Robert Leckie (RCAF officer)

Robert Leckie
Born	(1890-04-16)16 April 1890 Glasgow, Scotland
Died	Ottawa, Canada
Allegiance	United Kingdom and Canada
Service/branch	Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force
Years of service	1915–1947
Rank	Air Marshal
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Canadian Forces Decoration

Air Marshal Robert Leckie, CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD (16 April 1890 – 31 March 1975) was a British-born Canadian aviation pioneer and Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1944 to 1947.

First World War service

Leckie learned to fly in Toronto and joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. During the First World War he flew anti-submarine patrols over the North Sea. Flying a Curtiss H12 flying boat on reconnaissance, Leckie downed the German zeppelin L22 near Terschelling on 14 May 1917. Fifteen months later, during a nighttime raid on 6 August 1918, a German zeppelin formation under the command of Führer der Luftschiffe (FdL.) (Admiral, 2nd class) Peter Strasser attacked Boston, Norwich, and the Humber estuary. Flying in a DH.4 biplane, Major Egbert Cadbury (pilot) and Leckie (gunner) took part in the interception engagement and were credited with downing Zeppelin L70 just north of Wells-next-the-Sea on the Norfolk coast. FdL. Strasser, head of the Imperial German Navy's zeppelin forces, was on board L70 and did not survive. By the end of the war, Leckie was a Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Interwar years and Second World War service

Between the wars, he directed flying operations for the Canadian Air Board, and oversaw the creation of mail and passenger air service throughout Canada. He later returned to the RAF, and by 1940 commanded the British air forces in the Mediterranean Sea from Malta.

As the war expanded later that year, Leckie returned to Canada to take charge of training operations in Canada for the RAF. He was promoted to Acting Air Vice-Marshal in 1941, and was later made substantive. In 1942 he transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 1944 he became Chief of Air Staff, and was promoted to Air Marshal. After his retirement from the RCAF, Leckie played an active role in the Canadian Air Cadet movement. He died in Ottawa on 31 March 1975.

External links

• The First Trans-Canada Flight
• Juno Beach Centre biography
• Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame citation

Military offices
Preceded by P C Maltby	Air Officer Commanding RAF Mediterranean 1938–1940	Succeeded by F H M Maynard
Preceded by L S Breadner	Chief of the Air Staff (RCAF) 1944–1947	Succeeded by W Curtis