Michael Beetham

Marshal of the Royal Air ForceSir Michael James Beetham, GCB, CBE, DFC, AFC, DL (17 May 1923 – 24 October 2015) was a Second World Warbomber pilot and a high-ranking commander in the Royal Air Force from the 1960s to the 1980s. As Chief of the Air Staff during the Falklands War, he was involved in the decision to send the Task Force to the South Atlantic. At the time of his death, Beetham was one of only six people holding his service's most senior rank and, excluding Prince Philip's honorary rank, he had the longest time in that rank, making him the senior Marshal of the Royal Air Force.