Air Council Posts and members

Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation

Air Council Appointments 2

This section lists all the posts that have, at some time, been established on the Air Council/Air Force Board. However, for continuity all holders of the post have been shown whether they sat on the Air Council/Air Force Board or not.

Details of the duties and responsibilities of the holders of these appointments and those of the subordinate Directorates, etc can be found in the Members' Area under 'AM Distribution of Duties'

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff:

Post established 17 Feb 1938, but not holding a seat on the Air Council. Post re-established - 2 Jan 1985?. Post appointed to Air Staff - 2 Jan 1985?.

17 Feb 1938 AVM W S Douglas

2 Jan 1985 AVM A G Skingsley

13 Feb 1986 AVM L A Jones

2 Mar 1987 AVM M G Simmons

14 Mar 1989 AVM C J Thomson

15 Mar 1991 AVM T Garden

14 Aug 1992 AVM A J C Bagnall

1 Aug 1994 AVM P T Squire

30 Sep 1995 AVM T I Jenner

3 Aug 1998 AVM G E Stirrup

1 Sep 2000 AVM P O Sturley

6 Oct 2003 AVM D Walker

22 Apr 2005 AVM C H Moran

15 Mar 2007 AVM T M Anderson

1 Mar 2010 AVM B M North

5 Apr 2013 AVM E J Stringer

Air Member for Development and Production:

Post established by renaming Air Member for Research and Development – xx xxx xxxx. Post appointed to Air Staff - xx xxx xxxx.

xx xxx xxxx AVM W R Freeman

Vice Chief of the Air Staff:

Post established - 22 Apr 1940. Post appointed to Air Staff - 22 Apr 1940.

Post abolished - xx xxx 1959?. Post re-established - 1 Mar 1961?. Post abolished - 1984-85

22 Apr 1940 AM Sir Richard Peirse

4 Oct 1940 - 1942 ACM Sir Wilfred Freeman

21 Mar 1943 AM Sir Douglas Evill

xx xxx 1946 AM Sir William Dickson

xx xxx 1947 AM Sir James Robb

1 Nov 1948 AM Sir Arthur Sanders

1 Mar 1950 ACM The Hon Sir Ralph Cochrane

1 Mar 1952 AM Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman

1 Nov 1952 AM Sir John Baker

16 Sep 1957 AM Sir Edmund Hudleston

1 Mar 1961 ACM Sir Edmund Hudleston

2 Mar 1962 AM Sir Wallace Kyle

9 Nov 1964 AM Sir Brian Burnett

6 Nov 1967 AM Sir Peter Fletcher

1 Aug 1970 AM Sir Denis Smallwood

1 Nov 1973 AM Sir Ruthven Wade

14 Feb 1976 AM Sir David Evans

25 Mar 1977 AM Sir Peter Terry

30 Jan 1979 AM Sir John Nicholls

3 May 1980 AM Sir David Craig

28 Aug 1982 AM Sir Peter Harding

Air Member for Training:

Post established - 8 Jul 1940. Post appointed to Air Staff - 8 Jul 1940. Post abolished - 1 Jan 1947

Duties transferred to Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Training).

8 Jul 1940 AM Sir Guy Garrod

27 Apr 1943 AM Sir Peter Drummond

14 May 1945 AM Sir Roderic Hill

Air Member for Technical Services:

Post established - 1 Jan 1947. Post appointed to Air Staff - 1 Jan 1947. Post abolished - xx xxx 1951. Duties transferred to Air Member for Supply and Organisation.

1 Jan 1947 ACM Sir Roderic Hill

xx xxx xxxx vacant

xx xxx xxxx ACM Sir James Robb

16 Aug 1948 AM Sir Victor Goddard

AOC in C/C in C Strike Command:

Post was established - 30 Apr 1968. Post appointed to Air Force Board - 1 Apr 1996?. Only those appointees holding a seat on the Air Force Board shown, see Command Section for full list.

1 Jan 1994 ACM Sir William Wratten

25 Jul 1997 ACM Sir John Allison

29 Mar 1999 ACM Sir Peter Squire

6 Apr 2000 ACM Sir Anthony Bagnall

5 Apr 2001 ACM Sir John Day.

31 Jul 2003 ACM Sir Brian Burridge

13 Jan 2006 ACM Sir Joe French

30 Mar 2007 ACM Sir Clive Loader

C in C Air Command:

Post was established - 1 Apr 2007. Post appointed to Air Force Board - 1 Apr 2007 but was abolished in March 2012 with the role being taken over by the Chief of the Air Staff.

