The Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) was a senior appointment 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 ...

. The incumbent was the deputy to the Chief of the Air Staff. The post existed from 1918 to 1969. Today, the Chief of the Air Staff's deputy is titled as the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff.

History

The post was created on 3 January 1918 as part of the preliminary work before the creation of the RAF and the incumbent sat on 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. Mem ...

. However, with the establishment of the RAF on 1 April 1918, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff was removed from the Air Council. From the mid-1920s to 1938, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff was double-hatted as the RAF's Director of Operations and Intelligence. In 1930, when Trenchard stepped down as Chief of the Air Staff, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff was once again appointed to the Air Council.

Deputy Chiefs of the Air Staff

Holders of the post included: *3 January 1918

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

M E F Kerr *1 April 1918

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

R M Groves *12 August 1918 Brigadier-General O Swann *February 1919

R M Groves (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *8 September 1919 Air Commodore J M Steel (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *12 April 1926 Air Commodore C L N Newall (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *6 February 1931 Air Commodore C S Burnett (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *1 February 1933

Air Vice-Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

E R Ludlow-Hewitt (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *26 January 1935 Air Vice-Marshal C L Courtney (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *25 January 1937 Air Vice-Marshal R E C Peirse (Also Director of Operations and Intelligence) *22 April 1940 Air Vice-Marshal W S Douglas *25 November 1940 Air Vice-Marshal A T Harris *1 June 1941 Air Vice-Marshal N H Bottomley (from 3 May 1942 to 30 Jul 1943 the post was titled Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations)) *September 1945 Air Marshal Sir

Albert Durston Air Marshal Sir Albert Durston, (19 June 1894 – 24 January 1959) was a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer who served as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1945 to 1946. RAF career Durston joined the Royal Navy in 1913 and served in the Roy ...

*4 February 1948 Air Marshal Sir

Hugh Walmsley Air Marshal Sir Hugh Sidney Porter Walmsley, (6 June 1898 – 2 September 1985) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during and after the Second World War. He was the final commander of RAF India and the unified Royal Indian Air Force b ...

*1 March 1950 Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Sanders *17 March 1952 Air Chief Marshal Sir John Baker *1 November 1952 Air Marshal Sir

Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman Air Chief Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman, (17 January 1899 – 28 April 1978) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the middle of the 20th century and the penultimate RAF commander-in-chief of the Indian Air Force. Early life and ...

*9 November 1953 Air Marshal Sir

Thomas Pike Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Thomas Geoffrey Pike, (29 June 1906 – 1 June 1983) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War as a night fighter squadron commander and then as a station commander. He was ...

*4 July 1956 Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Tuttle *15 November 1959 Air Marshal Sir

Charles Elworthy Charles Elworthy may refer to: * Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy (1911–1993), Chief of the Defence Staff * Charles Elworthy (scientist) (1961–2023), New Zealand economist and social scientist {{hndis, Elworthy, Charles ...

*18 July 1960 Air Marshal Sir

Ronald Lees Air Marshal Sir Ronald Beresford Lees, (27 April 1910 – 18 May 1991) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. Early life Lees was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales, the son of John Thomas Lees and Eliza Jane Moyle. He was educated at Prince ...

*June 1963 Air Marshal Sir Christopher Hartley *1 April 1966 Air Marshal Sir

Reginald Emson Air Marshal Sir Reginald Herbert Embleton Emson (11 January 1912 – 27 March 1995) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the post-Second World War years. RAF career Emson joined the Royal Air Force in 1930. He became an Armament Off ...

*30 January 1967 Air Marshal Sir

Peter Wykeham Air Marshal Sir Peter Guy Wykeham, (born Wykeham-Barnes; 13 September 1915 – 23 February 1995) was a Royal Air Force fighter pilot and squadron commander, and a flying ace of the Second World War. He was credited with 14 and 3 shared aerial v ...

References

*{{cite web , url=http://www.rafweb.org/Organsation/AirMin2.htm , title=Air Council Appointments , first=M. B. , last=Barrass , website=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation Royal Air Force appointments