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 Robert William George Freer, (1 September 1923 – 15 January 2012) 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 ...

(RAF) officer who served as Deputy Commander of Strike Command from 1978 to 1979.

RAF career

Educated at Gosport Grammar School, Freer joined the Royal Air Force during 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 ...

and became a flying instructor. He was given command of No. 92 Squadron in 1955, and became Station Commander of

RAF Seletar Seletar Airport is a civilian international airport serving the north-east region of Singapore. It is located approximately northwest from Changi Airport, the country's main airport, and about north from the main commercial city-centre. ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in 1963 during the

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...

. He was made deputy director of Defence Plans in 1966, Deputy Commandant of the

RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. I ...

in 1969 and Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Near East Air Force in 1971. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1972, Air Officer Commanding No. 18 Group in 1975 and Deputy Commander of Strike Command in 1978. His last appointment was as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1980 before he retired in 1982. In retirement he became a Director of

Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercia ...

. He died at home on 15 January 2012.Telegraph announcements
/ref>

Family

In 1950 he married Margaret Tinkler, daughter of John William Elkington of Ruskington Manor; they had one son and one daughter.

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Freer, Robert 1923 births 2012 deaths British military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British people in colonial India Military personnel of British India