Air Marshal Sir Kenneth William Hayr, (13 April 1935 – 2 June 2001) was a senior

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) a ...

commander who served as Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command and Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments).

Early life and flying career

Born in Whangarei, New Zealand, Hayr was educated at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

.Obituary: Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Hayr
Daily Telegraph, 4 June 2001 He joined the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeal ...

and was sent to the United Kingdom to attend the

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 an ...

, graduating in 1957.Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Hayr profile
rafweb.org; accessed 29 May 2016. Hayr was Officer Commanding No. 228 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Coningsby during the introduction of the F4 Phantom and subsequent training of No. 6 and No. 54 Squadrons. He was then appointed Officer Commanding No. 1 Squadron in 1970. The following year, he married Joyce Gardiner: they had three sons. Hayr served as Station Commander at

RAF Binbrook Royal Air Force Binbrook or RAF Binbrook was a Royal Air Force station, now closed, located near Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England. The old domestic site (married quarters) has been renamed to become the village of Brookenby. RAF Binbrook was p ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

in 1974. He attended 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 level ...

, after which he took up the post of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) in 1980. During this period he was responsible for much of the planning of the RAF's part in the re-capture of 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 Dubou ...

. In 1982, he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group. Hayr became Commander,

British Forces Cyprus British Forces Cyprus (BFC) is the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the UK Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus and at a number of related 'retained sites' in the Republic of Cyprus. The United K ...

and Administrator of the

Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...

in 1985. Returning to Britain he was Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command from 1988 until being appointed Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments) at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1989, which in 1990 involved him leading the preparation for

Operation Granby Operation Granby, commonly abbreviated Op Granby, was the code name given to the British military operations during the 1991 Gulf War. 53,462 members of the British Armed Forces were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations wa ...

Later life and legacy

On retirement Hayr returned to New Zealand and took up the Chairmanship of the New Zealand Aviation Heritage Trust Board, but continued to split his time between the UK and New Zealand in order to continue his love for flying by performing displays in various vintage aircraft. It was in such an aircraft, a

De Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...

, that he was killed during the 2001

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a settlement on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Kent, prior to 1965 it was also in the administrative county of Kent. ...

air display. In 1996, the

Inspectorate An inspectorate or inspectorate-general (or general inspectorate) is a civil or military body charged with inspecting and reporting on some institution or institutions in its field of competence. Inspectorates cover a broad spectrum of organizations ...

of Flight Safety moved into new purpose-built accommodation at

RAF Bentley Priory RAF Bentley Priory was a non-flying Royal Air Force station near Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It was the headquarters of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain and throughout the Second World War. During the war, two enemy bombs ...

and the facility's new lecture theatre was named 'The Hayr Theatre' in honour of Hayr who was the first Inspector in 1976 (prior to that date the post had been that of Director). Following the closure of Bentley Priory his picture now hangs in the DARS Course Members Tea bar at RAF Northolt in memory of the Lecture theatre at RAF Bentley Priory.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayr, Kenneth 1935 births 2001 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Defence Studies Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Royal Air Force personnel of the Falklands War People educated at Auckland Grammar School New Zealand recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Air Force air marshals of the Gulf War