Brian Burnett
Encyclopedia
Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Sir Brian Kenyon Burnett GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

 AFC
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...

 (10 March 1913 – 16 September 2011) was a former senior Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 officer who became Air Secretary
Air Secretary
The Air Secretary is the Royal Air Force appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RAF. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was more often referred to as Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Personnel Management Centre. It is...

.

Early life and RAF career

Burnett was born on in Hyderabad in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, where his father was principal of Nizam College
Nizam College
Nizam College was established in 1887 during the reign of Nawab Mir Mahaboob Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It is located at Basheerbagh.-History:...

. He was educated at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

,, Heidelberg University and Wadham College
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...

 in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

.

Burnett joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers in 1932 and transferred to the RAF in 1934. Burnett’s name came to prominence in 1938, when he was the navigator and second pilot of a Wellesley bomber
Vickers Wellesley
The Vickers Wellesley was a British 1930s light bomber built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, for the Royal Air Force...

 that completed a record-breaking non-stop flight of 7,158 miles from Ismailia
Ismaïlia
-Notable natives:*Osman Ahmed Osman, a famous and influential Egyptian engineer, contractor, entrepreneur, and politician, was born in this town on 6 April 1917....

 in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 to Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, for which Burnett was awarded the AFC
Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
The Air Force Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and formerly also to officers of the other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy"...

.

He served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as Commander of No. 51 Whitley Squadron
No. 51 Squadron RAF
No. 51 Squadron of the Royal Air Force most recently operated the Nimrod R1 from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire until June 2011. Crews from No. 51 Squadron are currently training alongside the US Air Force on the Boeing RC-135, which is planned to enter service with the RAF over the next seven years...

 and then as Commander of No. 33 Air Navigation School in Canada before becoming Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 25 Group in 1944.

After the War he became an Instructor at the RAF Staff College, Bracknell
RAF Staff College, Bracknell
The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air Force staff college active for most of the second half of the 20th century. Its role was the training of staff officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters...

 and then joined the UN Military Staff Committee in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He served on the Joint Planning Staff at the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...

 from 1949 and became Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 3 Bomber Group
No. 3 Group RAF
Number 3 Group of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923-26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006.-The 1930s and World War II:...

 from 1951. He was made Station Commander at the RAF 'V' Bomber Station RAF Gaydon
RAF Gaydon
RAF Gaydon is a former Royal Air Force station in Warwickshire in the UK located east of Wellesbourne and north west of Banbury.-Second World War:During World War II a RAF station was built near the village of Gaydon...

 in 1954, Director of Bombing and Reconnaissance Operations at the Air Ministry in 1956 and Air Officer in charge of Administration at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...

 in 1959. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group
No. 3 Group RAF
Number 3 Group of the Royal Air Force was an RAF group first active in 1918, again in 1923-26, part of RAF Bomber Command from 1936 to 1967, and part of RAF Strike Command from 2000 until it disbanded on 1 April 2006.-The 1930s and World War II:...

 in 1961, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff
Vice-Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)
The British Vice-Chief of the Air Staff was the post occupied by the senior Royal Air Force officer who served as a senior assistant to the Chief of the Air Staff. The post was created during World War II on 22 April 1940 and its incumbement sat on the Air Council...

 in 1964 and Air Secretary
Air Secretary
The Air Secretary is the Royal Air Force appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RAF. From 1978 to 1983 the Air Secretary was more often referred to as Air Officer Commanding Royal Air Force Personnel Management Centre. It is...

 in 1967. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief Far East Command
British Far East Command
The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command , and secondly, 1963 – 1971 succeeded by Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom Force...

 in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 in 1970 before he retired in 1972.

In retirement he became Chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis Club
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club , also known as the All-England Club, based at Aorangi Park, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass...

.

Further reading

  • A Pilot at Wimbledon: the memoirs of Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Kenyon Burnett, published by Blenheim Press, 2009, ISBN 9781906302139

External links


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