114-574: Frederick William Winterbotham CBE (16 April 1897 – 28 January 1990) was a British Royal Air Force officer (latterly a Group Captain ) who during World War II supervised the distribution of Ultra intelligence . His book The Ultra Secret was the first popular account of Ultra to be published in Britain. He was born in Stroud , Gloucestershire , the younger child and only son of Frederick Winterbotham, solicitor, and his wife, Florence Vernon Graham. He
228-499: A 17-year old actress Regmor Agnes Joan Morvaren Maclean in London. Cotton had a son by his first wife. After the war he spent time in Tasmania where he worked as the manager of an apple-drying factory owned by his father, and then returned to England, where he continued his passion for flying. In 1920, he embarked on an unsuccessful attempt to fly from England to South Africa, and also made
342-404: A broad riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Commanders wear the badge from a ribbon around the neck; male Officers and Members wear the badge from a ribbon on the left chest; female recipients other than Dames Grand Cross (unless in military uniform) normally wear it from a bow on the left shoulder. An oval eight-pointed star is worn, pinned to
456-568: A cattle station at Goorganga, near Proserpine, Queensland . He was the third child of Alfred and Annie Cotton, who were involved in pastoralism . Cotton was educated at The Southport School in Queensland and later in 1910, he and his family went to England, where he attended Cheltenham College ; however the family returned to Australia in 1912. Cotton worked as a jackeroo , training to work with livestock at stations in New South Wales up until
570-449: A circlet bearing the motto of the Order; the reverse bears George V's Royal and Imperial Cypher. (Prior to 1937 Britannia was shown within the circlet.) The size of the badges varies according to rank: the higher classes have slightly larger badges. The badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames Commander, and Commanders are enamelled, with pale blue crosses, crimson circlets and
684-466: A citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive, and they then enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. (An example of the latter is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan , who was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, and on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship,
798-520: A distinguished wartime record, eventually operating five squadrons out of a number of bases. Succeeding commanding officers would emulate the spirit and innovative techniques pioneered by Cotton. In September 1940, Cotton's modified Lockheed 12A (G-AFTL), was severely damaged in an air raid at Heston Aerodrome . It was rebuilt by Lockheed, sold in British Honduras, and in 1948 registered in the US as N12EJ ;
912-488: A fee, he was removed from his post and banned from any involvement with air operations. Following several efforts to be reinstated, even involving Churchill himself, Cotton resigned his commission; he was nevertheless appointed an OBE. For the remainder of the war, Cotton acted as an unofficial consultant to the Admiralty. Under the new designation, 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), based at RAF Benson , 1 PRU went on to
1026-595: A general disdain for authority. In his obituary in 1969, The Times of London declared that Cotton had established "a record of ruggedly individualistic, superbly unconventional behavior, second only to his reputation for courage and resourcefulness". In 1993, the Australian historian John McCarthy wrote: "Cotton had been an unconventional individualist who was often right when well-placed opponents were wrong. Somewhat arrogant and conceited, he made powerful enemies easily, which cost him recognition and financial rewards. Yet, he
1140-443: A gold central medallion. Officers' badges are plain silver-gilt, while those of Members are plain silver. From 1917 until 1937, the badge of the order was suspended on a purple ribbon, with a red central stripe being added for the military division in 1918. Since 1937, the ribbon has been rose-pink with pearl-grey edges (with the addition of a pearl-grey central stripe for the military division). Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear it on
1254-507: A law degree (1920) in the shortened course for returning servicemen, but had no liking for an office job. He pursued farming opportunities in Britain, Kenya , and Rhodesia without success. By 1929 he was back in Britain, and considered becoming a stockbroker in the City . Instead he was recruited to join the staff of the Royal Air Force , where he was assigned to the newly created Air Section of
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#17328735727791368-456: A likely channel. This led to a visit by Nazi "philosopher" Alfred Rosenberg in 1932. Winterbotham, with the full knowledge of MI6, escorted Rosenberg around Britain, made some appropriate introductions, and played up to him. Neither Ropp nor Rosenberg knew that Winterbotham had any intelligence connections—he was just a civilian official of the Air Staff. Winterbotham continued in this role for
1482-496: A low profile, and also be diplomatic enough to manage commanders who far outranked them. When diplomacy failed, Winterbotham flew out to the problem HQ to resolve the quarrel. He had the ultimate authority of the Allied governments behind him, as both Britain and the U.S. would do almost anything to avoid exposing the secret of the decryptions. Ultra remained secret even after the war. Then in 1974, Winterbotham's book, The Ultra Secret ,
1596-809: A lucky escape from a crash at the Aerial Derby . Cotton then spent three years working in Newfoundland flying various assignments. Following the divorce from his first wife the previous year, in 1926, Cotton married 18-year-old Millicent Joan Henry whom he had met in Newfoundland. From this time up until the outbreak of the Second World War, Cotton led a colourful and eventful life; he took part in various business activities, including an airborne seal-spotting service as well as aerial search and rescue operations for lost explorers in Newfoundland and Greenland . Cotton
