Michael Graydon

[6] Having been awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in the 1967 Birthday Honours,[7] he was promoted to squadron leader on 1 January 1968.

[3] Promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1975,[9] he attended the National Defence College at Latimer in 1976.

11 Squadron at RAF Binbrook in July 1977[3] and military advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1979.

[3] He went on to be Assistant Chief of Staff at the Policy Division at Headquarters SHAPE in June 1986[3] and was promoted to air vice marshal on 1 July 1986.

[18] As Chief of the Air Staff he advised the British Government on the implementation of No Fly Zones in Iraq and Bosnia.

[19] He also implemented the Front Line First initiative launched in July 1994 which contributed to reducing the RAF manpower from around 75,000 to around 53,000.

[3] In 2006, Graydon expressed his belief that action was required to end the isolation of Northern Cyprus.

[22] Then in 2010/11, Graydon won approval from the North Cyprus government and the Royal British Legion to establish a branch of the Royal British Legion in North Cyprus: on 1 October 2011 the branch was officially formed with Graydon as president.