{{Short description|Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1910–1991)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox military person |name= Sir Ronald Lees |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1910|04|27|df=yes}} |birth_place= Broken Hill, New South Wales |death_date= {{death date and age|1991|05|18|1910|04|27|df=yes}} |death_place= Adelaide, South Australia |burial_place= |allegiance= {{unbulleted list|Australia|United Kingdom}} |branch= {{unbulleted list|Royal Australian Air Force (1930–31)|Royal Air Force (1931–66)}} |service_years= 1930–1966 |rank= Air Marshal |service_number= |unit= |commands= {{unbulleted list|RAF Germany (1963–65)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (1960–63)|No. 83 Group (1952–55)|RAF Bassingbourn (1946–49)|No. 324 Wing (1942–43)|RAF Coltishall (1941–42)|No. 72 Squadron (1938–40)}} |battles= Second World War |awards= {{unbulleted list|Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath|Commander of the Order of the British Empire|Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar|Mentioned in Despatches (3)|Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)}} |relations= |other_work= }} Air Marshal '''Sir Ronald Beresford Lees''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CBE|DFC1}} (27 April 1910 – 18 May 1991) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.
==Early life== Lees was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, the son of John Thomas Lees and Eliza Jane Moyle.<ref>New South Wales Certificate of Entry in Register of Births, 281913 (1910 / 549)</ref> He was educated at Prince Alfred's College and St Peter's College, Adelaide, and later read mathematics at the University of Adelaide.<ref name=afotf>A Few of "The Few", Dennis Newton, Australian War Memorial, 1990, {{ISBN|0 642 14991 7}}</ref>
==RAF career== In January 1930, Lees joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a cadet at Point Cook, Victoria, and in January 1931 took up a short-service commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF).<ref name=afotf/><ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/LeesRB.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Ronald Lees]</ref> He was made Officer Commanding No. 72 Squadron in 1938 and served in the Second World War, taking part in the Battle of Britain in 1940.<ref>[http://www.icebox.com.au/icebox-articles/1990/6/15/our-few-of-the-few/ Our Few of the Few]</ref> During the war he served as Station Commander at RAF Coltishall, as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 242 Group and then on the Sicily Invasion Force.<ref name=air/>
After the war, Lees became Station Commander at RAF Bassingbourn.<ref name=air/> He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 83 Group in 1952, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) in 1955 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Fighter Command in 1958.<ref name=air/> He went on to be Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1960 and Commander-in-Chief of RAF Germany and Second Tactical Air Force in 1963 before retiring in 1966.<ref name=air/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Charles Elworthy}} {{s-ttl|title=Deputy Chief of the Air Staff|years=1960–1963}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Christopher Hartley}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir John Grandy}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief RAF Germany<br/><small>Also Commander of the Second Tactical Air Force</small>|years=1963–1965}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Denis Spotswood}} {{end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Ronald}} Category:1910 births Category:1991 deaths Category:Military personnel from New South Wales Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit Category:Royal Air Force air marshals Category:The Few