Air Marshal

Air Marshal

Air marshal is a three-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 Sir Sidney Weetman Rochford Hughes KCB

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...

, CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, 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"...

 (25 October 1914 – 17 September 1996) was a British 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 Officer Commanding Far East Air Force.

RAF career

Educated at Waitaki Boys' High School

Waitaki Boys' High School

Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. It currently has a school roll of just over 530....

, Hughes joined the Royal Air Force in 1938. 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...

 mainly in the Middle East and North Africa: after being shot down, he was taken prisoner in 1941 by a group of Italian soldiers near Benghazi

Benghazi

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...

 - although he later turned the tables and took 130 Italians prisoner himself. He became Officer Commanding No. 511 Squadron

No. 511 Squadron RAF

No. 511 Squadron was a Royal Air Force transport squadron, active during World War II, the Berlin Airlift and during the sixties and early seventies. It operated, during its three periods of existence, aircraft such as the Douglas Dakota, the Avro York, the Handley Page Hastings and the Bristol...

 in September 1945. After the War he served as Officer Commanding the Royal Aircraft Establishment

Royal Aircraft Establishment

The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...

 at Farnborough

Farnborough Airfield

Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...

 before becoming Station Commander at RAF Jever in 1955. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 19 (Reconnaissance) Group in 1962 and Deputy Controller of Aircraft (RAF) at the Ministry of Aviation

Ministry of Aviation

Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government, established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply....

 in 1964 before becoming Air Officer Commanding Far East Air Force in 1966 and retiring in 1969.