Richard Bell Davies chose convoys over a senior staff desk

Richard Bell Davies became a major figure in early British naval aviation. In 1915 he completed an air attack despite a bullet wound to the thigh, and later landed under enemy pressure to rescue the downed aviator Gilbert Smylie, the action for which Davies received the Victoria Cross. Between the wars he repeatedly served in the Naval Staff's air section, liaised with the Air Ministry, commanded HMS Cornwall, and became Rear Admiral Naval Air Stations, so his expertise was institutional as well as operational. When offered a senior staff path in 1941, he instead left regular service and joined the reserve at reduced rank. He served as a convoy commodore and commissioned the escort carriers HMS Dasher and Pretoria Castle. Retirement allowed him to reject an unwanted staff appointment while staying in operational war service.