Air Marshal Sir Douglas Macfadyen, (8 August 1902 – 26 July 1968) was a

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) an ...

officer who became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

RAF Home Command RAF Home Command was the Royal Air Force Command (military formation), command that was responsible for the maintenance and training of reserve organisationsJohn D. Rawlings, 'The History of the Royal Air Force,' Temple Press Aerospace, Feltham, ...

from 1956 until his retirement in 1959.

RAF career

After education at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle (By Learning, You Will Lead) , established = , closed = , type = Grammar SchoolIndependent school (UK), Independent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Geoffrey Stanford , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, Macfadyen joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1920.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Douglas Macfadyen
After a tour as Adjutant of the London

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons are training units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF of the Royal Air Force and their main role is to attract students into careers as RAF officers. Primarily its goal is achieved through offering ba ...

, he became

Officer Commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, t ...

No. 105 Squadron in May 1939 and served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in that role before joining the Planning Staff at Headquarters British Air Forces in France. He continued his war service at the Directorate of War Organisation, at Headquarters Eastern Air Command and at Headquarters North-West African Air Forces before being made Director of Policy (Air Staff) 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, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

in 1944. After the war he became Commandant of the Officer's Advanced Training School at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joi ...

and then at

RAF Hornchurch Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The a ...

. He was appointed Director of Plans at the Air Ministry in January 1949, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) in August 1949 and Air Officer commanding

British Forces Aden British Forces Aden was the name given to the British Armed Forces stationed in the Aden Protectorate during part of the 20th century. Their purpose was to preserve the security of the Protectorate from both internal threats and external aggress ...

in 1952. He went on to be Commandant of 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. I ...

, in 1953 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at

in 1956 before retiring in 1959.

Family

His son, Sir Ian Macfadyen, also became an air marshal.

Cricket

In 1929 and 1931, Macfadyen played cricket for the

Royal Air Force cricket team The Royal Air Force cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Royal Air Force. The team played 11 first-class matches: nine between 1922 and 1932, mostly against other branches of the Services, and another two in 1945 and 1946. The ...

in inter-services matches against the

British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy side had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

that were recognised as being of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

status. He had little success as a lower-order batsman in either match, but took two wickets as an opening bowler in the 1931 game. In 1920, he had played a single match in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

for

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Macfadyen, Douglas 1902 births 1968 deaths Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force air marshals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English cricketers Northumberland cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers