Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory
Leigh-Mallory, Sir Trafford Leigh (1892–1944), a British air officer. His direction of fighter groups in the Midlands region of England during the Battle of Britain (1940) won him knighthood. Leigh-Mallory also distinguished himself during the Dieppe raid (1942), when his planes downed 150 German aircraft.
Leigh-Mallory was born in Cheshire, England, and studied law at Cambridge University. He served with the army in France in World War I, then was commissioned and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1916. He was promoted through the grades to air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force (1943). Leigh-Mallory commanded the air force for the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944. He was lost on a flight to his new post as air commander in chief of Southeast Asia.