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 ...

Sidney Osborne Bufton, (12 January 1908 – 29 March 1993) was a senior commander in 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 ...

during the middle part of the 20th century. He played a major part in establishing the

Pathfinder Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder ( ...

project, over the objections of Arthur Harris.

RAF career

Bufton joined the Royal Air Force in 1927.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal S O Bufton
/ref> As a young man he was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

International

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player (1931–1937) as well as playing for the

RAF 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 ...

and the

Combined Services The Combined Services cricket team represents the British Armed Forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lo ...

. He served in

World War II 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 Officer Commanding No. 10 Squadron and then as Officer Commanding No. 76 Squadron before becoming Station Commander at

RAF Pocklington RAF Pocklington was an operational flying station of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, forming part of Bomber Command, and operating primarily Wellington and Halifax bombers. The station, adjacent to the town of Pocklington at ...

in 1941. He continued his war service as Deputy Director and then as Director of Bomber Operations. He argued for the formation of a Target Finding Force to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of Bomber Command. In this he was opposed by the group and squadron commanders, and Bomber Command's commanding officer, Arthur Harris. He was supported by 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 ...

and

Charles Portal Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, (21 May 1893 – 22 April 1971) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as a bomber pilot in the First World War, and rose to become fi ...

. The force became the

Pathfinder Force The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in RAF Bomber Command during World War II. They located and marked targets with flares, which a main bomber force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were norma ...

, which was critical in making the air campaign over Germany a success.''Forming the Pathfinders – The Career of Air Vice-Marshal Sidney Bufton'' by Hugh Melinsky, September 2010
He headed the preparations for the ill-fated Operation Thunderclap and for the air warfare against cities and civilians in German-occupied Europe. After the War he was appointed Commandant of the Central Bomber Establishment and then Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans) at Headquarters Air Forces Western Europe in 1948. He was made Director of Weapons at the

in 1951, Air Officer Administration at Headquarters

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 ...

in 1952 and Air Officer Commanding at

British Forces Aden British Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggressi ...

in 1953. His last appointments were as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Bomber Command in 1955 and as Assistant Chief of Staff (Intelligence) at the Air Ministry in 1958 before retiring in 1961. After retiring from the RAF, he joined Radionic Ltd. as an inventor and later became Managing Director until 1970.

References

External links

The Papers of Air Vice-Marshal Sydney Osborne Bufton
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

, Cambridge , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bufton, Sidney Osborne 1908 births 1993 deaths Aerial warfare pioneers Royal Air Force air marshals Companions of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Welsh male field hockey players High Sheriffs of Radnorshire Heads of RAF Intelligence Welsh military personnel