John Sutton (RAF Officer)
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Air Marshal Sir John Matthias Dobson Sutton, (9 July 1932 – 21 November 2014) 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 served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at
RAF Support Command Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire. History It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,
from 1986 to 1989 and
Lieutenant Governor of Jersey The lieutenant governor of Jersey (Jèrriais:, "Governor of Jersey"), properly styled the lieutenant-governor of Jersey (), is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a dependency of the British Crown. Presentl ...
from 1990 to 1995.


Early life

His mother was the Grimsby singer Gertrude Dobson, of 'Alandale' on Weelsby Road, who married Harry Rowston Sutton on Wednesday 16 September 1931 at
Grimsby Minster Grimsby Minster is a Minster (church), minster and parish church in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. Dedicated to James, son of Zebedee, St James, the church belongs to the Church of England and is within the Diocese of Lincoln. Back ...
by the vicar of
Bilsby Bilsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the main A1111 road between Alford and Sutton-on-Sea, east of Alford. Thurlby and Asserby are hamlets within Bilsby parish. The censuses sh ...
. Harry worked at a brewers in Alford. But there was something a little peculiar. Gertrude's sister Jessie had married Frank, the brother of Harry Sutton, on Monday 29 June 1931, at Grimsby Minster, by the vicar of Bilsby. Both Frank and Harry had attended Alford Grammar School. The father of Harry and Frank was Matthias and Emmeline Sutton, who had ran the 'Anchor Inn', for seven years, and the 'Windmill Hotel', for ten years, in Alford. Matthias Sutton died on 2 August 1931, aged 55. Emmeline Sutton ran the hotel for another fifteen years. Emelline (née Rowston) died on 21 November 1948, aged 70. He was born at the County Nursing Home in Cleethorpes. He was the son of Mr Harry Sutton of 'Clovelly, 119 West Street, in Alford. His mother Gertrude died in May 1979.


RAF career

Educated at
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford (QEGS) is a selective, co-educational, academy status grammar school with sixth form in Alford, Lincolnshire, England. In 2021, the school held 544 pupils. The school motto is ''Cor Unum Via Una'' whi ...
, Sutton joined 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 ...
in 1950.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He was appointed
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. 249 Squadron in 1964 and then became Assistant Secretary of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 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 ...
in 1966. He went on to be Officer Commanding No. 14 Squadron in 1970, Assistant Chief of Staff (Plans & Policy) at Headquarters
Second Tactical Air Force The Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and ...
in 1971 and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Policy) in 1977. He then became Deputy Commander of
RAF Germany Royal Air Force Germany, commonly known as RAF Germany, and abbreviated RAFG, was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and part of British Forces Germany (BFG). It consisted of units located in Germany, initially in what was known as West G ...
in 1980,
Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff The Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (ACDS) is a senior British military officer. There are a number of ACDS appointments and they are held by officers of two-star rank (rear admiral, air vice-marshal, or major general). They work in the Min ...
(Commitments) in 1982 and Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Overseas) in 1985. He became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at
RAF Support Command Support Command was a command of the Royal Air Force between 1973 and 1994. The headquarters was located at RAF Brampton in Cambridgeshire. History It was formed on 31 August 1973 by the renaming of RAF Maintenance Command,
in 1986 and retired in 1989.


Governorship and later life

In retirement, Sutton was made
Lieutenant Governor of Jersey The lieutenant governor of Jersey (Jèrriais:, "Governor of Jersey"), properly styled the lieutenant-governor of Jersey (), is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a dependency of the British Crown. Presentl ...
. He attended a reunion of Lieutenant Governors in 2008. He died on 21 November 2014.


Personal life

In 1954 Sutton married on Saturday 25 September 1954 at
Inverness Cathedral Inverness Cathedral (Scottish Gaelic: Cathair-Eaglais Inbhir Nis), also known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew (1866–69), is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church situated in the city of Inverness in Scotland close to the banks of ...
. His wife Cherry (Delia Eleanor Woodward) was from Caledonian Road in
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
. They had one son and one daughter. His daughter was born 22 January 1957, in Germany, and his son was born in February 1961, in Middlesex. Following the dissolution of his first marriage he married Angela Faith Gray, at
Golant Golant () is a village in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the west bank of the River Fowey and in the civil parish of St Sampson. Golant is about north of Fowey and east of St Austell. Golant church is dedicated to St ...
in Cornwall on Saturday 24 May 1969. They had two sons. Sutton's elder son by his second marriage, Mark, became famous after parachuting into the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, pretending to be James Bond escorting the
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
. Mark died in an accident just over a year later in August 2013, when his wingsuit clipped a ridge in
Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
, Switzerland. In 1975, he lived in
Liphook Liphook is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) west of Haslemere, bypassed by the A3 road, and lies on the Hampshire/West Sussex/Surrey borders. It is in the civil parish of Bramshott an ...
in east
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.''Louth Standard'' Friday 10 January 1975, page 8 He retired to
Stretton, Rutland Stretton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Rutland, England, just off the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 Great North Road. The population of the civil parish was 770 at the 2001 census, including Thistleton ...
, on the Lincolnshire boundary.


References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, John 1932 births 2014 deaths British military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Governors of Jersey Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from Lincolnshire Military personnel from Rutland People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Alford People from Alford, Lincolnshire People from Liphook Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air Royal Air Force air marshals