{{Short description|British military commander}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = [[Air Vice-Marshal]] |name= Sir Oliver Swann |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CBE}} |image= |caption= Air Vice Marshal Sir Oliver Swann |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1878|11|18|df=yes}} |birth_place= [[Wimbledon, London]] |death_date= {{death date and age|1948|03|07|1878|11|18|df=yes}} |death_place= [[Littleton, Guildford]] |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= [[Royal Navy]] (1895–1918)<br/>[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–1940) |service_years =1895–1929<br/>1939–1940 |rank= [[Air Vice-Marshal]] |unit= |commands= [[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]] (1939–40)<br/>[[RAF Halton]] (1939–40)<br/>[[RAF Middle East Command|RAF Middle East]] (1923–1926)<br/>[[Air Member for Personnel]] (1922–23)<br/>Egyptian RAF Group (1920–21)<br/>Mediterranean RAF Group (1919–20)<br/>Orkneys Division (1917–18)<br/>{{HMS|Campania|1914|6}} (1915–1917)<br/>{{HMS|Niger|1892|6}} (1910) |battles= [[First World War]]<br/>[[Second World War]] |awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] |relations= |other_work= }} [[Air Vice-Marshal]] '''Sir Oliver Swann''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CBE}} (born '''Schwann'''; 18 November 1878 – 7 March 1948) was a British military commander who was a leading figure in the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] and senior commander in the [[Royal Air Force]] during the first half of the 20th century.
==Early years== Schwann joined the [[Royal Navy]] in 1892,<ref>Britannia Royal Naval College, Cadet Open List 1894-1906</ref> and was a [[Lieutenant (Royal Navy)|lieutenant]] when in July 1902 he was posted as junior staff to {{HMS|Vernon|shore establishment|6}}, naval torpedo school ship at [[HMNB Chatham|Chatham dockyard]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=5 July 1902 |page=9 |issue=36812}}</ref>
==Early naval aviation== In 1910 Schwann was selected to assist Captain [[Murray Sueter]] who was conducting pioneering naval aviation work with airships.<ref name=odnb>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36383 Sir Oliver Swann at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]</ref> Later, Schwann bought an [[Avro Type D]] landplane (at his own expense with support from friends) for £700 and fitted floats to it.<ref name=odnb/> Despite not having qualified as a pilot, Schwann managed to fly it off the water.<ref name=odnb/> Although Schwann crashed the aircraft, this was the first aircraft take off by a British pilot from salt water.<ref name=odnb/>
In November 1912, after Schwann had qualified as a pilot, he was appointed assistant director of the [[Air Department]] at the Admiralty,<ref name="air"/> making him deputy to Murray Sueter.<ref name=odnb/> Over the next two years Sueter and Schwann worked to establish the Royal Naval Air Service.<ref name=odnb/>
==First World War== In 1914, just prior to the outbreak of the [[First World War]], Schwann was promoted to captain and assigned to port duties.<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Swann.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice-Marshal Sir Oliver Swann]</ref> The following year he was appointed captain of the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Campania|1914|6}}, a former Cunard liner that had been converted to carry a dozen aircraft.<ref name=air/> Later in the war, Schwann served as Officer Commanding the Orkneys Division.<ref name=air/> In 1917 Oliver Schwann anglicized the spelling of his name to Swann.<ref name=air/> With the establishment of the [[Royal Air Force]] in early 1918, Swann was transferred to the new service.<ref name=air/> He served as [[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]] during the last months of the war and into 1919.<ref name=air/>
==Inter-war years== In April 1919 Swann was appointed [[Air Officer Commanding]] the [[RAF Mediterranean Group|Mediterranean District]] and the following year his command was redesignated as the Mediterranean [[Group (air force)|Group]].<ref name=air/> On 1 June 1920, Swann was posted to become Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Egyptian Group|Egyptian Group]].<ref name=air/> On his return to Great Britain in early 1923, Swann became Director of Personnel.<ref name=air/> Later that year his post was retitled Air Member for Personnel when Swann became a member of the [[Air Council]] with responsibility for personnel matters.<ref name=air/> Swann did not spend long at home. On 27 November 1923 Swann was appointed Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Middle East]].<ref name=air/> He held this post until late 1926 and he retired from the RAF in 1929.<ref name=air/>
==Second World War== During the [[Second World War]], Swann was recalled to service as the Commandant of [[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]] at [[RAF Halton]].<ref name=air/> He retired from the RAF for the second time in July 1940 and afterwards worked as the [[Air Liaison Officer]] for the North Midland Region.<ref name=air/> Swann died only three years after the end of the Second World War on 7 March 1948 at his home in [[Littleton, Guildford]].<ref name=odnb/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=[[Robert Marsland Groves|Robert Groves]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]]|years=1918–1919}} {{s-aft|after=Robert Groves}} |- {{s-new|reason=Formation established}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Officer Commanding|AOC]] [[Mediterranean District RAF|Mediterranean District]]<br/>AOC [[Mediterranean Group RAF|Mediterranean Group]] from 1 April 1920|years=1919–1920}} {{s-aft|after=[[Eugene Gerrard]]}} |- {{s-bef|before=Robert Groves}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Officer Commanding]] [[Egyptian Group RAF|Egyptian Group]]|years=1920–1921}} {{s-aft|after=[[Bertie Drew]]}} |- {{succession box | title=[[Air Member for Personnel|Director of Personnel]]<br><small>Post retitled Air Member for Personnel in 1923</small> | before=Unknown | after=[[Philip Game|Sir Philip Game]] | years=1922–1923}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Edward Ellington]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Middle East Command|RAF Middle East]]|years=1923–1926}} {{s-aft|after=[[Tom Webb-Bowen]]}} |- {{succession box | title=Commandant, [[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]] | before=[[George Bentley Dacre|George Dacre]] | years=1939–1940 | after=George Dacre}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swann, Oliver}} [[Category:1878 births]] [[Category:1948 deaths]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Royal Navy captains]] [[Category:Royal Naval Air Service aviators]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air vice-marshals]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Merton]] [[Category:People from Wimbledon, London]]