1710-470: A private Lockheed 12A aircraft. These activities came to an end when World War II broke out in 1939. As a top ranking member of MI6 (he reported directly to its head, Sir Hugh Sinclair , and his successor in 1940, Sir Stewart Menzies ), Winterbotham was fully aware of Britain's successful code-breaking operation against the German Enigma cipher machine. The intelligence derived from Enigma decrypts
1824-534: A prototype specialist reconnaissance aircraft and further refinements of photographic equipment. By mid-1940 however, Cotton had clashed with senior officials in the Air Ministry over his participation in the evacuation of British agents from France under the cover name of Special Survey Flights. After his return from France couriering Marcel Boussac , the head of the Christian Dior garment and perfume empire, for
1938-558: A road trip, read in a newspaper in Brunette Downs about the sinking of the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania by a U-boat, which so incensed the 21-year old Cotton that he decided to enlist despite his parents' objections. Cotton booked a passage to England on board the ocean liner Maloja , the majority of whose passengers were young Australians like himself determined to "do their bit" for king and country. Cotton went to England to join
2052-501: A series of modifications to the engines to produce more power at high altitudes. In 1940, Cotton also personally made another important reconnaissance flight with his Lockheed 12A over Soviet Azerbaijan via Iraq as part of the preparations for Operation Pike . Under his leadership, the 1 PDU acquired the nicknames, "Cotton's Club" or the less flattering "Cotton's Crooks" (mainly due to Cotton's propensity to flout regulations). Cotton revelled in his reputation as unorthodox, and even had
2166-598: A special badge struck bearing the initials CC-11 that signified the 11th commandment – "Thou shalt not be found out." At the request of Naval Intelligence, Cotton photographed the German fleet at anchor at its base in Wilhelmshaven , which led him to meet Ian Fleming. Cotton's aerial photographs were far ahead of their time. Together with other members of the 1 PDU, he pioneered the techniques of high-altitude, high-speed stereoscopic photography that were instrumental in revealing
2280-512: Is an image of Britannia surrounded by the motto, with the words "For Meritorious Service" at the bottom; on the reverse is George V's Imperial and Royal Cypher, with the words "Instituted by King George V" at the bottom. The name of the recipient is engraved on the rim. This medal is nicknamed "the Gong", and comes in both full-sized and miniature versions – the latter for formal white-tie and semi-formal black-tie occasions. A lapel pin for everyday wear
2394-872: Is not a member of the College of Arms , as are many other heraldic officers; and the Lady Usher of the Purple Rod does not – unlike the Order of the Garter equivalent, the Lady Usher of the Black Rod – perform any duties related to the House of Lords . Since the Second World War, several Commonwealth realms have established their own national system of honours and awards and have created their own unique orders, decorations and medals. A number, though, continue to make recommendations for appointments to
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#17328735727792508-541: The Deuxième Bureau . Cotton turned over his Lockheed Electra airplane to the Deuxième Bureau while MI6 provided Cotton with a new Lockheed 12-A Electra aircraft. Cotton's co-pilot on his spy flights was R.H. Niven, a Canadian serving in the Royal Air Force. Using his status as a wealthy and prominent private aviator currently promoting his film business (and using a series of other subterfuges including taking on
2622-584: The British Empire Medal , and the following year its recipients were granted the right to use the postnominal letters BEM. During the war, the BEM came to be used to recognise acts of bravery which did not merit the award of a George Cross or George Medal , a use which continued until the introduction of the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1974. The designs of insignia of the order and medal were altered in 1937, prior to
2736-573: The Empire Gallantry Medal , were given permission to use the postnominal letters EGM (and at the same time to add a laurel branch emblem to the ribbon of the medal); however, in 1940, awards of the EGM ceased and all holders of the medal were instructed to exchange it for a new and more prestigious gallantry award: the George Cross . In 1941, the medal of the order 'for meritorious service' was renamed
2850-582: The Italian colony of Libya in the pay of the Deuxième Bureau . In April 1939, Cotton was recruited by Fred Winterbotham of MI6 to take clandestine aerial photographs of the German military buildup. Cotton's mission was the same as before, using flights for the Aeronautical Research and Sales Corporation as a cover for espionage with the only difference being that his paymasters were MI6 instead of
2964-541: The Order of Canada . On the other hand, the Australian Honours System unilaterally created in 1975 did not achieve bi-partisan support until 1992, which was when Australian federal and state governments agreed to cease Australian recommendations for British honours; the last Australian recommended Order of the British Empire appointments were in the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours . New Zealand continued to use
3078-742: The Royal Flying Corps in 1916, and became a fighter pilot. He was shot down and captured on 13 July 1917, being shot down in a dogfight in the Passendale area by a member of the Luftstreitkräfte squadron known as Jagdstaffel 11 which produced many high-scoring "aces". He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner, and "passed the time" learning German. For much of the time he was in the Holzminden prisoner-of-war camp . Upon his release in 1918 he went to Christ Church, Oxford , to study law. He took
3192-845: The Royal Naval Air Service in November 1915. After only five hours solo flying, he qualified as a combat pilot, and initially flew Channel patrols. Cotton went on to participate in night bombing sorties over France and Germany with Nos 3 and 5 Wings. Cotton was first based with Number 5 wing in Coudekerque where he undertook bombing raids over the German lines. He was then assigned to the Number 5 wing based in Luxeuil where he undertook bombing raids over southern Germany. His experience with high level and low-temperature flying led Cotton in 1917 to develop
