Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Fleming Pendred, (5 May 1899 – 19 September 1986) 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 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 ...

from 1952 until his retirement in 1955.

RAF career

Educated at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orpha ...

, Pendred joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

in 1917 towards the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and served as a pilot with No. 2 Squadron.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Lawrence Pendred
/ref> He specialised in intelligence and in 1930 he joined the Intelligence Staff at Headquarters RAF Transjordan and Palestine. 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 ...

on the air staff in the Deputy Directorate of Operations (Home) and then in the Directorate of Plans. He continued his war service as Chief Intelligence Officer at Headquarters

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

from 1941, as Director of Intelligence 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 ...

from 1942 and as Chief Intelligence Officer at Headquarters

Allied Expeditionary Air Force The Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), also known as the Allied Armies’ Expeditionary Air Force (AAEAF), was the expeditionary warfare component of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) which controlled the tactical ai ...

from 1944. He spent the closing years of the war as Assistant Commandant at the RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park and then as Air Officer Commanding No. 227 Group. After the war Pendred was appointed Director of Intelligence to Supreme Commander, South East Asia and then, from 1947, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence). He went on to be commandant at the School of Land/Air Warfare in 1950 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

in 1952, before retiring in 1955. Under Pendred the standard training sequence for new pilots was the Provost and then the

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

aircraft types. In retirement Pendred was President of the Old Epsomian Club.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pendred, Lawrence 1899 births 1986 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Heads of RAF Intelligence Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Epsom College Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Naval Air Service aviators Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I