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 ...

Sir William Boston Cushion, (30 January 1891 – 16 January 1978) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and

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 ...

officer and an executive of the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the pass ...

Early life

The son of William Cushion, of Surlingham, near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Cushion was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, where he was a member of the school's

Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

, and at

Faraday House Faraday House Electrical Engineering College was created to train engineers in power generation and distribution. It was set up at a time before engineering was widely taught at universities, founded as an adjunct to a commercial company for sup ...

, London.''CUSHION, Air Vice-Marshal Sir William Boston'' in ''Who Was Who'', online edition by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2007

Career

Originally he studied electrical engineering but at the start of the First World War Cushion was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 22nd Battalion the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

on 3 December 1914 and attached to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. During the First World War he served in France from 1915 to 1918. After the war, in 1919, he received a permanent commission into the

, serving as a flight lieutenant from 1919 to 1921, and was promoted

squadron leader 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 ...

on 1 January 1922. He served in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from 1922 until 1927, was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

that year and was promoted

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

on 1 January 1929. He served in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

(then a British protectorate) from 1933 to 1935, was promoted group captain in 1937, air commodore in 1940, and air vice marshal in 1942, serving as Director-General of Equipment 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 ...

. He was advanced to

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1942, appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1944 and knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1947. After retirement from the Royal Air Force, Cushion was an executive of the

from 1946, taking charge of General Services from 1948. He represented BOAC on the Aircraft Requirements and Contracts Committee, which considered aircraft replacement jointly with

British European Airways British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...

and British South American Airways. He retired from BOAC on 30 September 1956, after an announcement in May: "The Corporation desires to place on record its great appreciation of the notable contributions of Sir Victor Tait, Sir Harold Whittingham, and Sir William Cushion to the progress and development of B. O. A. C."''Flight'' magazine dated 1 June 195
online
/ref>

Private life

In 1917, Cushion married Esther Jane Kenyon-Spooner, and they had two daughters. He was a member of the

Hurlingham Club The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs. His ...

and at the time of his death was living in London SW6.

References

External links

Air Vice-Marshal Sir William Cushion
at website ''Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Cushion, William Boston 1891 births 1978 deaths People from South Norfolk (district) People educated at Gresham's School Royal Flying Corps officers Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Manchester Regiment officers Military personnel from Norwich Royal Air Force personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War I