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 ...

Martin Keith Widdowson (born 10 May 1946) was a senior

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officer in the 1980s and 1990s and the 24th and last Commandant Royal Observer Corps.

Military career

Widdowson was commissioned into the

on 25 March 1964, as an acting pilot officer. A year later, on 25 March 1965, he was regraded as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...

. A year after that, on 25 March 1966, he was promoted to

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

, and he was appointed to a permanent commission on 1 October 1968. He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 25 September 1969. On 1 January 1974, he was promoted to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

. He was promoted to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

on 1 July 1981. His final operational flying appointment was as the

Officer Commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

No. 23 Squadron in 1982 and by the late 1980s, he was Station Commander of

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and h ...

. He was promoted from wing commander to

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries that have historical British influence. Group cap ...

on 1 January 1988. On 1 July 1992, he was promoted to

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 ...

and in 1995 he was appointed as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) of No. 11/18 Group RAF, simultaneously holding the appointment of 24th and last Commandant Royal Observer Corps until the ROC was Stood Down. He retired from the RAF on 14 September 1996.

References

, - Royal Air Force air commodores People of the Royal Observer Corps 1946 births Living people {{RAF-bio-stub