Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Alex Constantine, (23 May 1908 – 16 April 1992) was a

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) an ...

officer who became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an Command (military formation), organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading, Berkshire, Reading in Berkshire. History Flying ...

RAF career

Educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

, Constantine joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1926, and was posted to No. 56 Squadron at

RAF North Weald North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Stat ...

in December 1927.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Constantine
/ref> On 10 December 1928, Constantine's Siskin fighter aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary off Leysdown, leaving him in a state of collapse. He was rescued by Flying Officer Walter Anderson and Corporal Thomas McTeague, who were awarded the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

, exchanged for the George Cross in 1940. In 1934, as a flight lieutenant, Constantine took command of Number 3 Section of

No.1 Armoured Car Company RAF The No.1 Armoured Car Company RAF was a military unit of Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) based in Iraq and which played a role in the defence of RAF Habbaniya during World War II. Creation On 19 December 1921, "No. 1 Armoured Car Company RAF ...

. Constantine served in 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 opposi ...

, initially as

officer commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, t ...

No. 214 Squadron and then as station commander at

RAF Elsham Wolds Royal Air Force Elsham Wolds or more simply RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in the First World War and the Second World War. It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in nort ...

. He continued his war service as senior air staff officer at Headquarters No. 1 Group in 1942, as deputy senior air staff officer at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command in 1943 and as air officer commanding No. 5 Group in 1945. In this capacity he worked closely with Barnes Wallis and used

Grand Slam bomb The Bomb, Medium Capacity, (Grand Slam) was a earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against German targets towards the end of the Second World War. The bomb was originally called Tallboy Large until the term Tallboy got into the press an ...

s and

Tallboy bomb Tallboy or Bomb, Medium Capacity, 12,000 lb was an earthquake bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis and used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War."Medium capacity" refers to the ratio of bomb ...

s against key industrial targets in Germany. After the war, Constantine became chief intelligence officer with the Control Commission in Germany and was then appointed senior air staff officer at Headquarters No. 205 Group. He went on to be director of intelligence (operations) at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in 1951, Air Officer Administration at Headquarters

RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...

in 1952 and air officer commanding No. 25 (Training) Group in 1954. His final posts were as deputy chief of staff, plans & policy at Headquarters

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander is t ...

in 1956, air officer commanding-in-chief of

in 1959 and Commandant of the Imperial Defence College in 1961 before retiring in 1964. In retirement Constantine was granted an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

from the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

.Honorary Graduates
University of Warwick

Family

In 1937 Constantine married Helen; they had one daughter.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, Hugh 1908 births 1992 deaths People from Southsea People educated at Christ's Hospital Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Military personnel from Portsmouth