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 ...

Alfred Cecil Critchley, (23 February 1890 – 9 February 1963) was a military commander, entrepreneur and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

in the United Kingdom. He served as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament (MP) from 1934 to 1935.

Early life and military career

Critchley was born in Calgary, Northwest Territories (now Alberta), Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine and attended St Bees School in Cumberland. .. His first career was a military one, initially in Lord Strathcona's Horse, a Canadian military regiment and, towards the end of 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 ...

, in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(RFC). He was seconded to the RFC on 4 March 1918 with the temporary rank of brigadier general at the age of only 28. Remaining in the RFC and then

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 ...

to the end of the war, Critchley played a senior role in organising training, commanding the RFC and then RAF's Cadet Brigade. By the end of the war he had become the youngest brigadier general in the British Imperial forces and had married Maryon Galt, the cousin of the wife of the press baron Sir Max Aitken, later Lord Beaverbrook.

Business and politics

After the war Critchley involved himself in a number of business ventures in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

before returning to the UK where he became a director of Associated Portland Cement. In 1926 he helped form the private company, the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

(GRA). Under the auspices of this company he became a significant sporting entrepreneur in the UK. The company introduced greyhound racing to the UK in Belle Vue,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1926. The success of this initial trial led the company to purchase the

White City Stadium White City Stadium in London, England, was built for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car racing, concerts and a match at the 1966 FIFA W ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The GRA subsequently built both the Harringay Stadium and Harringay Arena. He was married for a second time in London to Miss Joan Foster of Mount Street, London on 22 December 1927. Critchley contested the 1929 general election as a Conservative in the Manchester Gorton constituency, a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

for the Labour Party where he was heavily defeated. In February 1931, he contested the Islington East by-election as a candidate for the Empire Free Trade Crusade and the United Empire Party, which both sought to make the British Empire a free trade bloc. The Empire Crusade had won the Paddington South by-election in October 1930, and hoped to repeat its success. Critchley came second, with 27.2% of the votes, and the Empire Crusade never won another seat. He rejoined the Conservative Party, and won the Twickenham by-election on 22 June 1934. Nevertheless, he did not contest the 1935 general election. He was a director general of the

British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...

from 1943 to 1946. In 1953 he suffered a severe infection which caused him to go blind. In 1954 he was involved in the publishing deals of

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

Sport

In addition to his interest in greyhound racing, Critchley was a keen sportsman, and was a leading amateur golfer who won the French, Belgian and Dutch open amateur championships, and competed in the first Masters Tournament in 1934. He also took part in bobsleigh events with his son John Galt Critchley, who went on to claim a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the FIBT World Championships 1939.

References

External links

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore A C Critchley
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Alfred Cecil 1890 births 1963 deaths British people of Canadian descent Military personnel from Calgary Canadian military personnel of World War I Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at St Bees School Politicians from Calgary People in greyhound racing Royal Air Force generals of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Flying Corps officers UK MPs 1931–1935 Lord Strathcona's Horse soldiers

Early life and military career

Business and politics

Sport

Further reading

References

External links