Air chief marshal Sir Frederick William Bowhill (1 September 1880 – 12 March 1960) was a senior commander 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 ...

before and during

World War II 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 ...

RAF career

Bowhill started his career as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in the merchant navy in 1896.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill
/ref> In 1912 he attended the Central Flying School and in 1914 he was given command of the seaplane carrier HMS ''Empress''. He became Officer Commanding No. 8 Squadron of the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

in 1915 and Station Commander at RNAS Felixstowe in 1918. Later that year he commanded RNAS Killingholme. After the war Bowhill was not to rest for long from operational service. In 1920 he was the Chief of Staff to Group Captain Robert Gordon for the highly successful

Somaliland campaign The Somaliland campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish rebellion, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somaliland. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiop ...

. He went on to be Officer Commanding the RAF Depot in Egypt in 1925, Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters

RAF Iraq Command Iraq Command was the Royal Air Force (RAF) commanded British Armed Forces, inter-service Command (military formation), command in charge of United Kingdom, British forces in Iraq in the 1920s and early 1930s, during the period of the British Man ...

in 1928 and Director of Organisation and Staff Duties 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 1929. In 1931 he was appointed Air Officer Commanding the Fighting Area of the Air Defence of Great Britain and in 1933 he became Air Member for Personnel. He served in

initially as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Coastal Command, then as Air Officer Commanding RAF Ferry Command, in which capacity using his knowledge of the sea he properly identified the likely position of the German battleship Bismarck using a Catalina flying boat allowing it to be sunk.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> His last appointment was as Air Officer Commanding Transport Command in 1943 before retiring in 1945.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Wynn, Humphrey. ''Forged in War: A History of Royal Air Force Transport Command, 1943–1967''. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1996. . , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowhill, Frederick Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Royal Navy officers Royal Naval Air Service aviators 1880 births 1960 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Commanders of the Legion of Merit Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Military personnel of British India