Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, KCB, DSO & Bar (11 July 1892 – 14 November 1944) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. Leigh-Mallory served as a Royal Flying Corps pilot and squadron commander during World War I. Remaining in the newly formed RAF after the war, Leigh-Mallory served in a variety of staff and training appointments throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, he was Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 12 (Fighter) Group and shortly after the end of the Battle of Britain, took over command of No. 11 (Fighter) Group, defending the approach to London. In 1942 he became the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of Fighter Command before being selected in 1943 to be the C-in-C of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, which made him the air commander for the Alliedinvasion of Normandy.
In November 1944, his aircraft crashed in the French Alps. Leigh-Mallory, his wife and eight others were killed. He was one of the most senior British officers and the most senior RAF officer to be killed in the Second World War.
Air Vice Marshal Trafford-Leigh Mallory initially refused to allow Amelia Earhart to train with the RAF to fly fighters because she was a woman. Leigh-Mallory even admitted as much. He offered to allow Earhart to ferry aircraft from base to base, a task that had been delegated to women pilots. When Earhart threatened to complain to the press, Leigh-Mallory angrily agreed to allow her to go to Croydon.[1]
