Air Marshal Sir John Matthias Dobson Sutton, (9 July 1932 – 21 November 2014) 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) and ...

officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

RAF Support Command Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire. History It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,

from 1986 to 1989 and

Lieutenant Governor of Jersey The Lieutenant Governor of Jersey (, Jèrriais: ''Gouvèrneux d'Jèrri'') is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a Crown dependency of the British Crown. The Lieutenant Governor has his own flag in Jersey, ...

from 1990 to 1995.

RAF career

Educated at

Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford (QEGS) is a selective, co-educational, academy status Grammar School and Sixth Form in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. In 2021, the school held 544 pupils. The headteacher is G.Thompson. History The s ...

, Sutton joined the

in 1950.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He 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. 249 Squadron in 1964 and then became Assistant Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1966. He went on to be Officer Commanding No. 14 Squadron in 1970, Assistant Chief of Staff (Plans & Policy) at Headquarters

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

in 1971 and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) in 1977. He then became Deputy Commander of

RAF Germany The former Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG) was a command of the Royal Air Force and part of British Forces Germany. It consisted of units located in Germany, initially as part of the occupation following the Second World War, and later as part ...

in 1980,

Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Ministr ...

(Commitments) in 1982 and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Overseas) in 1985. He became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

in 1986 and retired in 1989.

Governorship and later life

In retirement, Sutton was made

. He attended a reunion of Lieutenant Governors in 2008. He died on 21 November 2014.

Family

In 1954 Sutton married Delia Eleanor Woodward; they had one son and one daughter. Following the dissolution of his first marriage he married Angela Faith Gray in 1969 and they had two sons. Sutton's elder son by his second marriage, Mark, became famous after parachuting into the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, pretending to be James Bond escorting the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. Mark died in an accident just over a year later in August 2013, when his wingsuit clipped a ridge in

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

, Switzerland.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, John 1932 births 2014 deaths British military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Governors of Jersey Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force air marshals