- Born
- 10 June 1912, Lewes, Sussex
- Died
- 6 March 1986, aged 73
- Fate
- Served and survived
Biography
Air Vice-Marshal Robert Norman Bateson was a Royal Air Force pilot and commander whose wartime service ran from the Western Desert to the Far East and then to low-level Mosquito operations over occupied Europe. Born near Lewes in Sussex on 10 June 1912 and educated partly at Watford Grammar School, he joined the RAF in 1936, trained as a pilot and joined No. 113 Squadron before the unit moved to the Middle East. During the early desert war he commanded No. 113 Squadron’s Blenheims against Italian targets, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for leadership during repeated operations in September and October 1940.
After a spell on Middle East staff duties, Bateson was posted on 26 October 1941 as Senior Air Staff Officer to No. 270 Wing at Fuka, under Group Captain Beamish, as the Desert Air Force prepared for Operation Crusader. In January 1942 he took command of No. 211 Squadron, leading its Blenheims east to Sumatra and Java during the desperate attempt to reinforce the Far East after Japan entered the war; he was among the RAF survivors evacuated from Java in March 1942. Back in Britain from 1943, he commanded No. 613 Squadron and then No. 140 Wing in No. 2 Group, leading precision Mosquito attacks including the Hague Central Records Registry raid and later the Copenhagen Gestapo headquarters raid. His wartime decorations included the DFC, the DSO and a Bar to the DSO, and after the war he remained in the RAF, eventually becoming Senior Air Staff Officer at Fighter Command before retiring in 1967. He died near Tavistock, Devon, on 6 March 1986.
Photographs
ⓘ licence & credit
Unknown authorUnknown author / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Bateson_(1944).jpgView source & full licence →Timeline
-
10 June 1912
Born
Lewes, Sussex -
14 January 1941
Gazetted: DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross -
28 April 1944
Gazetted: DSO
Distinguished Service Order -
6 March 1986
Died
aged 73
Service
- Squadron Leader, No. 113 Squadron
- Wing Commander, No. 211 Squadron
- Wing Commander, No. 11 OTU
Awards
-
Distinguished Service Order (DSO) — gazetted 28 April 1944
Awarded for skill and leadership in low-level precision operations with No. 613 Squadron; a Bar followed in 1945 for his leadership of No. 140 Wing attacks including Copenhagen and Odense.
-
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) — gazetted 14 January 1941
Awarded for leadership of No. 113 Squadron during extensive operations in the Western Desert in September and October 1940.