[3] His parents were Henry Brooke, a country gentleman of Wetheringsett Manor in Suffolk, and his wife Dulcibella who was the daughter of Robert Moore, a clergyman.

After his school years at Haileybury and his officer training at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the British Army in 1898.

[5] In a letter to the editor of Flight magazine, dated 23 January 1949, he wrote, "I see from an old log book that though I was seconded to the Air Battalion at the end of March 1912, it was not till the 6th May that I flew to Larkhill to take over command of No.2 (Aeroplane) Co." No.

2 (Aeroplane) Company which had been stationed at Larkhill, on Salisbury Plain, since its creation in April 1911 and thus became the oldest British, Empire or Commonwealth independent military unit to operate heavier-than-air machines.

[citation needed] Following the outbreak of the First World War, Brooke-Popham went to France as the Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General in the headquarters of the Royal Flying Corps,[5] where he was responsible for the administrative and technical support to the squadrons deployed in the field.

Rather, his energies were directed into administrative and organizational activities, as he served in several staff posts at the RFC's headquarters in France.

In May 1915 Brooke-Popham was appointed the RFC's Chief Staff Officer,[5] and in March 1916 he was the Corps' Deputy Adjutant and Quartermaster-General, which saw him granted the temporary rank of brigadier-general.

[5] From 1919 to 1921, Brooke-Popham served as Director of Research at the Air Ministry and in November 1921 he was tasked with establishing the RAF Staff College at Andover and he became its first commandant on 1 April 1922.

[5] During his time as AOC Fighting Area, Brooke-Popham oversaw the establishment of a chain of huge concrete mirrors which were designed for acoustic early warning and he received a knighthood in 1927.

[5] This high-profile position put him in charge of all British forces in Iraq and, when the post of high commissioner was vacant, he acted in that capacity as well.

[5] In late 1928, he mobilised and despatched the Victoria aircraft for the rescue of British embassy staff and others in the Kabul evacuation by air operation.

[14] The start of 1931 saw Brooke-Popham promoted to air marshal[5] and then posted as the first RAF officer to serve as Commandant of the Imperial Defence College.

His appointment took place not long after the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in October 1935 and his principal aim was to deter the Regia Aeronautica from attacking British territory in north east Africa.

[4] Under his direction, a plan was devised which concentrated defensive resources on the strategically important port of Mombasa, which was judged to be the most likely Italian target.

[4] Although this left Nairobi and the highlands with only limited defences, the barren regions of northern Kenya meant that the inland settlements were geographically protected from the Italian threat further to the north.

[4] In 1939 on the outbreak of the Second World War, Brooke-Popham ordered the internment of all Germans in Kenya, directed that all aircraft be commandeered, and devised a plan to keep the colony's farms running.

[4] Brooke-Popham rejoined the RAF shortly after his return to Great Britain and only weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War.

On 18 November 1940, at the age of 62, Brooke-Popham was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Far East Command[19] making him responsible for defence matters in Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Hong Kong.

[4] The Command's aerial defences were particularly deficient and the priority attached to operations in the Middle East meant that British resources were directed elsewhere.

[4] During the following year, Brooke-Popham struggled without much success to build up defences, get the much-needed reinforcements and rectify the unsound command arrangements.

The plan relied upon force levels not available to Brooke-Popham and involved violating the neutrality of Thailand, with whom a non-aggression pact had been signed the previous year.

[4] Two days before the Malayan Campaign began, Hudsons of No.1 Squadron (RAAF) spotted the Japanese invasion fleet but given uncertainty about the ships' destination and instructions to avoid offensive operations until attacks were made against friendly territory, Brooke-Popham did not allow the convoy to be bombed.

[5] After Brooke-Popham relinquished his role as President of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes Council, he lived in retirement.

[22] Papers relating to Brooke-Popham's service are held in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King's College London.