Sir Albert Henry Self (18 January 1890 – 15 January 1975) was an English civil servant. Prior to and during 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 ...

he was responsible for arranging the purchase of American aircraft to meet the requirements of 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 ...

. Post-war, he held a post in the Ministry of Civil Aviation as the Deputy Chairman. The son of Samuel Adolphus Theodore Self, a tram conductor,''Self Abuse: Love, Loss and Fatherhood'', Jonathan Self, Washington Square Press, 2001, pg 41 Henry Self was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and educated at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent day school located in Woodford Green, London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School a ...

, Woodford Green. Prior to his civil service career, he was employed as a dishwasher on the

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hammers ...

. During the Second World War, he was part of the British Air Commission in America. Initially he was the air representative to the

British Purchasing Commission The British Purchasing Commission was a United Kingdom organisation of the Second World War. Also known at some time as the "Anglo-French Purchasing Board", it was based in New York City, where it arranged the production and purchase of armaments fr ...

which was purchasing all kinds of armaments and war

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...

in the US. Aircraft production in the UK was nearly at maximum capacity, but additional aeroplanes could be purchased outside of the country. Turning to the United States, which was not yet at war, Self asked if

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...

could produce the

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

under licence. North American offered to draw up a superior design to the Warhawk and bring it to production in a shorter time than setting a production line of the Curtiss design. This led to the

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H ...

which entered service with the RAF in 1941. It entered service with the USAAF being named the P-51 under U.S. Service. Post war, Self became

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, replacing Sir

William Hildred Sir William Percival Hildred, CB, OBE (13 July 1893 – 21 November 1986) was a British civil servant who served as Director-General of Civil Aviation between 1941 and 1946 and Director-General of the International Air Traffic Association bet ...

. He was married to Audrey, daughter of Sir John Otter, at one time Mayor of Brighton, and granddaughter of the founder of, amongst others,

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

Hurstpierpoint College (''Blessed are the pure in heart'') , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent School , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dominic Mo ...

and

Ardingly College Ardingly College () is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Woodard Corp ...

Nathaniel Woodard Nathaniel Woodard (; 21 March 1811 – 25 April 1891) was a priest in the Church of England. He founded 11 schools for the middle classes in England whose aim was to provide education based on "sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly groun ...

. Henry Self had two sons:

Peter Self Peter John Otter Self (7 June 1919 – 29 March 1999) was an English journalist, academic, planning policy-maker and university teacher of planning. Self was born in Brighton, to Audrey (Otter) and Henry Self, a civil servant. Self was educated a ...

(1919–1999), whose sons are

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

and

Jonathan Self Jonathan Otter Self (born 11 March 1959 in Hammersmith, London) is an English author and journalist. Early life Self was raised in Hampstead, London. His father was the British journalist and academic Peter Self. His mother, Elaine (born Rosen ...

, and Michael Self QC (1921–1998), who married Penny, daughter of the playwright John Drinkwater) and had two daughters. Already a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, he was made Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the King's

1939 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1939 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the of ...

list. He was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1947.

Other positions

*President of the

Modern Churchmen's Union Modern Church is a charitable society promoting liberal Christian theology. It defends liberal positions on a wide range of issues including gender, sexuality, interfaith relations, religion and science, and biblical scholarship. In church affai ...

*Deputy chairman of the

British Electricity Authority The British Electricity Authority (BEA) was established as the central British electricity authority in 1948 under the nationalisation of Great Britain's electricity supply industry enacted by the Electricity Act 1947. The BEA was responsible for ...

and Chairman of the

Electricity Council The Electricity Council was a governmental body set up in 1958 to oversee the electricity supply industry in England and Wales. The council was established on 1 January 1958 to assume the coordinating and policy-making functions of the Central El ...

and President of the British Electrical and Allied Research Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Henry 1890 births 1975 deaths People educated at Bancroft's School Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry of Aviation

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...