3306-519: The Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). During the next few years, Winterbotham began the process of building up an intelligence service for the RAF. His job was to gather information on the development of military aviation in hostile or potentially hostile countries. He recruited agents, and filed and analyzed their reports. One of these reports revealed that Germany had secret arrangements with
3420-578: The Soviet Union for the training of military pilots in violation of the Treaty of Versailles . William de Ropp , the agent who supplied this information, also informed Winterbotham that the Nazis , not yet in power, wanted to cultivate high-level contacts in Britain; they imagined that "imperialist" Britain would be sympathetic to their own dreams of racial conquest. Winterbotham, who was socially well connected, seemed
3534-444: The coronation of King George VI , 'in commemoration of the reign of King George V and Queen Mary, during which the Order was founded'. The figure of Britannia at the centre of the badge of the order was replaced with an image of the crowned heads of the late King and Queen Mary, and the words 'Instituted by King George V' were added to the reverse of the medal. The colour of the riband was also changed: twenty years earlier, prior to
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3648-464: The 21st century quotas were introduced to ensure consistent representation among recipients across nine categories of eligibility: with the largest proportion of awards being reserved for community, voluntary and local service. Non-military awards of the British Empire Medal resumed in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee . In 2017 the centenary of
3762-484: The British Empire is a British order of chivalry , rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service . It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or a dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal , whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of,
3876-788: The British Empire . Rather than using this chapel, the Order now holds its great services upstairs in the nave of the cathedral. In addition to the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral also houses the Chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George . Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years; new Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed at these services. Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix Sir , and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix Dame , to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix Lady to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Knights or spouses of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when
3990-443: The British Empire for Gallantry. Any individual made a member of the order for gallantry after 14 January 1958 wears an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same ribbon as the badge, with a miniature version on the ribbon bar when worn alone. When the ribbon only is worn the emblem is worn in miniature. It could not be awarded posthumously , and was replaced in 1974 with the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM). If recipients of
4104-585: The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain as Cotton believed that it was still possible to stop the crisis from turning into a war. Cotton believed if only Chamberlain and Göring could meet in secret that it was possible to work out a peaceful solution to the crisis and avoid a war where millions would die. Göring, knowing that to fly to London would ultimately expose the charade expressed his approval of Cotton's plan and then found various excuses not to go to London. Cotton's flight
4218-406: The British ambassador Sir Nevile Henderson (who considered Göring to be his best friend) as a moderate, the voice of reason and restraint who was engaged in a power struggle against the extremist Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop , who was well known for his ultra-aggressive belligerent views. Crucially, the fact that Hitler had firmly decided on 27 March 1939 to invade Poland later that year
4332-527: The Danzig crisis believed that Hitler was only considering invading Poland if Danzig was not allowed to rejoin Germany. Göring argued to Henderson and other British officials that to win his supposed power struggle against Ribbentrop to stop the Danzig crisis from turning into a war that he needed Poland to make concessions on the Danzig question. The purpose of the charade was to persuade the British government that there
4446-528: The German government, he consistently managed to get away with flying off-track over military installations. Cotton had a very persuasive manner, and exploited any advantage he could. In 1939, Cotton took aerial photos during a flight over parts of the Middle East and North Africa. On the eve of war, he even managed to engineer a joy-ride over German military airfields on one occasion, accompanied by senior Luftwaffe officer Albert Kesselring . With Kesselring at
4560-845: The Military Division of the order from the UK and across the Empire. Recommendations for all appointments to the Order of the British Empire were originally made on the nomination of the King's United Kingdom ministers (recommendations for overseas awards were made by the Foreign Office , the Colonial Office , the India Office and the Dominions Office ); but in the early 1940s the system was changed to enable
4674-690: The Nizam surrendered. Cotton later faced charges of gun running under the UK Air Navigation Act , was convicted and fined £200. Thelma 'Bunty' Brooke-Smith, a former secretary, married Cotton in 1951, becoming his third wife. With Bunty, Cotton was to have another son and daughter. There were erroneous reports of Cotton's death in 1955, following an article in Flight magazine. A subsequent issue reported: " MR. F. SIDNEY COTTON has goodhumouredly [ sic ] characterised as 'greatly exaggerated'
