Air Marshal Sir Walter Philip George Pretty, (2 May 1909 – 17 January 1975) 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 Signals Command from 1961 until 1964.

RAF career

Educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

, Pretty joined the

as a cadet in 1929.Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Walter Pretty
/ref> He 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 ...

as Station Commander at the

Chain Home Low Chain Home Low (CHL) was the name of a British early warning radar system operated by the RAF during World War II. The name refers to CHL's ability to detect aircraft flying at altitudes below the capabilities of the original Chain Home (CH) r ...

early warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum tim ...

base near Clacton, 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. 1 Radio Operator's School at

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...

and on the signals staff at

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 ...

. After the war he became Director-General of Navigational Services at the Ministry of Civil Aviation and then Director of Electronics Research and Development at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

before being appointed Air Officer Administration at Headquarters Second Tactical Air Force in 1955. He went on to be Director-General of Organisation 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 1958, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Signals Command in 1961 and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Personnel & Logistics) in 1964 before retiring in 1966. He lived near Cobham in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and became President of the Edward Alleyn Club. He married Betty Methven in 1940 and they had four children: Audrey, Beryl, Carol (mother of comedian

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian and actor. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is the son of N ...

), and Derek.Family history
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pretty, Walter 1909 births 1975 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Alleyn's School Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War II