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 Frederick Willis (27 October 1937 – 9 January 2008) was a senior

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.

Flying career

John Frederick Willis was born in London and educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and the

RAF College The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

Cranwell Cranwell is a village in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Cranwell and Byard's Leap and is situated approximately north-west from Sleaford and south-east from the city and county town o ...

.Telegraph.co.uk – Obituary of Air Chief Marshal Sir John Willis
/ref> Willis gained his RAF commission in 1958 and went on to fly

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bombers. He went on to be

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of No. 27 Squadron at

RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First ...

. He was appointed deputy director of Air Staff Plans 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 1979, Station Commander at

RAF Akrotiri RAF Akrotiri ( el, Βασιλική Πολεμική Αεροπορία Ακρωτηρίου) is a large Royal Air Force base on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which compr ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in 1982 and Director of Air Staff Briefing & Co-ordination at the Ministry of Defence in 1985.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir John Willis
/ref> Later that year he was made Chief of the Special Weapons Branch at Headquarters

SHAPE A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material type. A pl ...

. In 1989 he was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy & Nuclear). He went on to be one of the RAF's most senior commanders, becoming Director-General of Training in 1991, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief of Support Command in 1992 and the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff at the

in 1995. He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1997. In retirement he was a member of the council of the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

and a patron of the Second World War Experience Centre. He was also actively involved in his local

Royal Air Forces Association The Royal Air Forces Association (also called the RAF Association or RAFA) is the largest single service membership organization and the longest standing registered service charity that provides welfare support to the family of RAF members. Th ...

Personal life

In 1959, while living in

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 ...

, Sir John met his wife Merrill, who was a nurse. They married in 1960. They had five

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

together, Jonathan, David, Kate, Rachel, and Rob. Sir John had fourteen grandchildren: Rebecca, Michael, Gregory, William, Joe, Ben, Finn, Ella, Millie, George, Sarah, Daisy, Pip and Heidi.

References

External links

Honorary Fellowship of Newcastle UniversityObituary in ''The Times'', 24 January 2008
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, John Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell People educated at Dulwich College People associated with Newcastle University 1937 births 2008 deaths Military personnel from London