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4788-436: The Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves; however, they used only the post-nominal letters of the higher grade. When the order was founded in 1917, badges, ribands and stars were appointed for wear by recipients. In 1929 mantles, hats and collars were added for recipients of
4902-513: The Order of the British Empire. In 2024 appointments to the order were made by the governments of: Most members of the order are citizens of the United Kingdom or Commonwealth realms that use the UK system of honours and awards. In addition, honorary awards may be made to citizens of nations where the monarch is not head of state ; these permit use of post-nominal letters, but not the title of Sir or Dame . Honorary appointees who later become
5016-404: The Order, however, are not assigned any special precedence. As a general rule, only wives and children of male recipients are afforded privileges. Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to be granted heraldic supporters . They may, furthermore, encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of
5130-427: The RAF as a substantive squadron leader and acting wing commander on 22 September 1939, in the same period, Cotton was recruited to head up the fledgling Photo Photographic Development Unit (PDU) at Heston Aerodrome . This unit provided important intelligence leading to successful air raids on key enemy installations. With his experience and knowledge gained over Germany and other overflights, Cotton greatly improved
5244-461: The RAF's photo reconnaissance capabilities. The PDU was originally equipped with Bristol Blenheims , but Cotton considered these quite unsuitable, being far too slow, and he consequently wheedled a couple of Supermarine Spitfires . These Spitfires, later augmented by de Havilland Mosquitos , were steadily adapted to fly higher and faster, with a highly polished surface, a special blue – ' PRU Blue ' – camouflage scheme developed by Cotton himself, and
5358-486: The UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to citizens of other nations of which the order's sovereign is not the head of state. The five classes of appointment to the Order are, from highest grade to lowest grade: The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross and Knight or Dame Commander entitle their members to use the titles Sir for men and Dame for women before their forenames, except with honorary awards. King George V founded
5472-460: The United Kingdom; those who would formerly have met the criteria for the medal were instead made eligible for the MBE. In 2004, a report entitled A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System by a Commons select committee recommended phasing out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of
5586-519: The aircraft resided in Florida in 1992. His postwar Lockheed 12A (G-AGTL) also survives in France in 2005. In September 1940, Cotton pursued the idea of an airborne searchlight for night-fighters, that he termed 'Aerial Target Illumination' (ATI). He enlisted the help of William Helmore , and they jointly took out patents on the techniques (GB574970 and GB575093). Helmore, a serving RAF officer, then sponsored
5700-451: The award of medal of the order to Lizzie Robinson, a munitions worker. The order had been established primarily as a civilian award; in August 1918, however, not long after its foundation, a number of awards were made to serving naval and military personnel. Four months later, a 'Military Division' was added to the order, to which serving personnel would in future be appointed. The classes were
5814-468: The cathedral. That year, Commonwealth awards made up 40% of all OBEs and MBEs awarded (and 35% of all living recipients of the higher awards). Gradually that proportion reduced as independent states within the Commonwealth established their own systems of honours . The last Canadian recommendation for the Order of the British Empire was an MBE for gallantry gazetted in 1966, a year before the creation of
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#17328735727795928-402: The centre for awards in the military division). From time to time the order was expanded: there was an increase in the maximum permitted number of recipients in 1933, and a further increase in 1937. During the Second World War, as had been the case during and after World War I, the number of military awards was greatly increased; between 1939 and 1946 there were more than 33,000 appointments to
6042-638: The chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal , knew of the Wallis plan, and took a favourable view of it. Portal overrode the resistance of Sir Arthur Harris , head of Bomber Command , to Wallis' proposal, and the Dambusters raid, code-named Operation Chastise in May 1943, was approved. Before and after The Ultra Secret , Winterbotham wrote several other books dealing with various aspects of his intelligence work. CBE The Most Excellent Order of
6156-418: The circlet. In 1929, to bring the order into line with the other orders of chivalry, members of the first class of the order (GBE) were provided with mantles, hats and collars. Only Knights/Dames Grand Cross wear these elaborate vestments; the hat is now rarely, if ever, worn. Use of the mantle is limited to important occasions (such as quadrennial services and coronations ). The mantle is always worn with
6270-488: The civil division were to be divided equally between UK and overseas awards. With regard to the Medal of the Order (but not the order itself), a distinction was made in 1922 between awards 'for gallantry' and awards 'for meritorious service' (each being appropriately inscribed, and the former having laurel leaves decorating the clasp, the latter oak leaves). In 1933 holders of the medal 'for gallantry', which had come to be known as
6384-444: The collar. Although the mantle was introduced in 1929, very few mantles would have been produced prior to the 1937 design changes, as there were few occasions for wearing them in the intervening years. On certain days designated by the sovereign, known as " collar days ", members attending formal events may wear the order's collar over their military uniform, formal day dress, evening wear or robes of office. Collars are returned upon
