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 u ...

Robert Stewart Blucke, (22 June 1897 – 2 October 1988) 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 at

RAF Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. ...

in 1952.

RAF career

Blucke was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion the

Dorsetshire Regiment The Dorset Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958, being the county regiment of Dorset. Until 1951, it was formally called the Dorsetshire Regiment, although usually known as "The Dorsets". In 19 ...

in 1915 during 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 transferred to No. 63 Squadron on formation of the Royal Air Force in April 1918.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal R S Blucke
/ref> He became a Signals Officer at the Experimental Section of the

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

in January 1934 and in February 1935 he flew a

Handley Page Heyford The Handley Page Heyford was a twin-engine biplane bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. It holds the distinction of being the last biplane heavy bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The ...

over

Stowe Nine Churches Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School *Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish *Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire *Stowe, Lincoln ...

becoming the first pilot to be detected by

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

. 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 ...

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, ...

the Blind Approach Training and Development Unit and then as Officer Commanding the Wireless Investigation Development Unit before joining the Directorate of Flying Training 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 November 1940. He became Station Commander at

RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor, or more simply RAF Holme is a former Royal Air Force station located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site was built during the Second World War, it was used during the war by the Royal Air Force (RAF) a ...

in 1942, in which role 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 a bombing run over

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

in a damaged Lancaster, before becoming Station Commander at

RAF Ludford Magna Royal Air Force Ludford Magna or more simply RAF Ludford Magna is a former Royal Air Force station located on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire and was sited 21. 4miles (34.4 km) north east of ...

in 1943 and Air Officer Commanding No. 1 (Bomber) Group in 1945. After the War he was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer at

Air Headquarters India The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Gravity of Earth, Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating Atmo ...

and then became Air Officer Administration at Headquarters Technical Training Command in 1947. He went on to be Air Officer Administration at Headquarters Far East Air Force in 1949, Air Officer Commanding Air Headquarters Malaya in 1951 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

in January 1952 before retiring in July that year.

Personal life

His son David also pursued a career with the

, becoming a

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

and station commander of

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and hom ...

. He died in the

1974 Norfolk mid-air collision The 1974 Norfolk mid-air collision happened on 9 August 1974 at Fordham Fen, Norfolk, England when a Royal Air Force McDonnell-Douglas F-4M Phantom FGR.2 of No. 41 Squadron RAF (41 Sqn) collided with a Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee crop spraying air ...

, when the

Phantom jet Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy unm ...

he was piloting made contact with a crop-spraying aircraft.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blucke, Robert 1897 births 1988 deaths British Army personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Dorset Regiment officers Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Flying Corps officers