Marshal of the Royal Air Force Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF) is the highest rank in the Royal Air Force (RAF). In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), and to retired Chiefs of the Air Staff (CAS), who were ...

Sir Keith Alec Williamson, (25 February 1928 – 2 May 2018) was a senior officer 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) an ...

. He served with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

flying Meteors in a ground attack role during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He was a squadron commander and then a station commander during the 1960s and a senior air commander in the 1980s. He was Chief of the Air Staff during the early 1980s at the time of the emergency airlift of food and supplies to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

("Operation Bushel").

RAF career

The son of Percy Williamson and his wife Gertrude, Williamson was educated at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent day school located in Woodford Green, London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School an ...

and Market Harborough Grammar School.Probert, p. 90 He enlisted in the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme at RAF Halton in 1945, and was transferred to the Aircraft Apprentice Wing at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which tra ...

, No 1 Radio School where he joined the 50th Entry and was trained as an Air Radio Fitter. After graduating in 1948, he was selected for a cadetship at

RAF College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

and was commissioned on 13 December 1950. He was sent to the Advanced Flying School at

RAF Driffield Royal Air Force Driffield or RAF Driffield is a former Royal Air Force station in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. It lies about south-west of Driffield and north-west of Beverley. It is now operated by the Defence Infrastructure Org ...

, where he trained on

Meteors A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mi ...

and Vampires and was then posted to No. 112 Squadron in July 1951 flying Vampires initially from

RAF Fassberg Fassberg or Faßberg may refer to * Faßberg – a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany * RAF Fassberg – a Royal Air Force air base between 1945 and 1957 in the vicinity of Faßberg * Faßberg Air Base Faßberg Air ...

and then from RAF Jever in Germany. Promoted to flying officer on 13 December 1951, Williamson volunteered to join

No. 77 Squadron RAAF No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters. The squad ...

flying Meteors in a ground attack role in the

in January 1953. After being promoted to flight lieutenant on 13 June 1953, he returned home in late 1953 to become aide-de-camp to Air Marshal Sir Harold Lydford, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

RAF Home Command RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisationsJohn D. Rawlings, 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, Feltham, Middlesex, 1984, p.180 from fo ...

.Probert, p. 91 After briefly returning to No. 112 Squadron in 1956, he joined No. 20 Squadron at RAF Oldenburg in Germany as a flight commander flying

Hunters Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

. Promoted to

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 July 1958, that year he went to the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at ...

where he became a

Qualified Flying Instructor A Qualified Flying Instructor is someone who is qualified to conduct flight training for pilots. They may also have other roles in aviation, such as aircraft certification and flight reviews, depending on the jurisdiction. Every country has its own ...

and then an examiner. Williamson attended the

RAF Staff College The RAF Staff College may refer to: *RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970) *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park The RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park, was a satellite staff college for the Royal Air Force based at Buls ...

in 1962 and was then post to the

Air Secretary The Air Secretary and Chief of Staff, Personnel is the Royal Air Force officer with responsibility for appointments, promotions, postings, and discipline of high ranking members of the British air force. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was ...

's department 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 promoted to

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 1964. He was given command of No. 23 Squadron flying Lightnings from RAF Leuchars in 1966 and became Station Commander at

RAF Gütersloh Royal Air Force Gütersloh, more commonly known as RAF Gütersloh, was a Royal Air Force Germany military airfield, the nearest Royal Air Force airfield to the East/West German border, in the vicinity of the town of Gütersloh. It was const ...

in 1968.'' Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010, He was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1968

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

, and promoted to group captain on 1 July 1968. After attending the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...

in 1971, he became Director of Air Staff Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1972 and was promoted to air commodore on 1 January 1973. Promoted to air vice marshal on 1 July 1975, he was appointed 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. ...

, on 16 August 1975. Gloster Meteor F

Williamson went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff (Plans and Policy) at

SHAPE A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type. A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...

on 10 March 1977 and then became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Support Command with the acting rank of air marshal on 30 August 1978. He was promoted to the substantive rank of air marshal on 1 January 1979. Williamson was made Commander-in-Chief Strike Command with the acting rank of air chief marshal on 15 September 1980. He was promoted to the substantive rank of air chief marshal on 1 March 1981 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1982

. He became Chief of the Air Staff on 15 October 1982 and was appointed Air Aide-de-Camp to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

on the same day. As Chief of the Air Staff he persuaded the British Government to build a completely new airfield at Mount Pleasant in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

in the aftermath of the Falklands War.Probert, p. 93 He also implemented the emergency airlift of food and supplies to

in the wake of severe drought, famine and civil war there ("Operation Bushel") and advised on the international agreement to proceed with the European Fighter programme.Probert, p. 94 He was promoted to

on 15 October 1985 and retired the same month.

Later work

In retirement Williamson devoted much of his time to the Presidency of the

Royal Air Forces Association The Royal Air Forces Association (also called the RAF Association or RAFA) is the largest single service membership organization and the longest standing registered service charity that provides welfare support to the family of RAF members. Th ...

. He was also Vice-President of

SSAFA SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. Anyone ...

. He died on 2 May 2018 at the age of 90.

Personal life

In 1953 he married Patricia Anne Watts; they had two sons and two daughters. His interests included golf.

References

Sources

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Keith 1928 births 2018 deaths Marshals of the Royal Air Force Chiefs of the Air Staff (United Kingdom) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Trenchard Brats Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies Military personnel from London