HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The RAF Staff College at
RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...
was the first
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) an ...
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 foundation of the RAF in April 1918 and the end of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in November 1918, there was a determination to maintain the Air Force as an independent service rather than let the Army and Royal Navy control air operations again. Therefore, the creation of an RAF Staff College to parallel the Army Staff College and the Royal Naval Staff College was an important element in fully establishing the RAF. On 14 November 1921, Air Commodore Robert Brooke-Popham was tasked with setting up the RAF Staff College. On 1 April the following year, the new RAF Staff College came into being with Brooke-Popham as its first commandant. The Staff College was based at
RAF Andover RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air ...
and was subordinate to Inland Area. The dog seen in the photograph on Robert Brooke-Popham's lap was ''Jane'' who was buried in the Staff College grounds. The gravestone still exists and was the only remaining memorial to the college in 2010. From its foundation and through the 1920s and 1930s, the Staff College provided training to selected officers (usually promising
flight lieutenants Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the Indi ...
or
squadron leaders Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...
) to prepare them for staff duties 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 Stat ...
or at
Command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...
or Group headquarters.


Changes during and after the Second World War

Although the College was closed on 3 September 1939, the day the British declaration of war was made, it reopened the same November running shorter courses. However, the next year on 28 May 1940, the College closed again. The RAF reopened its staff college at
Bulstrode Park Bulstrode is an English country house and its large park, located to the southwest of Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. The estate spreads across Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross and Fulmer, and predates the Norman conquest. Its name may origin ...
in December 1941. The College at Bulstrode Park was later reduced in size and only offered training to allied and foreign air force officers. When Bulstrode Park closed in 1948, this smaller College returned to Andover and its role in training overseas officers was continued. It was not until 1970 that the Staff College at Andover finally closed when it was absorbed into the RAF Staff College at Bracknell.


Commandants


1922 to 1940

*1 April 1922 Air Vice-Marshal H R M Brooke-Popham *28 March 1926 Air Commodore E R Ludlow-Hewitt *7 September 1930 Air Commodore P B Joubert de la Ferté *12 December 1933 Air Vice-Marshal W R Freeman *1 January 1936 Air Marshal Sir
Arthur Barratt Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Sheridan Barratt, (25 February 1891 – 4 November 1966) was an officer in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He acquired the n ...
*1939 ''Unknown''


1948 to 1970

:''From 1941 to 1948 a single RAF staff college was located at Bulstrode Park which had its own commandant.'' *26 July 1948 Air Commodore L W Cannon *1949 Air Commodore J N T Stephenson *31 March 1952 Air Commodore W G Cheshire *25 April 1953 Air Commodore
G. P. Chamberlain George Philip Chamberlain (18 August 1905, in Enville, Staffordshire2 November 1995) was an 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 ra ...
*1 May 1954 Air Commodore D W Lane *21 April 1958 Air Commodore E D McK Nelson *3 October 1960 Air Commodore N C Hyde *24 September 1962 Air Commodore C V D Willis *3 March 1965 Air Commodore W D Hodgkinson *7 March 1966 Air Commodore P O V Green *7 October 1968 Air Commodore J A G Jackson


References


Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Schools and Staff Colleges
{{RAF Training 1922 establishments in the United Kingdom Staff College Staff colleges Educational institutions disestablished in 1970