F/Lt Trumble
was born in Essex on 15th December 1915 although he spent his early childhood years in India. Once back in England, he was educated at
Wanstead High School in East London.
Tony joined the RAF on a short service commission and was appointed a pilot officer on 15th March 1935.
After completing his pilot training, he joined 56 Squadron flying Bulldog fighters.
Tony learned to fly float-planes before spending the next three years flying fighters with the Fleet Air Arm from the aircraft carriers Courageous and Victorious.
While on Courageous in January 1939, Tony took part in the deck-landing trials of the Blackburn Skua fighter dive-bomber aircraft, the first British modern monoplane aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier. Shortly afterwards he returned to the RAF.
In late August 1939, Tony went on air intelligence duties with the RAF component of the British Expeditionary Force and, after Dunkirk, he joined No 264 Squadron, equipped with the Defiant which he flew during the early phases of the Battle of Britain.
Late in July 1940, Tony was sent with eleven other pilots to Abbotsinch, where they converted to the Hurricane to form No. 418 Flight. Within days they boarded the aircraft carrier Argus, sailing for the Mediterranean to reinforce the tiny fighter force based on Malta, which was totally inadequate against the threat posed by Italy.
Tony and his colleagues took off from Argus on 2nd August for the long journey to Luqa airfield on Malta. All but one arrived safely, and 418 Flight, combined with the small force of resident Gladiator fighters, formed 261 Squadron, with Tony appointed as a Flight Commander.
The Hurricane-equipped squadron regularly intercepted Italian bombers and their fighter escorts. In December 1940, Tony assumed command of 261 Squadron, remaining on Malta until the end of February 1941, when he was rested and sent to Cairo.
Tony was appointed to command the airfield of Heraklion on the island of Crete in readiness for a British offensive in the Dodecanese, but this was abandoned when the Germans invaded Greece in April 1941.
On 20th May 1941, German gliders and paratroops descended on the island. Tony Trumble and his staff cleared landing strips amid the rubble so that a few Hurricanes could operate, but they were soon destroyed by enemy action. The following day the airfield was heavily bombed, and the evacuation of RAF personnel was ordered. Half managed to get away - but Tony and his adjutant remained and were among the seventy to be captured.
On his return from Germany in May 1945, Tony returned to flying duties; he commanded the Metropolitan Communications Squadron at Hendon before taking up a staff appointment at the Headquarters of Transport Command. Among his duties was the creation of an air transport force for the Belgian Air Force; in recognition of this work he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Leopold II by the Prince Regent of Belgium.
Tony Trumble served on the staff of the RAF Staff College and at the Central Flying School, before being promoted to group captain to command Bridgenorth, the RAF's National Service recruit training depot. During this period he was appointed to organise and take command of Lord Trenchard's funeral parade.
After a tour in Singapore, he returned to take command of RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, with responsibility for establishing it as a joint civil/military airfield, a role it fulfils to the present day. His final appointment was at the Ministry of Defence.
Tony Trumble retired from the RAF in May 1966.
Tony Trumble passed away aged 88. He and his wife Robin were married for 65 years. She and their two sons and a daughter survive him.