6498-570: The controls, Cotton reached under his seat, operated the cameras, and captured the airfield on film. Cotton later offered to fly Hermann Göring to London for talks a week before outbreak of hostilities. Göring was widely viewed before the war as the principal moderate Nazi leader who was a restraining force on Adolf Hitler . During the Danzig crisis , the Germans engaged in an elaborate charade designed to split Britain from Poland. Göring presented himself to
6612-479: The country's population". The committee further suggested changing the name of the award to the Order of British Excellence, and changing the rank of Commander to Companion (as the former was said to have a "militaristic ring"), as well as advocating for the abolition of knighthoods and damehoods; the government, however, was not of the opinion that a case for change had been made, and the aforementioned suggestions and recommendations were not, therefore, pursued. In
6726-425: The cryptologic side of the multi-faceted and strictly compartmentalized Ultra operation, and had no access to official records so was written from memory. His description of the pioneering work done by Poland 's Cipher Bureau before the war is minimal. Winterbotham later responded that he had simply passed on the story that he had been given at the time. He erroneously suggested that Japan 's PURPLE cipher machine
6840-403: The death of their owners, but other insignia may be retained. The six office-holders of the order wear pearl-grey mantles lined with rose-pink, having on the right side a purple shield charged with the roundel from the badge. Each of these office-holders wears a unique badge of office, suspended from a gold chain worn around the neck. The British Empire Medal is made of silver. On the obverse
6954-532: The development of what became known as Turbinlite . Like many such larger-than-life wartime figures, Cotton did not thrive in post-war civilian life. He was reluctant to profit from his wartime innovations and even waived his patent rights on the Sidcot suit. While he was sometimes very rich in later life, Cotton was also dogged by bad luck in private business. Around the time of the Partition of India in 1947, Cotton
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#17328735727797068-607: The distinction between ranks in military operational gallantry awards will cease'. The reforms affected the order at various levels: for example the automatic award each year of a GBE to the Lord Mayor of London ceased; the OBE replaced the Imperial Service Order as an award for civil servants and the number of MBEs awarded each year was significantly increased. As part of these reforms the British Empire Medal stopped being awarded by
7182-515: The former was to be responsible for recording all proceedings connected with the order, issuing warrants under the seal of the order and making arrangements for investitures, while the latter (at that time the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury ) was responsible for collecting and tabulating the names of those who were to receive an award. The office of Dean was added in 1957. The King of Arms
7296-401: The governments of overseas dominions to make their own nominations; Canada and South Africa began doing so in 1942, followed by Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms. In May 1957, forty years after the foundation of the order, it was announced that St Paul's Cathedral was to serve as the church of the order, and in 1960 a chapel was dedicated for its use within the crypt of
7410-410: The guise of an archaeologist or a film producer looking for locations), a series of flights provided valuable information about German naval activity and troop buildups. He equipped the civilian Lockheed 12A business aircraft, G-AFTL , with three F24 cameras concealed behind panels which could be slid aside and operated by pressing a button under the pilot's seat, and a Leica behind a similar panel in
7524-450: The highest class of the order (GBE). The designs of all these items underwent major changes in 1937. The badge is worn by all members of the order; the size, colour and design depends on the class of award. The badge for all classes is in the form of a cross patonce (having the arms growing broader and floriated toward the end) with a medallion in the centre, the obverse of which bears a crowned image of George V and Queen Mary within
7638-633: The honours system, calling it "a preposterous charade". The order has attracted some criticism for its naming having connection with the idea of the now-extinct British Empire . Benjamin Zephaniah , a British poet of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, publicly rejected appointment as an Officer in 2003 because, he asserted, it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality". He also said that "it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised". Sidney Cotton Frederick Sidney Cotton OBE (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969)
7752-435: The information from this would be handled once it became more plentiful, and he shared his ideas on this topic with his Chief. His chief gave him "permission to set up a completely new organisation for the translation, distribution and complete security of the decoded signals...". A key part of the solution was arranging for the secure delivery of Ultra to the various commanders, and making sure that they did nothing to give away
7866-446: The insignia to Buckingham Palace and by ceasing to make reference to their honour, but they still hold the honour unless and until annulled by the monarch. In 2003, The Sunday Times published a list of the people who had rejected the Order of the British Empire, including David Bowie , John Cleese , Nigella Lawson , Elgar Howarth , L. S. Lowry , George Melly , and J. G. Ballard . In addition, Ballard voiced his opposition to
7980-624: The junior post-nominal letters. The British sovereign is the sovereign of the order and appoints all other officers of the order (by convention, on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms ). The second-most senior officer is the Grand Master (a 'Prince of the Blood Royal, or other exalted personage' appointed by the sovereign, who, by virtue of their appointment, becomes 'the First or Principal Knight Grand Cross of
