Andrew James Wray Geddes

Geddes spent all of the Second World War attached to the RAF, although retained his army commission, in the Royal Artillery.

Promoted to the substantiative rank of major on 3 February 1943, Geddes was in charge of operations and planning for Second Tactical Air Force, from 1 April 1943 until VE Day.

In early 1945, Geddes was responsible for the organising of Operations Manna and Chowhound; the dropping of food and other essentials to the starving Dutch population still in the occupied areas of the Netherlands.

That day over 240 Lancasters flew at low level to drop 535 tons of food at six designated places in the west of the Netherlands agreed with Germans.

Local Dutch organising committees then set up a plan to collect the air drops and distribute the food.