He joined the Royal Air Force from university on 29 March 1933. In November 1940 during the Second World War he was appointed
Officer Commanding No. 50 Squadron in which role he earned the
Distinguished Service Order and
Distinguished Flying Cross before moving on to become Station Commander at
RAF Syerston in April 1942. In February 1945 he was appointed Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters
No. 4 Group and went on to receive the
Croix de Guerre and
Légion d'Honneur. After the War he was appointed Deputy Director of Operational Training at the
Air Ministry before taking up the role of Senior Air Staff Officer for the Rhodesian Air Training Group in 1948. In 1951 he became Officer Commanding
RAF Coningsby and in 1954 he was made Commandant of the RAF Flying College at
Manby where he developed flying techniques for jet aircraft: he received the
Air Force Cross in 1956 for his work in this and techniques for flights over the
North Pole. He became Air Officer Commanding
No. 1 Group in October 1956, Chief Information Officer at the Air Ministry in 1959 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at
Flying Training Command in 1961. He held the post of
Inspector-General of the RAF from 1964 to 1966 when he became Deputy Commander-in-Chief
Allied Forces Central Europe. He continued his interest in rugby, acting as a referee and being President of the
Rugby Union in 1965–6. He retired in 1970. Following his retirement he carried out various voluntary activities, notably for the
Royal Air Forces Association, including the role of President. ==Family==