Air Marshal Sir Bertine Entwisle Sutton, (17 December 1886 – 28 September 1946) was a pilot in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and a senior officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Early life

Bertine Sutton was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, the son of the Reverend Alfred Sutton and his wife Bertha Frances Entwisle, and grandson of James Sutton of

Shardlow Shardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about southeast of Derby and southwest of Nottingham. Part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire, it is also very close to the border with Leice ...

. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

from where he gained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1908.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – Sutton, Sir Bertine Entwisle (requires login)
/ref> After graduation, Sutton worked in a solicitor's office in London until he was employed by Hutchinson the publishing company. Sutton had aimed to become a lawyer but the outbreak of the

resulted in him entering the Army.

First World War

Sutton had been an original members of the Oxford University mounted infantry and in 1914 when he joined the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps as a private soldier.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Bertine Sutton
/ref> By October of that year, Sutton had been commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army with its origins in 1798. The regiment provided troops for the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War and served on the Western Front in World War I ...

and was sent to France. In early 1916, Sutton was posted to No. 5 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, where he served as an observer flying officer. Later that year, Sutton was appointed an RFC wing adjutant and it is likely that he underwent flying training some time in the middle part of 1916. In 1917, Sutton first served as a pilot and then flight commander on No. 9 Squadron flying RE8s on the Western Front. In October 1917, Sutton was promoted (temporarily) to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and appointed Officer Commanding No. 7 Squadron, a position he held for the remained of the War. Sutton was transferred to the Royal Air Force on its establishment and subsequently relinquished his commission in

Westmorland and Cumberland Territorial Force Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

RAF service during the inter-war years

In 1921 Sutton attended the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Staff College at Camberley and he subsequently served on the directing staff of the newly established

RAF Staff College, Andover The RAF Staff College at RAF Andover was the first Royal Air Force staff college to be established. Its role was the training of officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. History Foundation Following the f ...

for the next four years. After attending a refresher flying course at the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

, Sutton was appointed the Officer Commanding, No. 1 (Apprentices) Wing at No. 1 School of Technical Training in the summer of 1926. From late 1929 to 1932, Sutton served on the directing staff of the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

. 1932 saw Sutton posted to India as the Officer Commanding No. 1 (Indian) Group. In late 1934 Sutton took up the appointment of senior air staff office at the headquarters of RAF India. With the pre-Second World War build up of the RAF, Sutton was recalled to Great Britain and served as Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 2 (Bomber) Group, the AOC

No. 22 Group No. 22 Group is one of five groups currently active in the Royal Air Force, falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. It is responsible ...

and then the AOC No. 21 (Training) Group.

Second World War

At the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Sutton was AOC No. 21 (Training) Group. In November 1940, Sutton continued in his training role when he was appointed AOC No. 24 (Training) Group. The next year Sutton returned to staff college work, this time as the Commandant of the

RAF Staff College The RAF Staff College may refer to: *RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970) *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park The RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park, was a satellite staff college for the Royal Air Force based at Buls ...

at Bulstrode Park. In the summer of 1942 Sutton was appointed to the

Air Council Air Council (or Air Force Council) was the governing body of the Royal Air Force until the merger of the Air Ministry with the other armed forces ministries to form the Ministry of Defence in 1964. It was succeeded by the Air Force Board. Me ...

as the

Air Member for Personnel The Air Member for Personnel (AMP) is the senior Royal Air Force officer who is responsible for personnel matters and is a member of the Air Force Board. The AMP is in charge of all aspects of recruiting, non-operational flying and ground tr ...

(AMP). During his time as AMP, Sutton was required to deal with various manning problems, including the British Army's requirement for more personnel in anticipation of

D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

and the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

Retirement

Sutton retired from the RAF on 7 June 1945, just prior to the end of World War II. Sutton made Little Park Farm at Crookham Common, which is near Newbury in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, his home and he planned to enjoy his library, pictures, and garden. However, by this time Sutton was not in good health and he died just over a year later on 28 September 1946.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Bertine Entwisle 1886 births 1946 deaths Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley People educated at Eton College Alumni of University College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I British World War I pilots Military personnel from London Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Summer Fields School Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Flying Corps officers Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry officers