ACM Sir David Harcourt-Smith, flight commander who saw action during Suez and in Aden

In Aden he flew a Venom fighter bomber in attacks on rebel strongholds and during Suez he led attacks on Egyptian airfields

After Egypt’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal on July 26 1956, RAF reinforcements flew into bases in the Mediterranean. Negotiations for a peaceful resolution failed and operations began on the night of October 31/November 1.
As one of the flight commanders of 8 Squadron, deployed to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, Harcourt-Smith flew his first mission at dawn on November 1. He led a section of Venom ground-attack aircraft to strafe Abu Sueir and Fayid airfields, destroying seven aircraft and damaging two others. He later led an attack on Kabrit airfield, destroying two more aircraft.
Over the next two days he led more attacks against Egyptian airfields then, on November 3, flew an anti-flak mission in support of an airborne assault by RAF Canberra bombers. He also flew armed reconnaissance missions and attacked military vehicles with rockets.
He led the squadron on November 6 when eight Venoms were tasked to attack the Mole at Port Said, but a ceasefire was declared, and he fired his rockets in to the sea, later writing: “A silent protest and release of tension! In the event it was my last and somewhat useless act in this brief, unusual and not very successful piece of British history.”
David Harcourt-Smith was born in Singapore on October 14 1931, the son of Air Vice-Marshal Gilbert Harcourt-Smith, CB, CBE, MVO, who played a key role at HQ 11 Group in the Battle of Britain. David was educated at Felsted School in Essex before gaining a cadetship to the RAF College, Cranwell, graduating in July 1952 as a pilot officer.
He trained as a fighter pilot before joining 11 Squadron at Wunstorf in Germany to fly the Venom fighter bomber. During this time, he flew in the Coronation Review mass flypast. After two years, he left for Aden, where he continued to fly the Venom in the ground-attack role with 8 Squadron.
After returning from Cyprus, the squadron was soon back in action against rebel strongholds in the Aden Protectorate. In the aftermath of Suez, trouble in central Oman flared up in July 1957. No 8 was ordered to Sharjah in the Persian Gulf, and within days Harcourt-Smith was leading strikes against rebel positions in the Jebel Akhdar region. Operating in support of land forces, the Venoms attacked fortifications with rockets.
At the end of 1957, he was awarded the DFC “in recognition of gallantry and devotion to duty in air operations in the Middle East”.
In August 1963 he assumed command of 54 Squadron, which operated the most advanced mark of the Hunter ground-attack day-fighter. Based at West Raynham in Norfolk with its sister squadron, No 1, 54 Squadron was assigned to Nato’s quick-reaction mobile force primarily intended for deployment to Nato’s northern and southern flanks.
For national operations it supported the Army’s 3rd Division as an anti-tank force, using rockets and cannons. The highly experienced Harcourt-Smith was a forceful and inspiring leader, greatly admired by his pilots, one of whom pilots remembered it as “a happy squadron with him as the boss”.
He served as the personal staff officer to the Commander-in-Chief Technical Training Command, Air Marshal Sir Donald Evans, before taking up an appointment in the exercise plans department in MoD.
In December 1968 he returned to the fighter world to take command of the RAF’s first Phantom squadron, No 6, at Coningsby in Lincolnshire. That squadron’s primary role was ground attack with a variety of weapons together with self-defence air-to-air missiles. One of the squadron pilots described Harcourt-Smith as “an action man, occasionally with a short fuse, but very popular and admired for his professionalism”.
After a period at the RAF’s trials and tactics organisation, Harcourt-Smith assumed command of RAF Bruggen in German, the home of three Phantom strike-attack squadrons. Each squadron had to maintain an aircraft on “quick reaction alert” or QRA, armed with a nuclear weapon and able to take off in 15 minutes after the alert.
Harcourt-Smith flew regularly with each squadron and soon re-established his reputation as an excellent ground-attack pilot. He claimed that the Phantom was “one of the finest weapon systems in the world”. He and his wife Mary were popular and very sociable; on his departure in July 1974, he paid tribute to those who had developed the many important family and social benefits to create a fine community spirit on the large base.
After serving in the RAF operational requirements directorate, he attended the Royal College of Defence Studies, before becoming Commandant of the RAF College Cranwell.
He had a large parish, which included initial officer training, a flying training school, and postgraduate air and engineering departments. He also oversaw one of the most fundamental changes in the role of the College when all RAF initial officer training was centred at Cranwell. With his usual enthusiasm, he threw himself into the activities of all the departments under his command.
He returned to the MoD in 1980 as Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operational Requirements). A new generation of “fast jets” had entered service and new weapons were needed, in particular for the Tornado. His staff were also pursuing an airborne early-warning version of the Nimrod aircraft, a programme fraught with difficulties and subsequently cancelled.
Occupying much of his time was the multinational project to develop the next-generation fighter as a replacement for the Tornado. A European Collaborative Fighter project was launched with the French and Germans, each country submitting its options to meet the requirement.
In April 1982, Italy joined the programme, but differing national positions led to the withdrawal of the French. Shortly afterwards, Spain joined the programme.
With his experience as a fighter pilot, and his straightforward and persuasive personality, Harcourt-Smith was well able to represent, and protect, RAF interests. The protracted negotiations eventually led to the Typhoon, currently in service with the RAF and the air forces of its partners.
In 1984 he became Commander-in-Chief of RAF Support Command. His final appointment before retiring in May 1989 was as Controller Aircraft, with a seat on the Air Force Board, liaising with British industry.
He was appointed KCB in 1984, advanced to GBE in 1989, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1986.
In retirement he was chairman of Chelworth Defence and a consultant in the defence section of ICL.
He was also a governor of Felsted School and of Downe House, and a brisk, no-nonsense chairman of the Castle Cary branch of the Somerton and Frome Conservatives.
Harcourt-Smith enjoyed walking, golf and building clocks. He was also passionate about classical music and at a local version of Desert Island Discs he chose Beethoven’s Symphony No 3, Elgar’s Nimrod and Allegri’s Miserere. His chosen book was Winston Churchill’s wartime speeches, and his luxury item was a large bottle of Famous Grouse.
Harcourt-Smith led from the front. With piercing blue eyes and a penetrating voice, it was wise to remain on his side, but he was very much a people person. Modest and a master of the understatement, he was kind, with a mischievous sense of fun.
David Harcourt-Smith married, in 1957, Mary Entwistle. She died in 2018 and he is survived by a son and a daughter. A second son predeceased him.
Sir David Harcourt-Smith, born October 14 1931, died August 4 2024