Post-war Career
At the end of the war Deere was given command of the Polish P-51 Mustang Wing at Andrews Field, Essex, presiding over its disbandment in October, before becoming Commanding Officer at Duxford. Deere received a permanent commission in August 1945, and was promoted to Squadron Leader on 26 March 1946. In 1947 he was on the staff of AHQ Malta, subsequently joining the headquarters of 61 group before becoming Operations Officer, North-Eastern Sector, RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
Alan Deere was promoted to Wing Commander on 1 July 1951, and became Commanding Officer of RAF North Weald the following year. In 1955 he was on the directing staff of the RAF Staff College. He was promoted to Group Captain on 1 January 1958. He was Aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1962, and was appointed Assistant Commandant of the RAF College at RAF Cranwell in 1963. Promoted to Air Commodore on 1 July 1964, Deere took command of (East Anglian) Sector.
On 30 January 1965 he was given the signal honour of leading fellow Battle of Britain fighter pilots in the main funeral cortege for Winston Churchill. In 1966 he commanded No. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton. He was consulted for the movie Battle of Britain.
Alan Deere retired from the Royal Air Force on 12 December 1967. He then took up the civilian position of Director of RAF Rugby, which subsequently was expanded to Director RAF Sport. During this period he was Chairman of the RAF Rugby Board and a member of the Combined Services Rugby Team selection panel. A team selected while he was on the panel played the New Zealand All Blacks at Twickenham. He eventually retired to the village of Wendover, near Halton.
He died on 21 September 1995 aged 77 years from cancer, a disease which also claimed his grandfather and four of his brothers. His ashes were scattered over the River Thames from a Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Read more about this topic: Alan Christopher Deere
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