Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation
Units directly responsible to Ministry level
This was formed on 1 January 1929 manned by part time civilian volunteers but under the operational control of ADGB. Responsibility for recruitment, administration and payment of the volunteers was invested in the Home Office through local Chief Constables, but this was transferred to the Air Ministry at midnight on 2 September 1939. Operational control was transferred to Fighter Command on 14 July 1936 and was granted the title 'Royal' on 9 April 1941. It continued in existence after WW2, taking on the role of nuclear fallout monitoring but following the end of the Cold War, being under the direct control of the Air Ministry until 1 March 1950 when it was transferred to HQ Fighter Command.
It was stood down and it's HQ closed on 31 March 1996.
Air Officers Commanding
1 Mar 1929 A/Cdre E A D Masterman (Ret'd)
xx xxx 1936 A/Cdre A D Warrington-Morris (Ret'd)
xx Jun 1942 A/Cdre G H Ambler
23 Jun 1943 A/Cdre F Crerar
7 Oct 1945 A/Cdre The Earl of Bandon.
1 Feb 1949 A/Cdre R B Jordan
20 Mar 1951 A/Cdre G H Vasse
29 Mar 1954 A/Cdre J H T Simpson
29 Jun 1959: A/Cdre J M Warfield
3 Jun 1964 A/Cdre J H Greswell
28 Jun 1968: A/Cdre D F Rixson
4 Jan 1971 A/Cdre E B Sismore
24 May 1973 A/Cdre R K Orrock
8 Nov 1975 A/Cdre M H Miller
23 Apr 1977 A/Cdre J F G Howe
12 Apr 1981 A/Cdre R J Offord
19 Feb 1983 A/Cdre G P Black
28 Sep 1984 A/Cdre J Broughton
xx xxx 1986 A/Cdre I Horrocks
xx xxx 1989 A/Cdre G M Boddy
1 Apr 1992 A/Cdre M P Donaldson
1 Mar 1993 A/Cdre C R Spink
16 Jun 1995 A/Cdre M K Widdowson
This was formed at Nicosia on 9 January 1954 under the control of Middle East Air Force but disbanded into AHQ Levant on 15 December 1956.
It reformed at Akrotiri on 1 April 1976 to take over a reduced
task from HQ Near East Air Force,
which had disbanded the previous day. It
was administered
by Strike Command, later becoming the air element of HQ British Forces Cyprus. Officers marked * also
held post of Commander British Forces, Cyprus and The Administrator, Sovereign
Base Areas.
8 Nov1975
AVM R D Austen-Smith*
28 Apr 1978
A/Cdre D A Arnott (Acting?)
24 Mar 1979
A/Cdre M R Williams
4 Oct 1980
AVM R L Davis*
24 Mar 1983
A/Cdre R J Offord
24 Oct 1985 AVM K W Hayr*
Directorate-General
of Aircraft Safety, formed xx
xxx 1942? with two Deputy Directorates, Air/Sea Rescue (originally formed 7 February
1941) and Aircraft Safety. It was raised
to Directorate status on 4 January 1943, being renamed
Directorate of Flying Control and Rescue in 1943/4 and then Directorate of Accident Prevention
in 1944.
It was reduced to Deputy Directorate status in 1946/7 but reverted to Directorate
status again on 1 June 1955. It was redesignated Inspectorate of Flight Safety
on 20 November 1976
xx xxx 1942
MRAF Sir John Salmond (Dir-Gen)
xx xxx 1942
Wg Cdr H J Saker (Dep Dir)
4 Jan 1943
A/Cdre H A Haines
17 Nov 1943
A/Cdre H D O'Neill
30 Sep 1945
A/Cdre A C H Sharp
xx xxx 1946/7
Gp Capt A F Anderson (Dep
Dir)
xx xxx 1947/8
Gp Capt N C Singer (Dep Dir)
1949 - 1955
?
1 Jun 1955
A/Cdre D M Somerville
6 Dec 1957
A/Cdre J C Millar
27 Feb 1961
A/Cdre R J B Burns
14 Sep 1962
A/Cdre A G Dudgeon
6 Dec 1965
A/Cdre E W Wright
3 Mar 1969
A/Cdre C B Brown
17 Jan 1972
A/Cdre F O Barrett
4 Jan 1973
A/Cdre J E Smith
28 Aug 1974
A/Cdre D F M Browne
This
was formed on 20 November 1976 by renaming the Directorate of Flight
Safety, later being
.
