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 Hubert Leonard Patch, (16 December 1904 – 18 November 1987) 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 ...

commander.

RAF career

Patch joined the Royal Air Force as a flight cadet in 1923 and served in 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 ...

.''Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation'' biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hubert Patch
/ref> After the war he became Director of Armament Requirements and then Air Officer Commanding No. 44 Group in 1946. He went on to be Commandant of the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its wo ...

in 1948, Air Officer for Administration at Headquarters Far East Air Force in 1951 and Senior Air Staff Officer, Far East Air Force in 1952. After that he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1953, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...

in January 1956 and Commander-in-Chief of the RAF Middle East Air Force in September 1956. His final appointments were as

Air Member for Personnel An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

in April 1959 and as Commander, British Forces Arabian Peninsula in September 1959, where he established a unified tri-service command in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

,Arabian Peninsula Command
Flight International, 9 October 1959 before he retired in May 1961. From 1961 to 1963 he was the BAC Representative to NATO Countries.

References

, - , - , - , - , - 1904 births 1987 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{RAF-bio-stub