Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edward Johns, is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander. He was a fighter pilot in the 1960s, commanding officer of a squadron during the 1970s and a station commander in the 1980s. Johns served as one of three British directors of operations on the senior planning staff for Operation Granby in 1991 and then acted as a supporting commander for joint operations in the Balkans in 1994. As Chief of the Air Staff he advised the British Government on the air force aspects of the Strategic Defence Review and on NATO's air campaign in Kosovo.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Alexander Boyle, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War initially as a staff officer with the Advanced Air Striking Force in Reims in which capacity he organised the evacuation of the Force through Brest in May 1940. His war service included tours as a bomber squadron commander, as a station commander and also as an air group commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1950s and, in that role, deployed British air power during the Suez Crisis in October 1956 and defended the RAF against the views of Duncan Sandys, the Minister for Defence, who believed that the V bomber force rendered manned fighter aircraft redundant.
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Grandy, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was the only officer who fought and commanded a squadron during the Battle of Britain to reach the post of Chief of the Air Staff. In the latter role he implemented the final stages of the RAF's withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and the Far East, oversaw the ordering and subsequent cancellation of the F-111 strike aircraft and handed over Britain's nuclear deterrent role to the Royal Navy.
Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. After early service in the First World War with the Northumberland Fusiliers, Robb joined the Royal Flying Corps and became a flying ace credited with seven aerial victories. He was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force in 1919 and commanded No. 30 Squadron RAF in the Iraqi revolt against the British. In 1939, Robb travelled to Canada to help establish the Empire Air Training Scheme, a massive training program that provided the Royal Air Force with trained aircrew from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Rhodesia. He commanded No. 2 Group RAF of RAF Bomber Command and No. 15 Group RAF of RAF Coastal Command.
Air Chief Marshal Sir James Donald Innes Hardman,, known as Donald Hardman, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He began his flying career as a fighter pilot in World War I, achieving nine victories to become an ace. During World War II, Hardman held senior staff and operational posts. He was Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1952 to 1954, after which he served as a member of the British Air Council until retiring in 1958.
Air Marshal Sir Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond, was an Australian-born senior commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He rose from private soldier in World War I to air marshal in World War II. Drummond enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and the following year saw service as a medical orderly during the Gallipoli campaign. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and became a fighter ace in the Middle Eastern theatre, where he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order and Bar. Transferring to the RAF on its formation in 1918, he remained in the British armed forces for the rest of his life.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Mordaunt Foster, was a Royal Flying Corps pilot in the First World War, and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and the immediate post-war years.
Air Commodore John Mortimer Warfield CBE RAF was a bomber pilot during the Second World War, a senior RAF staff officer and commander during the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s and, as an air commodore in his final tour, the ninth Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps.
Air Commodore Cathcart Michael Wight-Boycott, was a British fighter pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer during the post-war years. In 1961, Wight-Boycott became the 10th Commandant Royal Observer Corps.
Air Vice Marshal William Ernest Staton, was a British airman who began his career as a First World War flying ace credited with 26 victories. He was transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation in 1918 and remained in the RAF during the inter-war years. During the Second World War he served in England and pioneered the bombing technique of using pathfinders to mark targets. He then served in the Far East before becoming a prisoner of war to the Japanese. After the war he returned to Great Britain and the RAF where he reached air rank and twice captained the British Olympic Shooting Team.
Air Vice Marshal Sir Matthew Brown Frew, was a Scottish First World War flying ace, credited with 23 aerial victories, who went on to serve as a senior officer in the Royal Air Force and South African Air Force during the Second World War.
Air Marshal Sir Denis Crowley-Milling, was a Second World War fighter pilot and later an air officer in the Royal Air Force.
Captain Leslie William Burbidge was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. He flew as an observer/gunner in Bristol F.2 Fighters in 20 Squadron.
Air Vice-Marshal Hugh Granville White, was a Royal Air Force air officer. He was a First World War flying ace credited with seven aerial victories, and later went on to serve throughout the Second World War, finally retiring in 1955.
Air Vice Marshal Kenneth Malise St. Clair Graeme Leask, was a senior officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). He began his career in the British Army and served with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, being credited with eight aerial victories to become a flying ace. He flew over 100 sorties, and survived three forced landings. He attained the rank of captain, and position as flight commander, in No. 84 Squadron. He remained in the RAF after the war, being appointed Director-General of Engineering in the Air Ministry with the rank of air vice marshal after the Second World War.
Air Marshal Sir Victor Emmanuel Groom, was a senior officer in the British Royal Air Force and a flying ace of the First World War credited with eight aerial victories. He rose to become a consequential participant in air operations to support Operation Overlord, the invasion of France during the Second World War.
Air Vice Marshal John Oliver Andrews, was an English flying ace of the First World War and later a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He was credited with twelve aerial victories. His most significant victory was over German ace Stefan Kirmaier, although he also enjoyed some success against Max Immelmann and Manfred von Richthofen. He continued his military career through the Second World War, rising into increasingly responsible staff positions during the interwar years, then successively commanding two fighter groups during the war. His career was capped by his admission into the Order of the Bath.
Air Vice Marshal Colin Peter Brown & Bar was a Scottish officer who began his career in the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, before transferring to the Royal Air Force (RAF). A flying ace credited with 14 aerial victories, he remained in the RAF and served throughout the Second World War, retiring in 1954.
Air Vice Marshal George Stacey Hodson, was an air officer of the British Royal Air Force who began his military career as a World War I flying ace credited with ten aerial victories. In the course of his 34 years service, he rose to become a major commander during World War II.
Air Commodore John Watson Allan,, known as Ian Allan, was a Scottish Royal Air Force officer and flying ace of the Second World War, who was credited with 14 kills.
