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 Richard Edmund Charles Peirse, (30 September 1892 – 5 August 1970), served as 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 ...
commander.
RAF career
The son of Admiral
Sir Richard Peirse and his wife Blanche Melville Wemyss-Whittaker, Richard Peirse was educated at the Junior School section of
Monkton Combe School,
Bath,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, on and at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
. He became a midshipman in the
Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...
and was
commissioned in 1912.
[Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse]
He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
for his contribution to the aerial attack on
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[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 ...]
until 1 April 1918 when it became part of 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 ...
.
[ With the formation of the RAF, Peirse became ]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, t ...
No. 222 Squadron.[ Following promotion to ]wing commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...
in January 1922, in 1923 he became Station Commander at RAF Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite th ...
and in 1929 he was made Station Commander at RAF Heliopolis
Almaza Air Force Base Airport is a regional airport in north-eastern Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was established as a civilian aerodrome, but was partly taken over by the British military, designated RAF Heliopolis and later RAF Almaza. Today ...
.[ He was also promoted to group captain in 1929.
Peirse went on to be deputy director of Operations and 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 ...
in 1930 and, having been promoted to air commodore in 1933, was appointed Air Officer Commanding Palestine Transjordan Command during the Arab revolt in Palestine.[ Promoted again, this time to ]air vice-marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
in 1936, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) may refer to:
* Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Australia)
* Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (India)
* Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Pakistan)
* Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)
The Deputy Chief ...
and Director of Operations and Intelligence in January 1937.[
]
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 ...
, as a temporary air marshal, Peirse became Vice-Chief of the Air Staff from April 1940 and, and having had his rank confirmed as permanent in July, he became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
from October.[ He presided over a large expansion in the bomber force (and appeared in the propaganda film '']Target for Tonight
''Target for Tonight'' (or ''Target for To-Night'') is a 1941 British World War II documentary film billed as filmed and acted by the Royal Air Force, all during wartime operations. It was directed by Harry Watt for the Crown Film Unit. The fi ...
''). In the face of increasing losses and no evidence of significant impact on Germany, he was relieved of his duties as commander of the bomber force in January 1942. He was replaced by Arthur Harris.
When reports from Witold Pilecki of the treatment of Jews in Auschwitz reached London via the Polish government in exile, Peirse, then head of Bomber Command, was intrigued by their suggestion that the camp be bombed to allow the inmates to escape, even though the 1,700-mile round trip from Stradishall air base in Suffolk to Auschwitz was longer than any mission the RAF had yet attempted. Charles Portal, chief of the air staff, however, rejected the idea as an "undesirable diversion and unlikely to achieve its purpose".
During early 1942, Peirse was appointed commander of Allied air forces in South East Asia and the South West Pacific, a post known as ABDAIR and part of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allies of World War II, Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consists of ...
(ABDA). As the Dutch East Indies fell to Japanese forces, during February and March, ABDA was dissolved.
In March 1943 Peirse was appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF India
RAF India, later called Air Forces in India (1938–47) was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active from 1918 until Indian independence and partition in 1947. It was the air force counterpart of the British Army in India.
Origi ...
and in November 1943 he was made Allied Air Commander in Chief, South-East Asia.[ He oversaw the building of his command from a small demoralised and poorly organised force with a collection of obsolescent aircraft into a powerful force with a three to one numerical superiority over the enemy. Although seen as somewhat aloof, he fought fiercely to bring the structure and resources needed for his command and was seen to make an able contribution to the higher direction of the war in the South East Asian theatre.
After a six-month extension, Peirse's term of office expired in November 1944 and was not renewed. He retired in May 1945 with the rank of air chief marshal] but never received advancement to the Grand Cross level in the orders of knighthood which would normally have been forthcoming to an officer of his rank at the time. The reason for the abrupt termination of his career lay in his affair with Lady (Jessie) Auchinleck, the wife of his friend, Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commander ...
, then Commander in Chief India.
The affair became known to Mountbatten in early 1944, and he passed the information to the Chief of the RAF, Sir Charles Portal, hoping that Peirse would be recalled. The affair was common knowledge by September 1944, and Peirse was considered to be neglecting his duties. Mountbatten sent Peirse and Lady Auchinleck back to England on 28 November 1944, where they lived together at a Brighton hotel. Peirse had his marriage dissolved in 1945, and the Auchinlecks divorced in December 1945. Peirse and the former Lady Auchinleck married the following year.
Awards and decorations
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peirse, Richard
1892 births
1970 deaths
Military personnel from London
People educated at Monkton Combe School
Alumni of King's College London
Royal Air Force personnel of World War I
Royal Naval Air Service aviators
Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
Commanders of the Legion of Merit
Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor
Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
People from Croydon
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies
British military personnel of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine