Air Marshal Sir Richard Hallam Peck (2 March 1893 – 12 September 1952) was a British officer 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 ...

, who served in the First and Second World Wars.

Biography

Peck was born in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

, Liverpool, and educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

. In the First World War he served in France with No 12 Squadron of 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 ...

. In 1919 he was commissioned as a Major. After the war he became a flight instructor and was stationed at

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 1922 and RAF Station Shaibah in 1924. Peck attended the Army

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

in 1926 and the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in 1933. In 1927 he joined the Air Staff and participated in the

Experimental Mechanized Force The Experimental Mechanized Force (EMF) was a brigade-sized formation of the British Army. It was officially formed on 1 May 1927 to investigate and develop the techniques and equipment required for armoured warfare and was the first armoured fo ...

. In 1935 he chaired the "Committee on the Defence of RAF Stations against Air Attack", which recommended an increase in resources. In 1936 he was stationed at

RAF India RAF India, later called Air Forces in India (1938–47) was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active from 1918 until Indian independence and partition in 1947. It was the air force counterpart of the British Army in India. Origi ...

. During the Second World War, Peck was Director of Operations, Director-General of Operations, and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (General). He was Lord Portal's primary public information deputy, and was often quoted in newspapers as an anonymous

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 ...

spokesman. In 1940 Peck ensured the RAF ordered 50

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

s for reconnaissance. This was planned to be one of the fastest aircraft of its time, but there had been disagreements about its purpose and it was almost cancelled. Peck persuaded

Wilfrid Freeman Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Rhodes Freeman, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1888 – 15 May 1953) was one of the most important influences on the rearmament of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the years up to and including the Second World War. He was par ...

not to cancel, and it turned out to be an extremely versatile warplane which was used until the end of the war. Peck was promoted to Air Marshal in 1942. He retired in 1946. He was a Governor of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

from 1946 to 1949, vice-chairman of the

National Savings Committee The National Savings Movement was a British mass savings movement that operated between 1916 and 1978 and was used to finance the deficit of government spending over tax revenues. The movement was instrumental during World War II in raising fu ...

in 1947, and he became president of the

Royal Air Forces Association The Royal Air Forces Association, also known as RAF Association or RAFA, is a British registered charity. It provides care and support to serving and retired members of the Air Forces of the British Commonwealth, and to their dependents. The ...

(RAFA) in 1949. He died in Switzerland from a heart attack aged 59. Richard Peck House, a RAFA rest home, was named after him.

Publications

*Wing Commander R.H. Peck: "Aircraft in Small Wars (lecture)". Journal of the Royal United Services Institution, 73 (1928), pp. 535–50.

References

External links

Images at the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Richard Royal Air Force air marshals 1893 births 1952 deaths Military personnel from Liverpool Royal Air Force personnel of World War II People educated at St Paul's School, London Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies BBC governors Royal Flying Corps personnel Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford