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 Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté, (21 May 1887 – 21 January 1965) 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 ...

during the 1930s and 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 ...

Early life

Joubert de la Ferté was born in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

, India to Colonel Charles Henry Joubert de la Ferté and Eliza Jane née Meville. He was of partial French descent, his paternal grandfather having emigrated to England in 1840. He was sent to England as a child where he attended

Elstree School Elstree School is an English preparatory school for children aged 3–13 at Woolhampton House in Woolhampton, near Newbury in the English county of Berkshire. The school has announced plans to become fully co-educational from September 2020. H ...

and later

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

RAF career

Joubert de la Ferté joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

attending the

Royal Military Academy Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Si ...

and gaining his commission in 1907.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
/ref> From 1907 to 1913 he served in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

, rising to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. In 1913 he attended the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...

and went on to serve in the

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

. With the outbreak 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 ...

in 1914, he joined the British Expeditionary Force flying one of the first two operational sorties of the war. In 1915 Joubert de la Ferté was appointed Officer Commanding, No. 15 Squadron RFC. Later that year he took up command of No. 1 Squadron. As the war progressed, Joubert de la Ferté commanded No. 33 Squadron and then several different

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

. On 1 April 1918 Joubert de la Ferté transferred to the Royal Air Force in the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and by the end of hostilities in 1918 he had command of the Royal Air Force in Italy. During the inter-war years, Joubert de la Ferté occupied several staff and command posts, rising through the ranks. Notably, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 23 Group in 1929, Commandant of the

RAF Staff College, Andover The RAF Staff College at RAF Andover was the first Royal Air Force staff college to be established. Its role was the training of officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. History Foundation Following the fo ...

, in 1930 and Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in July 1936 before becoming Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

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 September 1936. At the start of the

, Joubert de la Ferté was Air Officer Commanding Air Forces in India. On his return to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

he occupied a number of senior staff appointments and returned to his former post as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command. It was there that he pioneered several innovations. These included Planned Flying and Maintenance and the introduction of a torpedo version of the

Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

. In February 1943 he became an

Inspector-General of the RAF The Inspector-General of the RAF was a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force, responsible for the inspection of airfields. The post existed from 1918 to 1920 and from 1935 until the late 1960s. For much of World War II, a second inspector-ge ...

. On 23 November 1943, Joubert de la Ferté was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff (Information and Civil Affairs) at the

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 ...

. Two years later on 14 November 1945, Joubert de la Ferté retired from the RAF. In 1915 he married Marjorie Denison: they had two daughters.

Bibliography

The following books by Joubert de la Ferté were published: *''The Fated Sky: An Autobiography'' – Hutchinson (1952) *''The Third Service'' – Thames and Hudson (1955) *''Rocket'' – Hutchinson (1957) *''Look at Aircraft'' – H Hamilton (1960) *''Birds and Fishes - The Story of Coastal Command'' – Hutchinson (1960) *''The Forgotten Ones: The Story of the Ground Crews'' – Hutchinson (1961) *''Fun and Games'' – Hutchinson (1964)

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Joubert De La Ferte, Philip 1887 births 1965 deaths English people of French descent British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Legion of Merit Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus People educated at Elstree School People educated at Harrow School Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Field Artillery officers Royal Flying Corps officers Military personnel of British India