He attended the extended Officer's Engineering Course at the RAF's Home Aircraft Depot RAF Henlow at the same time as Flight Lieutenant Frank Whittle, passing out as a qualified engineer and granted a permanent commission in the rank of flight lieutenant in September 1933.
60 Squadron RAF operating in the North West Frontier conflicts with Afghan tribesmen and flying Airco DH.9A and Westland Wapiti aircraft.
In June 1940 he was promoted to temporary wing commander and in November 1941 he was posted as a Staff Officer at HQ No.
On 26 April 1942, he was piloting a Vickers Wellington IC (Z1045) of No 70 Squadron, which was shot down as a result of enemy action.
With the cessation of hostilities Simpson reverted to the rank of group captain, where he took up the position of Station Commander at RAF Cottesmore.
Between late 1945 and 1951 Simpson served in HQ Staff appointments at Bomber Command and latterly as deputy director of RAF Operations.
[1] In 1951 Simpson returned to the rank of air commodore and after a brief spell as Senior Officer (Administration) at Headquarters No.