8094-444: The late 1960s, he collaborated with a biographer, Ralph Barker, on a book entitled Aviator Extraordinary: the Sidney Cotton story . Cotton was living at Ford Manor, Lingfield when he died on 13 February 1969 aged 74. He was cremated following a service at Dormansland Parish Church on 17 February. Cotton served at least partly as the basis for the James Bond character created by his friend Ian Fleming, most notably in his womanising and
8208-519: The latter. Knights and Dames Commander and Commanders may display the circlet, but not the collar, surrounding their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. See List of current honorary knights and dames of the Order of the British Empire Only the monarch can annul an honour. The Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases and makes recommendations for forfeiture. An individual can renounce their honour by returning
8322-463: The left breast, by Knights and Dames Grand Cross; Knights and Dames Commander wear a smaller star composed of 'four equal points and four lesser'. The star is not worn by the more junior classes. Prior to 1937 each star had in the centre a gold medallion with a figure of Britannia, surrounded by a crimson circlet inscribed with the motto of the order ('For God and the Empire'); since 1937 the effigies of King George V and Queen Mary have been shown within
8436-595: The locations of many crucial military and intelligence targets. R.V. Jones recounts in his memoirs how these photographs were used to establish the size and the characteristic launching mechanisms for both the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket . In December 1943, using the photographs, Constance Babington Smith was the first person to identify a V-1 in an image of a test station in Peenemunde , Germany. Cotton also worked on ideas such as
8550-608: The massive volumes of Enigma-derived intelligence were put by the Allies, on the western and eastern European fronts, in the Mediterranean, North Africa, and perhaps most crucially, in the Battle of the Atlantic . Winterbotham's account has been criticized for inaccuracies and self-aggrandizement. Winterbotham acknowledged in the book that he was no cryptologist , had only slight understanding of
8664-449: The messages, and handed them over to the commander, who was often the only person cleared to know where the information came from. (At some HQs, there might be one or two deputies also cleared.) The SLU was expected to retrieve the Ultra message after the commander had read it and keep it under lock and key. The SLU was also expected to keep the recipient commander from telling anyone else about
8778-469: The names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Male clergy of the Church of England or the Church of Scotland do not use the title Sir (unless they were knighted before being ordained) as they do not receive the accolade (they are not dubbed "knight" with a sword), although they do append the post-nominal letters ; dames do not receive the accolade, and therefore female clergy are free to use
8892-462: The next seven years. He became a regular visitor to Germany, and an apparent Nazi sympathizer. As such, he was welcomed into the highest circles in Germany, meeting Hitler and Göring , and with Göring's Luftwaffe subordinates such as Erhard Milch and Albert von Kesselring . He gathered a tremendous amount of information on the Luftwaffe and on German political and military intentions. It seems he
9006-399: The numbers restricted to the order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British orders of chivalry, with more than 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. From time to time, individuals may be promoted to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of
9120-605: The order alongside its own honours until the establishment of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1996. Other Commonwealth realms have continued to use the Order of the British Empire alongside their own honours. In 1993 the Prime Minister, John Major , instituted a reform of the honours system with the aim 'that exceptional service or achievement will be more widely recognised; that greater importance will be given to voluntary service; that automatic honours will end; that
9234-569: The order to fill gaps in the British honours system : In particular, George V wished to create an order to honour the many thousands of individuals from across the Empire who had served in a variety of non-combat roles during the First World War . From its foundation the order consisted of five classes (GBE, KBE/DBE, CBE, OBE and MBE) and was open to both women and men; provision was also made for conferring honorary awards on foreign recipients. At
9348-409: The order was celebrated with a service at St Paul's Cathedral. The order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 officers and 1,464 members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to
9462-410: The order's establishment, Queen Mary had made it known that pink would be her preferred colour for the riband of the proposed new order, but, in the event, purple was chosen. Following her appointment as Grand Master of the order in 1936 a change was duly made and since 9 March 1937 the riband of the order has been 'rose pink edged with pearl grey’ (with the addition of a vertical pearl grey stripe in
9576-402: The order. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V , who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside
9690-458: The origins of the message or acting too obviously on its contents. Naturally, this sometimes led to conflicts with field commanders who objected to being second-guessed. After the U.S. entered the war, these field commanders were often not British. Winterbotham was responsible for recruiting and training the SLU personnel for this difficult role. They had to be very able technically, be close-mouthed, keep
9804-564: The outbreak of war. On 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany following the German violation of Belgian neutrality, which the United Kingdom had guaranteed in 1839. Australia as part of the British Empire was automatically at war with the Reich . Cotton had wanted to join the Australian Imperial Force , which had been raised to assist with the war effort, but Cotton's father forbade him from enlisting. In April 1915, Cotton, while on
