Sir Bill Wratten | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1939-08-15)15 August 1939 (age 85) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1958–97 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands | Strike Command (1994–97) No. 11 Group (1989–91) RAF Stanley (1982–83) RAF Coningsby (1980–82) No. 23 Squadron (1975–77) |
| Battles / wars | Gulf War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Air Force Cross |
Sir William John Wratten (born 15 August 1939) is a retired senior commander in theRoyal Air Force who wasAir Officer Commanding-in-Chief ofRAF Strike Command from 1994 to 1997.
Educated atChatham House Grammar School inRamsgate, Wratten enteredRAF Cranwell and was commissioned into theRoyal Air Force in 1960.[1] He was appointed Officer CommandingNo. 23 Squadron in 1975 and, following his promotion to group captain, he became Station Commander atRAF Coningsby in 1980.[1] In June 1982 he was made the first Station Commander atRAF Stanley in the Falkland Islands after the 1982 war.[1] He went on to serve as Director of Operational Requirements (Air) atMinistry of Defence in 1983, as Senior Air Staff Officer at HeadquartersNo. 1 Group in 1986 and asAir Officer CommandingNo. 11 Group in 1989.[1] As anair vice marshal, he was Air Commander British Forces Middle East from 17 November 1990 until the end of the Gulf War (as such he was the senior air force officer inOperation Granby).[1] His last appointment was asAir Officer CommandingStrike Command in 1994 before he retired in 1997.[2]
In 1995, following theChinook Helicopter Crash on theMull of Kintyre, Wratten was the Senior Reviewing Officer of the Board of Inquiry which had failed to find a cause of the accident. Despite a lack of Accident Data Recorder andcockpit voice recorder, Wratten concluded that because the aircraft hit the ground whilst in cloud/fog, pilot error was the cause of the crash and found the pilots guilty of gross negligence.[3] Following a subsequent Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry andHouse of CommonsPublic Accounts Committee report, aHouse of Lords Select Committee was appointed to consider all the circumstances surrounding the crash and unanimously concluded "that the reviewing officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash".[4]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Air Officer CommandingNo. 11 Group 1989–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Air Commander British Forces Middle East Also Deputy Commander British Forces Middle East 1990–1991 | Gulf War ended |
| Preceded by | Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefStrike Command 1994–1997 | Succeeded by Sir John Allison |