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 John Whitworth-Jones, (28 February 1896 – 4 February 1981) was a pilot in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and 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 during 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 ...

. After the latter he held several senior RAF appointments before his retirement in 1954.

Military career

Born the son of Lieutenant Colonel Aylmer Jones and his wife Lilian (née Cookworthy). His elder brother was

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early life ...

. Jones was educated at Magdalen College School in Oxford and also at St Paul's School. He joined the territorial army in 1912 and went to France as a Bugler aged 18 with the 517th (2nd London) division of the Royal Engineers. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

general list on 13 April 1917 during the

. Later in the war he served as a pilot in No. 47 Squadron and No. 21 Squadron.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir John Whitworth-Jones
/ref> He was made

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. 13 Squadron in 1931 and Officer Commanding No. 208 Squadron in 1933 before joining the Air Staff in the Deputy Directorate of Operations (Home) 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 1936. He served in the

as Director of Fighter Operations from 1940, Air Officer Commanding No 9 (Fighter) Group from 1942 and Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff at

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir ...

from 1943. He went on to be Director-General of Organisation at the Air Ministry in June 1945. After the war he was Air Officer Commanding AHQ Malaya, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief

Technical Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Cor ...

and then

Air Member for Supply and Organisation The Air Member for Materiel is the senior Royal Air Force officer responsible for procurement matters. The post-holder is a member of the Air Force Board and is in charge of all aspects of procurement and organisation for RAF regular, reserve and ...

before retiring in 1954.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth-Jones, John 1896 births 1981 deaths Royal Air Force air marshals of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) British World War I pilots People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford People educated at St Paul's School, London