Arthur Coningham (RAF officer)

Sir Arthur Coningham
Coningham in 1944
Nickname(s)	'Mary'
Born	(1895-01-19)19 January 1895 Brisbane, Australia
Died	presumably 30 January 1948(1948-01-30) (aged 53)
Allegiance	New Zealand (1914–16) United Kingdom (1916–47)
Service/branch	New Zealand Expeditionary Force Royal Air Force
Years of service	1914–47
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	Flying Training Command (1945–47) 2nd Tactical Air Force (1944–45) North African Tactical Air Force (1943–44) Air HQ Western Desert (1941–42) No. 204 Group (1941) No. 4 Group (1939–41) RAF Calshot (1937–39) No. 55 Squadron (1923–24) No. 92 Squadron (1918–19)
Battles/wars	First World War Gallipoli campaign Western Front Battle of Amiens Second World War North African campaign Western Desert campaign First Battle of El Alamein Second Battle of El Alamein Italian campaign North West Europe campaign Normandy campaign
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross Mentioned in Despatches (4) Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Croix de guerre (France) Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II (Belgium) Croix de guerre (Belgium) Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)

Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC, DFC, AFC^[1] (19 January 1895 – presumably 30 January 1948), nicknamed "Mary", was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, he was at Gallipoli with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was discharged in New Zealand as medically unfit for active service, and journeyed to Britain at his own expense to join the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a flying ace. Coningham was later a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War, as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief 2nd Tactical Air Force and subsequently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Flying Training Command.

Coningham is chiefly remembered as the person most responsible for the development of forward air control parties directing close air support, which he developed as commander of the Western Desert Air Force between 1941 and 1943, and as commander of the tactical air forces in the Normandy campaign in 1944. However, he is frequently lauded as the "architect of modern air power doctrine regarding tactical air operations," based on three principles: necessity of air superiority as first priority, centralised command of air operations co-equal with ground leadership, and innovative tactics in support of ground operations.^[2]

On 30 January 1948, he disappeared along with all the other passengers and crew of the airliner G-AHNP Star Tiger when it vanished without a trace somewhere off the eastern coast of the United States.