PIRIE, ACM Sir George Clark (1896-1980)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0099 KCLMA Pirie
Held at	: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma ›
Full title	: PIRIE, ACM Sir George Clark (1896-1980)
Date(s)	: Created 1918-1978
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 box or 0.01 cubic metres
Name of creator(s)	:

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born 1896; served in World War One, 1914-1918; commissioned into 3 (Reserve) Bn, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), 1914; Lt, 1915; Capt, 1916; served with Royal Flying Corps, 1916-1918; service with 34 Sqn, Royal Flying Corps, Western Front, 1917; served in Palestine, 1917-1918; awarded MC, 1918; transferred to RAF, 1918; relief of Diwaniyah, Iraq, 1921; RAF Staff College, Andover, Hampshire, 1925; service in Iraq, 1928; Wg Cdr, 1932; Air Staff Officer, Directorate of Operations and Intelligence, Department of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Ministry, 1934-1937; Gp Capt, 1937; Air Attaché, Washington DC, USA, 1937-1940; served in World War Two, 1939-1945; Air Officer Commanding Northern Ireland, 1941; Air Officer in charge of Administration, Middle East, 1941-1943; awarded CBE, 1942; awarded CB, 1943; Director General, War Organisation, Air Ministry, 1943-1945; Deputy Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia, 1945-1946; created KBE, 1946; Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia, 1946-1947; Inspector General, RAF, 1948; Member, Air Council for Supply and Organisation, 1948-1950; ACM, 1949; Head of Air Force Staff, British Joint Services Mission to the USA, 1950-1951; retired, 1951; created KCB, 1951; Chairman, Air League of the British Empire, 1955-1958; died 1980.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Photograph album with 61 photographs of RAF service in Haifa, Palestine, and Baghdad, Iraq, 1917-1918 and 1928. Three notebooks containing extracts from Pirie's diaries, 1923-1945, 1946-1966 and 1967-1976. Eight letters of thanks, relating to Pirie's success as Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia, and Inspector General, RAF, 1947-1949, including letter from V Adm Rt Hon Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Jul 1947. Scrapbook of press cuttings relating to a visit to Canada by RAF Detachment, 1934. Edition of Oculi Exercitus. No 6 Squadron by Flying Officer C D Stewart RAF (Zavallis Press, Nicosia, Cyprus, 1963), published to commemorate 6 Sqn's Fiftieth Anniversary, 31 Jan 1964. Seventeen photographs, 1917, 1946-1947, including group of officers, 34 Sqn, Royal Flying Corps, Western Front, 1917, and Pirie's departure parade as Allied Air Commander-in-Chief, South East Asia, 1947. Personal correspondence, 1964-1978, including letter and typescript article by Eric W Cockcroft entitled 'My experience as a World War One RFC/RAF pilot', Nov 1978.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

The collection is arranged in sections as outlined above.

Conditions governing access:

Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.

Finding aids:

Summary guide entry on-line at http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/htm.top

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Presented to the Centre by the family in 1981.

Allied Materials

Related material:

The papers of Capt Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart include correspondence with Pirie, 1949 (Ref: LH 1/576); notes on talks with Pirie on conscription, defence organisation, plans for a strategic bomber force and the Royal Navy, Mar 1949 (Ref: LH 11/1949/10).

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:

Date(s) of descriptions:
Jan 1999