9918-572: The raid but that Churchill personally decided not to take any special countermeasures that might alert the Germans that the British were reading Enigma. This story has been widely repeated, even though it has been refuted by other historians and memoirists. Peter Calvocoressi was head of the Air Section at Bletchley Park that translated and analysed all decrypted Luftwaffe messages. He wrote that "Ultra never mentioned Coventry... Churchill, so far from pondering whether to save Coventry or safeguard Ultra,
10032-413: The report of his death, quoted in our issue of 9 September from Australian sources. Apparently there was confusion with the name of a relative [viz. Frank Cotton ] who was concerned with the design of aircrew pressure suits. Mr. Sidney Cotton, whose name is associated with the Sidcot flying suit, is in this country, and very much alive." Cotton later worked in oil exploration and civil engineering. During
10146-618: The revolutionary new 'Sidcot' suit, a flying suit which solved the problem pilots had in keeping warm in the cockpit. This flying suit was widely used by the Royal Air Force until the 1950s. Cotton continued with No. 8 Squadron RNAS in 1917 where he was promoted to Flight Sub-Lieutenant in June 1917. In July 1917, he flew a Handley Page bomber on a raid on Constantinople . Soon after, he came into conflict with senior officers, and resigned his commission in October 1917. On 16 October 1917, he married
10260-586: The same Order'). The position of Grand Master has been held by the following people: In addition to the sovereign and the grand master , the order has six further officers: At its foundation the order was served by three officers: the King of Arms, the Registrar & Secretary and the Gentleman Usher of the Purple Rod. In 1922 the Prelate was added, and the office of Registrar was separated from that of Secretary:
10374-459: The same as for the Civil Division (as it was now termed), but military awards were distinguished by the addition of a central vertical red stripe to the purple riband of the civil awards. In 1920 appointment as an MBE 'for an act of gallantry' was granted for the first time, to Sydney Frank Blanck Esq, who had rescued an injured man from a burning building containing explosives. In December 1922
10488-556: The same time, alongside the order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. The first investiture took place at Ibrox Stadium , as part of a royal visit to the Glasgow shipyards, with the appointment of Alexander Ure, 1st Baron Strathclyde as a GBE (in recognition of his role as chairman of the Scottish War Savings Committee) and
10602-401: The secret that Enigma was being read. Winterbotham took charge of this process. He formed "Special Liaison Units", which were attached to each field headquarters that received Enigma. An SLU consisted of a few RAF officers and enlisted men, low in rank to avoid drawing attention. They received Ultra messages by radio from Britain, carefully encrypted in Britain's strongest cipher . They decrypted
10716-455: The standard of the George Medal (even though, as appointments to an order of chivalry, they were listed before it on the Order of Wear . In contrast to awards for meritorious service, which usually appear without a citation, there were often citations for gallantry awards, some detailed and graphic. From 14 January 1958, these awards were designated Commander, Officer or Member of the Order of
10830-416: The statutes of the order were amended; there having been a large number of awards for war work prior to this date, these amended statutes placed the order on more of a peacetime footing. For the first time numbers of appointments were limited, with the stipulation that senior awards in the Civil Division were to outnumber those in the Military Division by a proportion of six to one. Furthermore appointments in
10944-506: The title Dame . Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal GBE; Knights Commander, KBE; Dames Commander, DBE; Commanders, CBE; Officers, OBE; and Members, MBE. The post-nominal for the British Empire Medal is BEM. Members of all classes of the order are assigned positions in the order of precedence . Wives of male members of all classes also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of Ladies of
11058-582: The two missing airmen. In 1931, Cotton found and rescued the British Arctic explorer Augustine Courtauld who had been trapped in an ice field in Greenland. At a time when most photographs were in black and white, Cotton purchased the rights to sell outside of France a French colour film called Dufaycolor , which led him to engage in frequent travels. In September 1938 during the Sudetenland crisis , Cotton
11172-469: The wings. The camera ports were covered while the G-AFTL was on the ground. The G-AFTL was provided with additional fuel tanks to increase its flying range from the normal 700 miles to 1, 600 miles. Warm cabin air was diverted to prevent condensation on optical surfaces. Cotton took his secretary/mistress Patricia Martin along, and she too took photographs in flight. Although his flight plans were dictated by
11286-584: Was a version of the German Enigma and confused "Dilly" Knox with a different person. Noted in the book is the myth of Winston Churchill and the Coventry Blitz . During The Blitz of 1940–1941, Coventry was severely bombed by the Luftwaffe on the night of 14–15 November. There was heavy damage and numerous civilian casualties. Winterbotham asserted that Enigma decrypts had provided clear advance warning of
11400-430: Was absolutely authentic (as the decrypted messages were genuine German communications) and it was often of immense value. This source was so valuable it was given the special classification "Top Secret Ultra", or simply " Ultra ". In April 1940 the cryptographers at Bletchley Park made a breakthrough when they succeeded in deciphering four small messages regarding Luftwaffe personnel. This led Winterbotham to consider how
