Air Marshal Sir John Moreton Nicholls, (5 July 1926 – 17 May 2007) 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) an ...

. He had been a pilot at the end 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 opposi ...

and also served with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Early life

Nicholls was educated at the

Liverpool Collegiate School Liverpool Collegiate School was an all-boys grammar school, later a comprehensive school, in the Everton area of Liverpool. Foundations The Collegiate is a striking, Grade II listed building, with a facade of pink Woolton sandstone, designed ...

and

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any universit ...

.Obituary: Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls
Daily Telegraph, 21 May 2007

Career

Nicholls joined the Royal Air Force in June 1945 and served as a pilot during the later stages of the

.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir John Nicholls
/ref> During the

he was seconded to the

where he saw active service as a pilot and shot down a MiG 15. In 1959 he was seconded to English Electric to test fly the new supersonic

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

. He was appointed Officer Commanding the Air Fighting Development Squadron in 1962, deputy director of Air Staff Briefing in 1965 and Station Commander at RAF Leuchars in 1967. Nicholls went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 11 Group in 1971, Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Defence Staff in November 1971 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters

RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air C ...

in 1973. He was then made Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1976, Air Member for Supply and Organisation in 1977 and Vice Chief of the Air Staff in 1979 before retiring in 1980.

Family

In 1946, Nicholls married Enid Rose; they had two daughters. Following the death of his first wife, he married Sheelagh Hall in 1977.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, John 1926 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from Cheshire Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force pilots of World War II United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War