Group Captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior 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 influence. Group cap ...

Robert Lyle McKendrick Barbour, (31 August 1895 – 1980) was a Scottish airman and a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

of 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 ...

credited with six aerial victories.

Biography

Barbour attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

, as a Gentlemen Cadet, from where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

on 27 October 1916. On 22 December 1917 he was seconded to 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 ...

, receiving promotion to lieutenant on 27 April 1918. As a pilot with No. 205 Squadron RAF, he shot down six enemy aircraft between June and October 1918, the first three in a DH.4, and the latter three in a DH.9A. For his efforts, Barbour was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation for the award read: Barbour resigned his army commission on 1 August 1919 in order to accept a permanent commission 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 ...

. He was promoted from

flying officer Flying officer (Fg Offr or F/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Flying officer is immediately ...

to flight lieutenant in December 1925, and was awarded the Air Force Cross in June 1928. He received further promotions; to

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

on 1 October 1934, to

wing commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

on 31 December 1937, and to temporary

group captain Group captain (Gp Capt or G/C) is a senior 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 influence. Group cap ...

on 1 September 1940.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Robert 1895 births 1980 deaths Royal Flying Corps officers British World War I flying aces Scottish flying aces Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Own Scottish Borderers officers British Army personnel of World War I Scottish military personnel