Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air 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 i ...

Sir Alfred Earle, (11 December 1907 – 27 March 1990) was a senior officer in the

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 ...

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 ...

who later served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (1964–66), and Director General of British

Defence Intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...

(1966–1968).

Military career

After studying at

Shebbear College Shebbear College is an all-through school, all-through Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for pupils aged 4 – 18 situated in Shebbear, Devon, Shebbear, Devon, England. The school's 85-acre rura ...

, Earle was commissioned into the

in 1925.Sir Alfred Earle
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He served in bomber squadrons in the United Kingdom and in Iraq and then became an instructor at the RAF School of Photography from 1930. He served in the

and commanded the new School of Photography in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

before joining the Directorate of Photography 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 ...

in 1940. He transferred to the Directorate of Plans in 1941 and then formed and commanded

No. 428 Squadron RCAF No. 428 Squadron RCAF,
Royal Air Force Retrieved on 2008-01-13 also known as 428 Bomber Squadron,

in 1942. He was made

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

RAF Ridgewell Royal Air Force Ridgewell or more simply RAF Ridgewell is a former Royal Air Force station located at Ridgewell, north west of Halstead, Essex, England. During the Second World War, the airfield was used by the Royal Air Force and the United ...

and RAF West Wickham in 1943 before joining the staff of General Sir Hastings Ismay for the Cairo Conference and then the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

. In 1945 he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 300 (Transport) Group in Australia. After the war he became Air Officer Commanding No. 232 Group in South East Asia before joining the Directing Staff at the

RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters. It ...

in 1946. He was made Senior Personnel Staff Officer at Headquarters

Technical Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Cor ...

in 1949 and then

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

of the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

Staff College in 1951. He became Director of Policy (Air Staff) in 1954 and Air Chief of Staff (Policy) in 1955. He was Air Officer Commanding No. 13 Group from 1957 and

Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

from 1960. He was made Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

in 1962 and Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 1964. In 1966 Sir Alfred became the second chief of

, then known as Director-General Intelligence, succeeding Sir

Kenneth Strong Major-General Sir Kenneth William Dobson Strong (9 September 1900 – 11 January 1982) was a senior officer of the British Army who served in the Second World War, rising to become Director General of Intelligence. A graduate of the Royal Mil ...

Retirement

Earle retired from the RAF in 1966, before taking up the position of Director-General of Intelligence at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. From 1974 to 1976 he was the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Waveney Waveney may refer to: * River Waveney, a river that forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England * Waveney District, a local government district in Suffolk, England * Waveney (UK Parliament constituency) * Waveney class lifeboat, a class ...

District Council.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Earle, Alfred Royal Air Force air marshals Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell 1907 births 1990 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Shebbear College Royal Air Force personnel of World War II