Cannon enlisted in the
Royal Air Force (RAF) in the second entry of
aircraft apprentices in 1920, and was commissioned as a pilot in 1925. From 1948 until late 1949, Cannon was Assistant Commandant and then Commandant of the
RAF Staff College, Andover. He served as a Flight Commander in
No. 60 Squadron RAF and then
Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron RAF on the
North-West Frontier of India in the 1930s. Eventually attaining the rank of
air vice-marshal (the first apprentice to achieve
air rank), he served as
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal
Pakistan Air Force from 7 May 1951 to 19 June 1955. ==References==