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 Peter Ted Squire, (7 October 1945 – 19 February 2018) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1970s, a squadron commander during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, and a senior air commander in the 1990s. Squire served as Chief of the Air Staff from 2000 to 2003. In retirement he was the chairman of the

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

and vice-chairman of the board of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Early life

Peter Squire was born at Felixstowe,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, on 7 October 1945, the son of Wing Commander Frank Squire, D.S.O., D.F.C., who was the son of a Devon farmer, and Margaret Pascoe Squire (née Trump). He received his schooling at the independent King's School, Bruton in Somerset, the fees of which were paid for by the British Government as he was the son of a serving military commissioned officer.''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

2010'',

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

, 2010,

Military career

In 1961, at the age of sixteen Squire was awarded a scholarship to academically study at RAF College Cranwell, which he entered in 1963. He received a commission into the Royal Air Force with the rank of

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on 15 July 1966. He was promoted to flying officer on 15 January 1967, and sent to No. 20 Squadron based in Singapore to fly Hunters in 1968. He was promoted to

flight lieutenant 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 India ...

on 15 January 1969, and joined No. 4 Flying Training School in Anglesey in 1970. In 1973 he commanded the R.A.F.'s display squadron " The Red Arrows", and was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in the 1973 Birthday Honours, and having been promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1973, flew Harriers with No. 3 Squadron in West Germany from 1975. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1979 Birthday Honours. Promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1980, DF-ST-85-13457

Squire was appointed commanding officer of No. 1 (F) Squadron based at RAF Wittering flying Harrier GR3's in 1981. In 1982, he commanded the squadron in action in the

. He flew with the squadron to CFB Goose Bay in Canada on 13 April 1982, on a six-hour flight using

air-to-air refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft ...

for an exercise. The squadron departed for the Falklands on 3 May 1982 from RAF St Mawgan, flying to RAF Ascension Island, where a few days later it boarded the merchant transport ship . Arriving in the South Atlantic Ocean, it transferred from the ''Atlantic Conveyor'' to , a few days before the ''Atlantic Conveyor'' was attacked by the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

sunk by two Exocet missiles. No.1 (F) Squadron was the first R.A.F. unit to operate in a combat role from a British aircraft carrier since the World War II. With No.1 (F) Squadron R.A.F. assigned to a ground-attack role in the conflict, Squire personally flew twenty four sorties against Argentine positions in support of British Army and

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

operations on West Falkland and East Falkland. During one attack a 7.62mm bullet fired from the ground penetrated his harrier's cockpit. On 8 June 1982 he suffered an engine failure whilst landing at a forward operating base behind British lines at San Carlos and crashed the aircraft, walking away uninjured. On 13 June 1982 he was the first R.A.F. pilot to drop a laser-guided bomb in action during fighting at

Mount Longdon Mount Longdon is a mountain in the east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It is best known as the site of the Battle of Mount Longdon, and overlooks Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stan ...

, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Four Harriers from No.1 (F) Squadron of its ten combat strength were lost during the war, three to enemy ground fire, and one (piloted by Squire) through engine failure whilst in flight. After the war, whilst still in the Falklands, on 6 November 1982 Squire again suffered engine failure whilst out on a routine patrol, and was forced to

eject Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Senser ...

from the aircraft at low altitude near Cape Pembroke, being rescued from the sea uninjured by a Royal Navy helicopter. On return to the United Kingdom he became leader of the R.A.F.'s 'Command Briefing and Presentation Team', and subsequently went on to be Personal Staff Officer to the Air Officer Commanding RAF Strike Command in 1984. Promoted to

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 ...

on 1 July 1985, he took up the appointment of Station Commander of RAF Cottesmore in 1986. He was appointed to the post of Director Air Offensive at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1989. Following his promotion to air commodore on 1 January 1990, he became senior air staff officer at H.Q. 'Strike Command' and Deputy Chief of Staff Operations (United Kingdom) Air Forces in 1991 and received further promotion to air vice-marshal on 1 July 1991. He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in February 1993, however, after only a few months he was replaced by Air Vice Marshal John Day. He served as

Assistant Chief of the Air Staff The Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (ACAS) is a senior appointment in the Royal Air Force. The current ACAS is Air Vice-Marshal Simon Edwards. The post was originally established circa February 1938, but without being made a member of the Air ...

from 1994 and, having been promoted to air marshal on 9 February 1996, became Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Programmes and Personnel) in 1996. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the

1997 Birthday Honours The 1997 Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 1997 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 1997 for New Zealand.New Zealand list: Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingd ...

. Appointed Air Aide-de-Camp to The Queen on 29 March 1999, he was promoted to

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 ...

, and became Commander-in-Chief RAF Strike Command, and Commander Allied Air Forces Northwestern Europe on 30 March 1999. In 2000 he became Chief of the Air Staff, and was advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the

2001 New Year Honours The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...

. As Chief of the Air Staff he advised the British Government on the British air contribution to Operation Veritas in Afghanistan in 2001, and then to

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

in Iraq. He retired on 5 December 2003.

Later life

In retirement Squire joined the

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...

. He was chairman of the

of the

from 2003 to 2011, and vice-chairman of the board of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission from 2005 to 2008. He was also a governor at King's School, Bruton, and the deputy lieutenant of Devon. In 2004 he privately issued a narrative of the combat operations by No.1 (F) Squadron in the Falklands in 1982, entitled 'The Harrier Goes to War'. In 2005 he recorded an extended interview detailing his military career with the Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive. He died of heart failure at the age of 72 on 19 February 2018 at his home, "Lower Park", at

Gidleigh Gidleigh is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England. Located within Dartmoor National Park, the parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Throwleigh, Chagford and Dartmoor Forest. In 2001 ...

in Devon. A funeral service was held at

Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh Holy Trinity Church, Gidleigh dates from the late 15th-century, and is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in Gidleigh, Devon. History The church has Saxon, or possibly Norman, origins, but was completely ...

in early March 2018. A memorial service was held for him at St Clement Danes Church in London on 1 June 2018, the Queen being represented by

Lord Craig of Radley Marshal of the Royal Air Force David Brownrigg Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, (born 17 September 1929) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and member of the House of Lords. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1950s, a squadron commander in the 1 ...

Personal life

In 1970 he married Carolyn Joynson, the marriage producing three sons. His main personal interest was golf.

Arms

References

External links

The air combat in the Falklands War
, - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Squire, Peter 1945 births 2018 deaths Royal Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Chiefs of the Air Staff (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force personnel of the Falklands War Falklands War pilots Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell People educated at King's School, Bruton Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Deputy Lieutenants of Devon Military personnel from Suffolk