.
.
.
20 Nov 1976
A/Cdre K W Hayr
22 Dec 1979
A/Cdre D B Leech
19 Dec 1981
A/Cdre T H Stoner
22 Dec 1984
A/Cdre P King
4 Feb 1988
A/Cdre G R Profit
13 Aug 1990
A/Cdre J E Houghton
16 Jun 1992
A/Cdre M J Abbott
8 Apr 1994
A/Cdre R S Peacock-Edwards
xx Nov 1997 A/Cdre E J Black
8 Feb 1999 A/Cdre L A Doble
Defence Aviation Safety Centre
This was formed in March 2002, by renaming the Inspectorate of Flight Safety.
xx Mar 2002 A/Cdre R L Dixon
xx xxx xxxx: A/Cdre A T Hudson
18 Apr 2006 A/Cdre G P Dixon
23 Feb 2007 A/Cdre I L Dugmore
Commandants of the ATC/AOC
Air Cadets
Prior to the establishment of HQ Air Cadets
as an independent unit, the post of
Commandant of the ATC was held by the AOC-in-C, Reserve, Home and finally Flying
Training Command. HQ Air Cadets was
formed on 1 May 1960 within Flying Training Command, was transferred to Training Command
on 1 June 1968, to RAF Support Command on 13 June 1977 and finally to PTC on 1 April 1994.
It was renamed HQ University and Air Cadets on 10
August 1995 and then HQ Air Cadets and HQ Elementary Flying Training on 1 April
1996.
Commandant ATC & AOC Air Cadets
5 Feb 1941
A/Cdre J A Chamier (Ret'd)
1 Feb 1944
AM Sir Leslie Gossage (Ret'd)
1946 - 1960
see note above and relevant Command sections
xx xxx 1962
A/Cdre A G Dudgeon
14 Sep 1962
A/Cdre J B Coward
23 Jun 1966
A/Cdre E J Morris
18 Jun 1968
A/Cdre J N Stacey
17 Jul 1971
A/Cdre P O V Green
13 Oct 1973
A/Cdre T H Blackham
13 Jun 1977
A/Cdre M J E Swiney
15 Dec 1979
A/Cdre K J Goodwin
17 Apr 1982
A/Cdre P V Mayall
6 Jan 1986
A/Cdre P P W Taylor
5 Jan 1987
A/Cdre P G Naz
23 Apr 1993
A/Cdre P M Stean
12 Jan 1996
A/Cdre J A F Ford
xx xxx xxxx A/Cdre J D Kennedy
3 May 2002 A/Cdre J P Chitty
AOC Cadets
24 Mar 2003 AVM D A Walker
4 Jan 2005 AVM J M M Ponsonby
Commandant ATC
24 Mar 2003 A/Cdre J P Chitty
27 Jul 2005
xx xxx xxxx A/Cdre I Stewart
Commandant Air Cadets
xx xxx 2010 A/Cdre B Cooper
20 Aug 2012 A/Cdre D A McCafferty
21 Sep 2020 A/Cdre A C Keeling
HQ
Military Air Traffic Organisation
This was formed on
1 Jun 1959? as UK Air Traffic Services HQ
with AHQ status administered by
Fighter Command. It was transferred to Strike Command on 30 April 1968
and
Air Officers Commanding
28 Sep 1959 A/Cdre H J Hickey
1 Feb 1962
A/Cdre J M Thompson
19 Oct 1965 A/Cdre P M Brothers
7 Feb 1968
A/Cdre E W Tacon
18 Jan 1971 A/Cdre E W Wootten
6 Oct 1973
A/Cdre
28 Jun 1976
A/Cdre G S Cooper
7 Jul 1978
A/Cdre B Huxley
13 Dec 1980 A/Cdre G McA Bacon
21 Jul 1984
A/Cdre M A Harvey
25 Jan 1991 A/Cdre G Wood
20 Jun 1994
A/Cdre C A Barrett
18 Sep 1995 A/Cdre J R D Arscott
26 Mar
1999 A/Cdre M J Fuller
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AOCs past and present at the dining in evening to
commemorate the closing down of MATO Photo courtesy - Bruce Williamson |
Hillingdon House, HQ of the Military Air Traffic
Organisation Photo courtesy - Bruce Williamson |
This page was last updated on 02/11/24
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