In Memory Group Captain George Cubby MBE, FRMets
Born in December 1920, George was a native of Whitehaven in Cumberland.
He joined the RAF in 1940.
In December 1942, George was commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and served throughout the war in Bomber Command. He completed two operational tours with No 199 Squadron and No 171 Squadron at RAF Lakenheath and RAF North Creake. The photograph above shows young George Cubby at the age of 24 years old at RAF North Creake in September 1944.
Immediately after the war, George was seconded for duty with the British Military Administration of Malaya and during 1945 and 1946 he served as District Officer in the State of Kelantan, Malaya. In 1947, he returned to normal RAF duties to serve in Java and after that on flying boats with No 88 Squadron based in Hong Kong.
After serving for two and a half years as ADC to the AOC-in-C Maintenance Command, George was posted to Germany for administrative duties at RAF Butsweilerhof. He returned to the United Kingdom in 1956 and served at the RAF Record Office as Personal Staff Officer to the ACC until being posted to the Air Secretary’s Department of the Air Ministry in 1959.
In January 1961, George was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander. He was posted to the Headquarters of the United States 3rd Air Force at Ruislip as Senior Liaison Officer. From 1963 to 1965 he then served on the staff of the Headquarters of the Far East Air Force in Singapore. He returned home in April 1965 and was appointed to command the RAF Youth Selection Centre at RAF Stafford.
On 28th December 1966, George was promoted to the rank of Group Captain and assumed command of RAF Upwood with responsibility for the professional training of Equipment and Secretarial Officers and for Specialist Management and Work Study Training.
Then, in February 1969, he was posted to Germany as Assistant Chief of Staff (Personnel and Administration) at the Headquarters of the Second Allied Tactical Air Force.
George’s chief interests were Mountaineering and sailing. He climbed extensively in the Alps, Great Britain and in the Far East where a ‘First Ascent’ was made with members of an RAF Expedition. He was a member of the RAF Mountaineering Association as well as other climbing clubs, and was elected to Membership of the Alpine Club in 1967.
Since 1947, George was also a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society.
George Cubby passed away in 2005.
This article is from the Summer 2007 issue of Confound and Destroy
