Air Commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from 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 ...

John Henry Peyto Verney, 20th Baron Willoughby de Broke, MC, AFC (21 May 1896, London – 25 May 1986) was a British peer.

Background and education

The son of Richard Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke, and Marie Frances Lisette Hanbury, Verney was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. He succeeded his father in 1923.

Military career

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

(1918). At the end of hostilities, he became aide-de-camp to the

Governor of Bombay Until the 18th century, Bombay consisted of seven islands separated by shallow sea. These seven islands were part of a larger archipelago in the Arabian sea, off the western coast of India. The date of city's founding is unclear—historians tr ...

, Sir George Lloyd, from 1919 to 1922 and adjutant of the

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

from 1925 to 1929. In 1939 he was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire. Since 1728, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Warwickshire. Lord Lieutenants of Warwickshire *Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick 1569� ...

, a post he held until 1967. Between the wars both Lord and Lady Willoughby were keen aviators with their own aeroplane and private aerodrome at their home in

Kineton Kineton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Dene in south-east Warwickshire, England. The village is part of Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, and in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 20 ...

, Warwickshire. He was also Commanding Officer from 1936 to 1939 of the 605 County of Warwick squadron. In a memoir, Peter Townsend (noted

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

pilot and, post-war, romantically linked with

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

), recounts 605's arrival at

RAF Tangmere Royal Air Force Tangmere or more simply RAF Tangmere is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. It was one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The Seco ...

, just before the outbreak of war. Townsend says that

Things hummed at Tangmere Cottage, just opposite the guard room, where John and Rachel Willoughby kept open house. There we spent wild evenings, drinking, singing, dancing to romantic tunes . . . we danced blithely, relentlessly towards catastrophe. . . . With one chance in five of survival - not counting the burnt and the wounded - only a handful of us would come through .e., survive to the end of World War II

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was a Duty Controller in the No. 11 Group

Operations Room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is prod ...

RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years b ...

,Crozier 2007, p. 28 responsible for the fighter protection of the south-east (when he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

) and then became Deputy Director of Public Relations 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 and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

(1941–44) and Director from 1945 to 1946.

Other

Joint Master of the Warwickshire Hounds (1929–35) and chairman of the Wolverhampton Racecourse Company (1947–71), he was also President of the Hunters' Improvement Society (1957–58).

Family

On 4 October 1933 Lord Willoughby de Broke married Rachel Wrey, daughter of Sir (Robert) Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 11th Baronet (1855-1917) of

Tawstock Tawstock is a village, civil parish and former Manorialism, manor in North Devon in the English county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Barnstaple, Bishop's Tawton, Atherington, Devon, Athe ...

in Devon and

Lutterworth Lutterworth is an historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwicks ...

in Leicestershire. They had two children: *

David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke Leopold David Verney, 21st Baron Willoughby de Broke, (born 14 September 1938), is a British hereditary peer and former member of the House of Lords. Early life Leopold David Verney was born on 14 September 1938. The only son of John Verney, 2 ...

(born 1938) *The Honourable Susan Geraldine Verney (born 1942).

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Crozier, Hazel. (2007) ''RAF Uxbridge 90th Anniversary 1917 – 2007''. RAF High Wycombe: Air Command Media Services * The Birmingham Post Year Book and Who's Who 1973–74, ''Birmingham Post and Mail Ltd., July 1973''

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby De Broke, John Verney, 20th Baron 1896 births 1986 deaths Lord-lieutenants of Warwickshire People educated at Eton College Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Air Force air commodores] Warwickshire Yeomanry officers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

20 Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War I 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers Green Howards officers 20th-century English nobility