilf Oulton was flying long-range patrols over the Bay of Biscay. In May of that year, commanding a Halifax bomber which had been converted for maritime operations, he attacked with depth charges and sank two U-boats and shared in the destruction of a third. For these outstanding successes, which helped mark the Battle of the Atlantic turning in our favour, he was awarded the DSO. Later, and completely different, with the cessation of hostilities, Oulton was jointly responsible for the introduction of the first Air Traffic Control system at Heathrow. And, different again, his ability to inspire confidence and co-operate extremely well with others led to the most challenging peace-time appointment as Joint Task Force Commander of ‘Operation Grapple’, which supported the British hydrogen bomb tests at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
title_short |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
title_full |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
title_fullStr |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
title_full_unstemmed |
Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid Oulton |
title_sort |
air vice-marshal wilfrid oulton |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s037346339800784x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S037346339800784X |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Navigation volume 51, issue 2, page 277-278 ISSN 0373-4633 1469-7785 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s037346339800784x |
container_title |
Journal of Navigation |
container_volume |
51 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
277 |
op_container_end_page |
278 |
_version_ |
1792503247665102848 |