He was the only officer who fought and commanded a squadron during the Battle of Britain to reach the post of Chief of the Air Staff.

604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron at RAF Hendon in April 1935 and attended the Instructors' Course at the Central Flying School in January 1936.

[3] He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 11 June 1936[6] and was posted to the University of London Air Squadron as Adjutant in January 1937.

219 Squadron flying Blenheims from RAF Catterick on night patrol duties[7] and then went on a month later to command No.

[8] He was promoted to wing commander on a war substantive basis on 12 August 1942[10] and mentioned in despatches on 1 January 1943.

[3] He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1956 Birthday Honours[16] and promoted to air commodore on 1 January 1956.

[17] He attended Imperial Defence College in early 1957 and then became Commander of Operation Grapple (the Hydrogen Bomb testing programme) in September 1957.

[3] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1961 Birthday Honours[21] and confirmed in the rank of air marshal on 1 January 1962.

[29] He was the only officer who fought and commanded a squadron during the Battle of Britain to reach the post of Chief of the Air Staff.

[30] As Chief of the Air Staff he implemented the final stages of the RAF's withdrawal from the Persian Gulf and the Far East, oversaw the ordering and subsequent cancellation of the F-111 strike aircraft and handed over Britain's nuclear deterrent role to the Royal Navy.