Fighter pilot during the siege of Malta who was later hounded during
a motorway inquiry
Giddings: a cultured voice ordered him to change course, but it turned out to be an elaborate German subterfuge
 AIR MARSHAL SIR MICHAEL GIDDINGS, who has died aged 88, saw considerable action as a fighter pilot during the siege of Malta in 1942. He went on to fill senior RAF appointments as a test pilot and later had responsibility for future projects and operational requirements. After his service he was a highly respected inspector for the Department of the Environment.
On July 21 1942, Giddings took off in a Spitfire from the aircraft carrier Eagle as one of a group of 31 sent to reinforce Malta. As the formation approached the island, a cultured voice gave instructions to turn on to a northerly heading. This perplexed the leader who was querying the order when the gruff voice of an RAF controller immediately told him to continue an easterly heading - thus foiling a German attempt to lure the Spitfires to Sicily.
Over the next three months Giddings flew with No 249 Squadron. Early in August, a crucial convoy departed from Gibraltar with supplies and fuel for the island. Giddings and his fellow pilots provided cover as the convoy came under intense attack while approaching Malta. Only four merchantmen and the tanker Ohio reached the safety of Valetta harbour.
During August and September intelligence indicated that the Germans were building up their air forces for a new offensive against the island. Giddings flew on sweeps to strafe enemy aircraft on Sicilian airfields but, on the morning of October 11, the Axis air forces mounted their final blitz against Malta in an effort to subclue the island's tenacious resistance.
Over the next 14 days Giddings was scrambled three or four times each day to intercept German bomber formations and their fighter escorts. He had already damaged two Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters when he was scrambled on the 17th. He damaged a Junkers 88 bomber before a fierce dogfight developed with the escorts during which he shot down a Bf109 over St Paul's Bay. When some 40 German and Italian fighter-bombers were detected approaching Malta, seven Spitfires of No 249 were scrambled. Giddings attacked a gaggle of Italian Macchi 202s and hit one, which exploded in front of him.
He fired at another, which streamed smoke from its engine, but before he could see the final results, he was forced to break away. Five days later, as he was taking off, a constructor's truck appeared on the runway and he crashed into it at high speed sustaining a broken wrist and arm. He returned home in November.
Kennmeth Charles Michael Giddings was born on August 27 1920 at Walthamstow and educated Ealing Grammar School. He was conscripted into the RAFVR in
1940 and trained as a pilot in the USA. On his return to the United Kingdom he was commissioned and joined No 122 Squadron flying Spitfires on sweeps over France.
After recovering from his injuries, Giddings returned to flying as an instructor on fighters and in the summer of 1944 he was appointed a flight commander with No 118 Squadron flying the Spitfire IX. During the airborne operations at Arnhem, he shared in the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 109. The squadron was re-equipped with the Mustang and provided a long-range fighter escort for the bomber force. In March 1945 over Bremen, he engaged a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and damaged it. He went on to command No 129 Squadron in April and after VE Day took the squadron to Norway.
He was awarded a DFC for his "great skill and determination".
Giddings attended the Empire Test Pilots' School in 1946, before spending the next three years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, testing the new jet fighters. He was awarded the AFC for his work. After a period at the headquarters of Fighter Command, he took control of the flying wing at RAF Waterbeach where he flew Meteors and was the first station officer to fly the new Supermarine Swift. The Swift proved troublesome as a fighter and Giddings was involved in efforts to improve its capabilities and the development of tactics. At the end of his tour of duty, he was awarded a Bar to the AFC and moved to the Central Fighter Establishment to command the tactics wing.
In 1958 Giddings was one of a number of fighter pilots transferred to Bomber Command to lead one of the new V-bomber squadrons. The commander-in-chief, Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, himself a former fighter pilot, wanted to inject some new blood into the force and Giddings took command of No 57 Squadron operating the Victor. In 1960 he was promoted to group captain to serve on the operational staff at Bomber Command.
In 1962 Giddings returned to the test flying arena when he was appointed Superintendent of Flying at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down. He was an ideal choice for this appointment. With his wide experience of test flying, fighter operations and his recent flying on the Victor, he was well placed to supervise the development of the later versions of the RAF's fighter and bomber aircraft and their associated guided and unguided weapons. He also took every opportunity to fly other trials aircraft. On one occasion he flew a Beverley transport for a NATO officer's field day when an earth excavator - the heaviest load to be dropped by parachute at the time - accidentally fell from its pallet after leaving the aircraft and excavated a very large hole in Salisbury Plain. The episode signalled the end of the demonstration.
After two years as the Director of Aircraft Projects in the MOD and a period as the Air Officer Commanding the Central Reconnaissance Establishment, much of Giddings's later service was spent in the area of operational requirements. In 1969 he was appointed the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operational Requirements). He was heavily involved in international discussions for the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), which became the Tornado. Following two years as the Chief of Staff at No 18 (Maritime) Group, Giddings's final appointment was as Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) and he retired from the RAF in June 1976.
From 1979 to 1991 he was an independent panel inspector with the Department of Environment and was appointed to a number of high-profile public inquiries. He presided over the inquiries for four sections of the M25 and for some of the motorway plans in the Manchester region. In May 1982 he was the inspector for the year-long inquiry - the longest ever held at the time - for the Kirkhamgate-Dishforth Scheme, which resulted in the extension of the M1 motorway to link with the Al(M).
Giddings resigned from the acrimonious "Archway Inquiry", into a proposed motorway extension in North London which would have entailed the destruction of almost 200 homes, after he and his family received numerous threats and considerable harassment, which became the subject of a police inquiry. His intellect, integrity and dignified conduct attracted considerable praise and sympathy.
A keen golfer and gardener, he also listed music as one of his interests. This bland statement hid a significant talent. He was a very accomplished pianist and wrote many pieces including numerous scores for television programmes, among them the theme tune for the powerful drama Cathy Come Home, which was first broadcast in November 1966.
Michael Giddings, who was appointed KCB (1975) and OBE (1953), died on April 5. He married Elizabeth McConnell in 1946 and she survives him with their two sons and two daughters.
(Thanks to the Daily Telegrap Tuesday April 14th 2009.) |
