{{Short description|Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1918-1997)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Air Chief Marshal |name= Sir Denis Smallwood |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GBE|KCB|DSO|DFC|FRAeS|FRSA}} |image= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= 13 August 1918 |death_date= {{death date and age|1997|7|26|1918|8|13|df=y}} |birth_place= |death_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Air Force |service_years= 1938–76 |rank= Air chief marshal |unit= |commands= UK Air Forces (1975–76)<br/>Strike Command (1974–76)<br/>Near East Air Force (1969–70)<br/>No. 3 Group (1965–67)<br/>College of Air Warfare (1961–63)<br/>RAF North Coates (1959–61)<br/>RAF Biggin Hill (1953–55)<br/>No. 33 Squadron (1948–50)<br/>No. 87 Squadron (1941–42) |battles= Second World War |awards= Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br/>Distinguished Service Order<br/>Distinguished Flying Cross<br/>Mentioned in dispatches |other_work= }} Air Chief Marshal '''Sir Denis Graham Smallwood''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GBE|KCB|DSO|DFC|FRAeS|FRSA}} (13 August 1918 – 26 July 1997) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.
==RAF career== Educated at King Edward VI School in Birmingham, Smallwood joined the Royal Air Force in 1938.<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Smallwood.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Denis Smallwood]</ref> [[File:Hurricane IIC 87 Sqn RAF in flight 1942.jpg|thumb|Wartime colour photo of Hurricane IIC ''BE500'' flown by Sqn Ldr Denis Smallwood of 87 Sqn in overall RDM2 ("Special Night") scheme and used on intruder operations 1941–1942.]] Smallwood took part in the Second World War and in November 1941 he was appointed Officer Commanding of No. 87 Squadron flying Hurricanes.<ref name=air/> In 1948 he became Officer Commanding No. 33 Squadron and in 1959 he joined the Directing Staff at the Joint Staff Services College before becoming Station Commander at RAF Biggin Hill in 1953.<ref name=air/> He became Group Captain, Plans for the Air Task Force in 1956 and then Officer Commanding RAF North Coates in 1959 before becoming Commandant of the College of Air Warfare in 1961.<ref name=air/> In 1963 he was made Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) and in 1965 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group.<ref name=air/> He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Bomber Command in 1967, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters, Strike Command in 1968 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Near East Air Force (including responsibility for British Forces Cyprus and Administration of the Sovereign Base Areas) in 1969.<ref name=air/> Finally he was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff in 1970, Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Strike Command in 1974 and Commander-in-Chief, UK Air Forces in 1975 before retiring in 1976.<ref name=air/>
He lived at Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.<ref name=debrett>Debrett's People of Today 1994</ref>
==Family== In 1940 he married Frances Jeanne Needham ; they had one son and one daughter.<ref name=debrett/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/top/p/hur15aa.jpg Photo of Smallwood in 87 Squadron Hawker Hurricane] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210213644/http://www.strijdbewijs.nl/top/p/hur15aa.jpg |date=10 December 2015 }}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Edward Gordon Jones}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief Near East Air Force<br>Commander British Forces Cyprus|years=1969–1970}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Derek Hodgkinson}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Peter Fletcher}} {{s-ttl|title=Vice-Chief of the Air Staff|years=1970–1973}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Ruthven Wade}} |- {{succession box|title=Commander-in-Chief Strike Command|before=Sir Andrew Humphrey|after=Sir Nigel Maynard|years=1974–1976}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Denis Graham}} Category:1918 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Royal Air Force air chief marshals Category:British World War II pilots Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Category:Military personnel from Buckinghamshire Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts