Robert Brooke-Popham

Brooke-Popham was born in England in the Suffolk village of Mendlesham on 18 September 1878. 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. Brooke-Popham's education was not atypical of a man entering the British officer class. He attended South Lodge School in Lowestoft from 1885 to 1891. 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. In January 1926, Brooke-Popham married Opal Mary, the daughter of Edgar Hugonin. They later had a son and a daughter. ==Early military career==

After graduating from Sandhurst in May 1898, Brooke-Popham was gazetted to the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in the rank of second lieutenant, During his time there he served in the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and Cape Colony. He was promoted captain on 9 November 1904. By 1910 Brooke-Popham had returned to Great Britain. ==Military aviation before the First World War==

Brooke-Popham was attached to Air Battalion Royal Engineers during its manoeuvres of 1911, after which he decided to learn to fly. He attended the flying school at Brooklands and gained Royal Aero Club certificate number 108 in July 1911. However, in early 1912, he transferred to the Air Battalion, taking up duties as a pilot in March. The next month, he was appointed Officer Commanding of the Battalion's Aeroplane Company. With the creation of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) from the Air Battalion on 13 May 1912, Brooke-Popham was transferred to the RFC. He was appointed the first Officer Commanding of No. 3 Squadron. 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. 3 Squadron was the successor unit to the Air Battalion's 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. ==First World War==

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, a technique was developed whereby troops on the ground could send messages to aviators by laying strips of white cloth on the ground. These strips are referred to as "Popham strips" in a novel set in the period. With the establishment of the Royal Air Force in April 1918, Brooke-Popham was transferred to the newly created Air Ministry in London. He served as the Controller of Aircraft Production for the remainder of the War and for some months afterwards. In 1919, he served as Director of Aircraft Research. ==RAF service during the inter-war years==

Post-war honours Following the end of the First World War, Brooke-Popham was decorated for his contributions to the war effort. In January 1919 he was awarded the Air Force Cross and made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. Later in the same year he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath and was given a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force as a colonel. He was rapidly promoted to air commodore when the Air Force introduced its own rank system in August 1919. The start of 1931 saw Brooke-Popham promoted to air marshal and then posted as the first RAF officer to serve as Commandant of the Imperial Defence College. Two years later in 1933, he returned to the Air Defence of Great Britain, this time in the senior post of Air Officer Commander-in-Chief. Later that year Brooke-Popham received the honorary appointment of Principal Aide-de-Camp to the King. In 1935 he left the Air Defence of Great Britain to become the Inspector-General of the RAF. This was, however, a short-lived appointment and he was posted later that year. Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East In late 1935, Brooke-Popham took up the post of Air Officer Commander-in-Chief RAF Middle East with his headquarters in Cairo. 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. In 1937, Brooke-Popham relinquished his command and returned to Great Britain, retiring from the RAF on 6 March. ==Private life==

In Q2 1926 in Tadcaster, he married Opal Mary Hugonin (16 Oct 1900 – Q2 1983). They had two children, Diana M in Q4 1926 in Marylebone and Francis P in Q3 1928 in Uxbridge. In Q1 1948 in Westminster Diana married Robert H H Barton, and they had Margaret H, born Q4 1948 in Ploughley, Francis C H born Q3 1951 in Halstead, and Joanna M H , born Q4 1953 in Oxford. In Q1 1957 in Greenwich, Francis married Susan C Fry; they had three daughters, Jane E in Q1 1960 in Gosport, Catherine A in Q1 1962 in Portsmouth and MARY L in Q3 1964 in Islington. In 1986 in Taunton, he married Diana J Michael. ==Governor of Kenya==

Following Italy's occupation of Ethiopia, the British Government wanted a military man to hold the post of Governor of Kenya. Brooke-Popham was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Kenya in 1937 and his military expertise was useful in helping the colony prepare for a possible war with Italy. 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. 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. Eventually, as the Italian occupation of Ethiopia was characterized by strife and unrest, the threat to Kenya dissipated. Brooke-Popham's governorship was also marked by improved relations with the settlers. His predecessor had sought to dominate the political and economic life of the colony which had aroused repeated opposition from some of the settlers' leaders. However, in courting settler opinion, some historians have criticized Brooke-Popham for failing to deal with those settlers who wanted to limit African and Asian freedoms in Kenya. 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. On 30 September 1939 he relinquished the governorship and returned to Britain. ==Second World War==

Commonwealth Air Training Plan Brooke-Popham rejoined the RAF shortly after his return to Great Britain and only weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War. He was first appointed as head of the RAF's training mission to Canada making him responsible for defence matters in Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Hong Kong. This was a considerably more demanding undertaking than any of Brooke-Popham's many previous appointments. The Command was new and Brooke-Popham was the first RAF officer to be appointed Commander-in-Chief of a joint command during a world war. Although it had been agreed in London that Brooke-Popham should be replaced as commander-in-chief on 1 November 1941, the change was not made because of the critical situation. With the war with Japan now unfolding, many believed that Brooke-Popham was near to a nervous collapse. The cabinet envoy Duff Cooper urged his replacement and London agreed. On 27 December, at the height of the Battle of Malaya, Brooke-Popham handed over command to Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pownall. Brooke-Popham's return to Britain was closely followed by the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Inevitably, Brooke-Popham was associated with the collapse and he was publicly attacked by some in Britain as the man chiefly responsible for the defeat. Later war years In May 1942, Brooke-Popham retired from active service in the RAF for the second time. His reputation severely damaged by the events in the Far East, he nevertheless continued to serve where he could. At some stage in 1942, Brooke-Popham became Inspector-General of the Air Training Corps, a position he held until 1945. From 1944 to 1946, he served as President of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes Council. ==Later years==

After Brooke-Popham relinquished his role as President of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes Council, he lived in retirement. Brooke-Popham died in the hospital at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire on 20 October 1953. His funeral took place at St. Edburg's Church in Bicester and he was buried privately in Somerset. ==Papers==

Papers relating to Brooke-Popham's service are held in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives at King's College London. ==Footnotes and references==