Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, KCB, DSO & Bar was born in Mobberley, Cheshire, on 11 July 1892. He was the younger brother of the mountaineer George Mallory.

He graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge with a Bachelor of Laws degree and had applied to become a barrister when, in 1914, war broke out. Leigh-Mallory immediately volunteered for service with the Army. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in January 1916 and was accepted for pilot training.

Leigh-Mallory was posted to the School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum from 1921-3, and returned as Commanding Officer from 1927–9.

During the lead-up to WWII, Leigh-Mallory held several senior appointments, becoming Commanding-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, which made him the air commander for the Allied Invasion of Normandy.

Leigh-Mallory was appointed Air Commander-in-Chief South East Asia Command, but on 14 November 1944, en route to Ceylon, his aircraft crashed in the French Alps and Leigh-Mallory, his wife and eight others were killed. He was one of the most senior British officers and the most senior RAF officer to be killed in the Second World War.