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 Hugh Alex Constantine, (23 May 1908 – 16 April 1992) was a

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 ...

officer who became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of

Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at RAF Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal Count ...

RAF career

Educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, Constantine joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1926, and was posted to No. 56 Squadron at

RAF North Weald North Weald Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome, in the civil parish of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest (district), Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it ...

in December 1927.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Constantine
/ref> On 10 December 1928, Constantine's Siskin fighter aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary off Leysdown, leaving him in a state of collapse. He was rescued by Flying Officer Walter Anderson and Corporal Thomas McTeague, who were awarded the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Meda ...

, exchanged for the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

in 1940. In 1934, as a flight lieutenant, Constantine took command of Number 3 Section of No.1 Armoured Car Company RAF. Constantine 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 ...

, initially as

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

No. 214 Squadron and then as station commander at RAF Elsham Wolds. He continued his war service as senior air staff officer at Headquarters No. 1 Group in 1942, as deputy senior air staff officer at Headquarters

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the Strategic bombing during World War II#Europe, strategic bombing of Germany in W ...

in 1943 and as air officer commanding No. 5 Group in 1945. In this capacity he worked closely with

Barnes Wallis Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...

and used

Grand Slam bomb The Bomb, Medium Capacity, (Grand Slam) was a earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against German targets towards the end of the Second World War. The bomb was originally called Tallboy Large until the term Tallboy got into the press a ...

s and

Tallboy bomb Tallboy or Bomb, Medium Capacity, 12,000 lb was an earthquake bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis and used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War."Medium capacity" refers to the ratio of bomb ...

s against key industrial targets in Germany. After the war, Constantine became chief intelligence officer with the Control Commission in Germany and was then appointed senior air staff officer at Headquarters No. 205 Group. He went on to be director of intelligence (operations) 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 1951, Air Officer Administration at Headquarters

RAF 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 1952 and air officer commanding No. 25 (Training) Group in 1954. His final posts were as deputy chief of staff, plans & policy at Headquarters

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe The Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. SHAPE is situated in the villag ...

in 1956, air officer commanding-in-chief of

in 1959 and

Commandant of the Imperial Defence College The Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies, formerly the Commandant of the Imperial Defence College, is the head of the Royal College of Defence Studies, a British military staff college which instructs senior officers, diplomats, and c ...

in 1961 before retiring in 1964. In retirement Constantine was granted an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

from the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

.Honorary Graduates
University of Warwick

Family

In 1937 Constantine married Helen; they had one daughter.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, Hugh 1908 births 1992 deaths People from Southsea People educated at Christ's Hospital Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Military personnel from Portsmouth