11514-684: Was also involved in an observer mission with General Franco's fascist forces in the Spanish Civil War. A report written by a William Winterbotham, dated 16 February 1937, filed in AIR 40/224, provides highly technical analysis of events that reflected his professional military experience. It was read by a member of the Air Intelligence Staff on 26 September 1937. In 1938, Winterbotham recruited Sidney Cotton to carry out some very successful aerial reconnaissance over Italy and Germany in 1939–40 in
11628-410: Was an Australian inventor, photographer and aviation and photography pioneer, responsible for developing and promoting an early colour film process, and largely responsible for the development of photographic reconnaissance before and during World War II . He numbered among his close friends George Eastman , Ian Fleming and Winston Churchill . Frederick Sidney Cotton was born on 17 June 1894 on
11742-505: Was approached by agents of the Deuxième Bureau (the French intelligence department) to undertake spy flights over Germany. Cotton's role in promoting Dufaycolor led him to travel all over the world, which gave him a plausible excuse to fly to Germany. Starting on 25 March 1939, using the cover of a newly founded dummy corporation, the Aeronautical Research and Sales Corporation of London, Cotton started to make spy flights over Germany, Italy and
11856-656: Was educated at Charterhouse School , in Godalming , Surrey . He married four times: Erica Horniman (1921), daughter of Frederick John Horniman , tea trader and MP, Madge Mary Moncrieff Anderson (1939), Joan Petrea Trant (1948) and Kathleen Price (1987). At the start of the Great War , in August 1914, he enlisted in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars , but in 1916 they lost their horses and were to be supplied with bicycles or transferred to infantry. So he transferred to
11970-402: Was first announced at the end of December 2006, and is available to recipients of all levels of the order, as well as to holders of the British Empire Medal . The pin design is not unique to any level. The pin features the badge of the order, enclosed in a circle of ribbon of its colours of pink and grey. Lapel pins must be purchased separately by a member of the order. The creation of such a pin
12084-567: Was for much of the 1920s based in St. John's , the capital of the Dominion of Newfoundland , where he was employed by sealer firms to work as an aircraft spotter to find sealers out in the ice fields of the Arctic Ocean . In 1927, when two French airmen, Charles Nungesser and François Coli , vanished in an attempt to cross the Atlantic non-stop, Cotton was hired by the wealthy Du Pont family to try to find
12198-713: Was hired by the independent princely state of Hyderabad to assist it in resisting integration into the Dominion of India . At the request of Prince Mohammed Bakhtawar Khan and his son Prince Mumtaz Ali Khan – representatives of Osman Ali Khan ( Nizam of Hyderabad) – Cotton transported gold reserves for the Dominion of Pakistan , which was an ally of the Nizam. During the first India-Pakistan War , Cotton undertook airlifts of weapons, supplies and medicines from Hyderabad to Pakistan, using unarmed Avro Lancastrian transport aircraft. Hyderabadi forces were defeated in September 1948 and
12312-469: Was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan). Although initially intended to recognise meritorious service, the order began to also be awarded for gallantry. There were an increased number of cases in the Second World War for service personnel and civilians including the merchant navy, police, emergency services and civil defence, mostly MBEs but with a small number of OBEs and CBEs. Such awards were for gallantry that did not reach
12426-423: Was never mentioned, and instead Hitler was misrepresented as merely considering war against Poland if Danzig was not permitted to rejoin Germany. That Hitler had given orders on 27 March to have Fall Weiss (Case White), the codename for the invasion of Poland, launched on 26 August 1939 (later pushed back to 1 September) was a very closely guarded secret that only a few people were aware of, and most people during
12540-458: Was published. This was the first book in English about Ultra , and it explained what Ultra was, and revealed Winterbotham's role, particularly with regard to the dissemination and use of Ultra. There had been mentions of Enigma decryption in earlier books by Władysław Kozaczuk , Ladislas Farago and Gustave Bertrand . However, Winterbotham's book was the first extensive account of the uses to which
12654-566: Was recommended in Sir Hayden Phillips ' review of the honours system in 2004. The Chapel of the Order of the British Empire is in St Paul's Cathedral . It occupies the far eastern end of the cathedral crypt and was dedicated in 1960. The only heraldic banners normally on display in the chapel are those of the Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire and of the Grand Master of the Order of
12768-558: Was still time to save the peace by pressuring Poland to make concessions, and that when the Poles as expected rejected the British advice to allow the Free City of Danzig to "go home to the Reich " that the British would renounce the guarantee of Poland, thereby allowing Germany to invade Poland without fear of a war with Britain. Like many others, Cotton was fooled by the charade and on 22 August 1939 offered to fly Göring to London in secret to meet
12882-501: Was the last civilian aircraft to leave Berlin before the outbreak of hostilities. After Cotton took off from the airport in Berlin, he noticed Luftwaffe planes on their way to bomb Poland. Upon landing in Britain, he told British customs that he just left Berlin earlier that morning and was told: "Left it a bit late, haven't you?" One biography is titled Sidney Cotton: The Last Plane Out of Berlin commemorating this escapade. Commissioned in
12996-507: Was under the impression that the raid was to be on London." Winterbotham concluded that the war's outcome "was, in fact, a very narrow shave, and the reader may like to ponder [...] whether or not we might have won had we not had Ultra". James Holland credits Winterbotham with responding to a letter from Barnes Wallis with a desperate cry for assistance ("help oh help") with a letter of his own, in February 1943. Winterbotham's letter ensured
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