Air Marshal Sir Ralph Squire Sorley, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts was a World War I pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Air Force, who was also a senior commander during World World War World War II
Education
He served with distinction as a pilot in World War I, earning his Distinguished Service Cross "for the determined and successful bombing attacks on the "Breslau" and "Goeben" on 20 January 1918,and subsequent days, both by day and by night." In the immediate post-war years he served in Iraq and Palestine before returning in 1924 to join the staff of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment in Felixstowe.
Career
After the War he held several senior Royal Air Force appointments until his retirement in 1948 in the rank of Air Marshal. He was instrumental in the specification of the armament of both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, he founded the Empire Test Pilots" School, foresaw the need for air-to-air missiles in the post-World World War II world and, having left the Royal Air Force to join De Havilland, provided the Royal Air Force with such a weapon system. Sorley joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1914.
He was appointed Officer Commanding Number.
8 Squadron in 1931 and Squadron Leader at the Operational Requirements section at the Air Ministry in 1933. lieutenant was during his time as Squadron Leader in charge at the Operational Requirements section that the Operational Requirement F.36/34, which governed the procurement of both the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, was amended on his recommendation to change the armament from two.303 in (77 mm) Vickers machine guns in each wing to four.303 in (77 mm) Brownings.
He went on to be Officer Commanding, Number 4 Armament Training Station at Royal Air Force West Freugh in 1937. In 1939 he was made Station Commander at Royal Air Force Upwood and in 1940 he became Commandant of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&Association of Energy Engineers), Ministry of Defence Boscombe Down, after which he became Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.
In his role as Controller of Research & Development, Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1943 he created the Test Pilots" Training Flight, which was soon renamed the Test Pilots" School, the world"s first such training establishment.
lieutenant became the Empire Test Pilots" School the following year. He was knighted in the King"s Birthday Honours List in June 1944. After the War he was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Technical Training Command.
Upon his retirement from the Royal Air Force in 1948, Sorley joined the Board of De Havilland Propellers Limited as its Managing Director, a post he held for twelve years.
He recognised the need to diversify from manufacturing propellers due to the advent of the jet engine and was instrumental in the development of the de Havilland Firestreak airborne infrared missile, which became the Royal Air Force"s main air defence weapon at the time.