Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admir ...

Sir John Wakeling Baker, (23 October 1897 – 10 March 1978) was a senior commander 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 ...

in the mid-20th century.

Flying career

Baker was commissioned into the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

in February 1916.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir John Baker profile
rafweb.org; accessed 14 June 2015. He transferred to the

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

later that year initially as a Gunnery Liaison Officer. In 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross, the citation for which was promulgated in ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' on 26 July 1918, reading: He was appointed a Flight Commander in No. 60 Squadron in January 1924 during

Pink's War Pink's War was an air-to-ground bombardment and strafing campaign carried out by the Royal Air Force, under the command of Wing Commander Richard Pink, against the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen in South Waziristan in March and April ...

Waziristan Waziristan (Pashto and ur, , "land of the Wazir") is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some . ...

. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1925, with the citation praising his: "gallant and distinguished service with the Royal Air Force in Waziristan. This officer showed devotion to duty throughout the operations and set a high example to all ranks. He performed 69 hours war flying as a pilot, which included 35 raids."National Archives – Flight Lieutenant John Wakeling Baker, M.C. – Recommendation for Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross
/ref> Baker was appointed

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, ...

No. 33 Squadron in 1935 and then joined the Directing Staff at 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 (active: 1941 to 1948) *RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air ...

in 1939. He 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 opposin ...

, initially as Deputy Director of Plans 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 ...

and then as Director of Bomber Operations from February 1941. He continued his war service as Senior Air Staff Officer first at Headquarters, Air Forces in India and then at

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allies of World War II, Allied operations in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, South-East Asian Theatre during the World War II, Second World War. Histo ...

. He finished the war as Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group. After the war, Baker became Director-General of Personnel in 1946, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

in 1948 and Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East Air Force in 1950. Baker's last appointments were as

Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) may refer to: * Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Australia) * Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (India) * Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan) * Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom) The Deputy Chief ...

in March 1952, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff in November 1952 and Controller of Aircraft at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...

before he retired in 1956.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, John Royal Air Force air marshals 1897 births 1978 deaths Canadian military personnel from Manitoba Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Garrison Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I People from Winnipeg