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Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation
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Christopher
Harold
b:
31 Jan 1913
r: 29 Sep 1970
d: 29 Jul 1998
KCB
– 8 Jun 1963 (CB – 10 Jun 1961), CBE - 1 Jan 1957 (OBE
– 9 Jun 1949), DFC – 26 Jan 1945, AFC – 1 Jan 1944, AE,
MiD - 8 Jun 1944, MiD
– 1 Jan 1946, BA
(Balliol College, Oxford).
(RAFVR): Plt Off: 23 Aug 1938, Fg Off: 23 Feb 1940, Flt Lt (WS): 17 Mar 1941, (T) Sqn Ldr: 1 Jun 1942 Act Wg Cdr: 19 Aug 1943?, Sqn Ldr (WS): 19 Feb 1944, Act Gp Capt: 16 Oct 1944, Wg Cdr (WS): 16 Apr 1945,
(RAF):
Sqn Ldr: 2 Apr 1946 [1 Jan
1945],
Wg Cdr:
1 Jul 1947 [1 Oct 1946], Gp Capt: 1
Jul 1952, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1958, Act
AVM: 20 Jul 1959, AVM: 1 Jul
1960, Act AM: 5 Jun 1963, AM:
1 Jul 1965.
23
Aug 1938: Appointed
to a Commission in the
RAF Volunteer Reserve.
xx
xxx 1939: Pilot, No 604 (County of Middlesex) Sqn Aux AF.
xx
xxx xxxx:
Pilot, No 256 Sqn.
xx
xxx xxxx:
Pilot, Fighter Interception Unit.
xx
xxx xxxx:
Staff, Central Fighter Establishment.
2 Apr 1946: Appointed to Permanent Commission in the rank of Squadron Leader (retaining
rank current at the time).
1 Nov 1946: Assistant Director of Intelligence (Technical)
xx xxx 1951: Directing Staff, RAF Staff College, Bracknell
20 Feb 1954: Deputy Director of Operations (1)
1
Aug 1958: Chief of Staff, HQ No 12 (Fighter) Group.
20
Jul 1959:
AOC, No 12 Group.
1
Jan 1961:
Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operational Requirements).
5
Jun 1963:
Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
xx
xxx 1967: Controller of Aircraft, Ministry of Technology.
The son of Brigadier-General Sir Harold Hartley,
Christopher Hartley did not initially plan to follow in his father's military
footsteps and after Eton attended Balliol College, Oxford as a William's
Exhibitioner and then King's College, Cambridge where he gained a BA Honours
degree in Zoology. He took part in
various Oxford University Expeditions as a zoologist including Sarawak (1932),
Spitzbergen (1933) and Greenland (1937). In
1937, he became an Assistant Master at Eton College an a year later he joined
the RAFVR. With the outbreak of war
in September 1939, he was mobilised along with other reservists and joined No
604 Sqn of the Auxiliary Air Force.
With the end of hostilities, he was offered a
Permanent Commission in the RAF, which he accepted, being commissioned as a
Squadron Leader.
Shortly after retiring from the RAF he became a
Director of Westland Aircraft Ltd until 1983.
From 1974 until 1978 he was also Chairman of British Hovercraft
Corporation when he stepped down to Deputy Chairman.
This page was last updated on 28/03/24©
C E Hartley