1 Apr 2007 ACM Sir Clive Loader

xx Apr 2009 ACM Sir Christopher Moran

18 Jun 2010 ACM Sir Simon Bryant

xx Mar 2012 Post abolished

Deputy C-in-C (Operations), Air Command:

1 Apr 2007 AM I W McNicholl

14 Apr 2010 AM R F Garwood

Deputy Commander (Operations), Air Command:

Post appointed to the Air Force Board on the abolition of the post of C-in-C Air Command in March 2012.

xx xxx 2012 AM R F Garwood

16 Apr 2013 AM G J Bagwell

Deputy C-in-C (Personnel), Air Command:

see Air Member for Personnel

Deputy Commander (Personnel), Air Command:

see Air Member for Personnel

Deputy Commander (Capability), Air Command:

see Air Member for Personnel

Controller Air:

To be added

Air Member for Logistics/Director General Equipment Support (Air):

Post created 1 Sep 1994 by renaming Air Member for Supply and Organisation. Post appointed the Air Staff - 1 Sep 1994. The post holder also held the position of AOC in C, Logistics Command and was the Chief Engineer of the RAF. Post abolished 1 Apr 2000 when the role of Logistics Command was taken over by the Defence Logistics Organisation. In 2005, the Director General Equipment Support (Air) was 'dual-hatted' as Air Member for Logistics

1 Sep 1994 ACM Sir Michael Alcock

8 Mar 1996 ACM Sir John Allison

11 Jul 1997 AM Sir Colin Terry

30 Apr 1999 AM M D Pledger

xx xxx xxxx AVM P Liddell

xx xxx xxxx AVM B M Thornton

4 Jan 2006 AVM D R G Rennison

Inspector Generals of the RAF.

Post established – 22 Aug 1918, Appointed to Air Council – 22 Aug 1918. Removed from Air Council xx Feb/Mar 1919 and abolished xx xxx 1920. Post re-established, - 1 Aug 1935, but with expansion of the RAF a second post was established on 1 July 1939 (abolished – xx xxx 1967). On 2 September 1939 he moved to No 2, The Terrace, Richmond Hill, London.

The Post was not on the Air Board after 1919 but subsequent post holders are shown here for reference.

22 Aug 1918 Maj-Gen Sir Godfrey Paine

1 Aug 1919 AVM Sir Godfrey Paine

xx xxx 1920 Post Abolished

1 Aug 1935 ACM Sir Robert Brooke-Popham

1 Sep 1937 ACM Sir Edward Ellington (1)

1 Jul 1939 - 15 Jan 1940 ACM Sir Charles Burnett (2)

15 Jan 1940 – 2 Apr 1940 AM Sir Leslie Gossage

14 Apr 1940 – 29 Oct 1945 ACM Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt

24 May 1940 - 1 Jun 1941 AM Sir William Mitchell

1 Jun 1941 – xx xxx 1942 ACM Sir Arthur Longmore

xx xxx 1943 – 6 Nov 1943 ACM Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte

29 Oct 1945 ACM Sir Arthur Barratt

17 Jan 1947 ACM Sir Norman Bottomley

1 Jan 1948 ACM Sir George Pirie

1 Sep 1948 ACM Sir Leslie Hollinghurst

31 Sep 1949 ACM Sir Hugh Saunders

9 Feb 1951 ACM Sir James Robb

31 Jul 1951 AM Sir Thomas Williams

1 Oct 1952 AM Sir Stephen Strafford

19 Apr 1954 AM Sir Charles Guest

31 Jul 1956 ACM Sir Walter Dawson

1 Jan 1958 AM Sir Gilbert Nicholetts

3 Jun 1959 AM Sir John Whitley

1 Jun 1962 AM Sir Paterson Fraser

15 Aug 1964 ACM Sir Augustus Walker

17 Feb 1967 AM Sir Reginald Emson

Controller of Research and Development,

This post, within the Ministry of Aircraft Production, was added to the Air Council - 15 Oct 1945.

15 Oct 1945 AM W A Coryton

Controller Aircraft

This post was added to the Air Force Board - xx xxx xxxx.

8 Nov 1975 ACM Sir Douglas Lowe

xx xxx xxxx

1 Jan 1983 ACM Sir John Rogers

20 Jan 1986: ACM Sir David Harcourt-Smith

xx xxx xxxx AVM A A Nicholson

30 Oct 1996 AM Sir Peter Norriss

xx xxx xxxx AVM B M Thornton

xx xxx xxxx AVM D N Williams

xx xxx xxxx AVM S G G Dalton

20 Apr 2006 AVM S D Butler

Director-General Equipment Support (Air)

This post was added to the Air Force Board - xx xxx 2000.

xx xxx xxxx AVM P W Henderson

Air Member for Materiel.

This post was added to the Air Force Board - 1 Apr 2007. This post is 'dual-hatted' with that of Chief of Materiel (Air) in the Defence Equipment & Support Organisation

1 Apr 2007 AM B M Thornton

1 May 2009 AM Sir Kevin Leeson

xx Oct 2012 AM S J Bollom

29 Apr 2016 AM J A Young

xx xxx xxxx

4 Sep 2020 V-Adm R C Thompson RN

Air Member for Equipment Capability.

This post was added to the Air Force Board - 1 Apr 2007. This post is 'dual-hatted' with that of Capability Manager (Information Superiority) in the Ministry of Defence

1 Apr 2007 AVM S D Butler

31 Jul 2008 AVM C W Dixon

xx Oct 2010 AVM S J Hillier

28 Oct 2011 AVM M C Green

Additional Members of the Air Council

From time to time officers have been appointed to the Air Council/Board for specific duties: -

xx xxx 1920 – xx xxx 1921: Adm Sir Cecil Lambert (Director of Personnel)

This page was last updated on 17/03/25

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