Charles Laverock Lambe

Charles Laverock Lambe

Air Vice Marshal Lambe
Born 10 May 1875
Died 25 April 1953 (aged 77)
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Navy
 Royal Air Force
Years of service c. 1891–1931
Rank Air vice marshal
Commands held No. 5 Group
VII Brigade RAF
HMS Hermes
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)[1]

Air Vice Marshal Sir Charles Laverock Lambe KCB CMG DSO was born on 10 May 1875. He joined the Royal Navy in (or around) 1891 and following a distinguished career, he transferred to the Royal Air Force on its creation in 1918. Lambe was one of the most senior officers with naval experience to serve in the 1920s RAF.

Joining the Royal Navy in or before 1891, Lambe attended the Britannia Naval College. In 1897 he was promoted to lieutenant and served aboard HMS Magpie, taking part in Rear Admiral Rawson's punitive expedition to Benin. Lambe later served at the Naval Ordnance Department. He gained a promotion to commander in 1908 and was appointed Assistant Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes in 1913.

In August 1914, Lambe was appointed as captain of the seaplane carrier HMS Hermes, which sank after being torpedoed in October of the same year. At the start of August 1916, having just been promoted to wing captain, Lambe took up appointment as the officer commanding the Royal Naval Air Service's Dover Command which included RNAS units at Dunkirk. During his time at the Dover Command, Lambe's aircraft carried out bombing raids on the German submarine harbours at Bruges.[2] On 1 April 1918, Lambe was appointed General Officer Commanding the VII Brigade of the RAF. On 23 April, Lambe's VII Brigade carried out air attacks as part of the blocking of Zeebrugge and Ostend.[3] On 9 May, Lambe was once again the air commander in a naval action, this time for the Second Ostend Raid.[4]

In 1919 Lambe was selected by Sir Hugh Trenchard to sit on the Air Council and in 1924 he was appointed commandant of the RAF’s No. 1 School of Technical Training. In 1928 Lambe was appointed Air Officer Commanding Coastal Area (the forerunner of Coastal Command) from where he retired in the rank of air vice marshal in 1931. Charles Laverock Lambe died on 25 April 1953.

Honours and awards

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31691. p. 15614. 16 December 1919.
  2. ↑ Jellicoe, John, Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl Jellicoe (1920). The crisis of the naval war. pp. 72, 73.
  3. ↑ "AIRCRAFT in the ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND BATTLES". Flight. The Royal Aero Club of the U.K. 27 February 1919. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30870. p. 10088. 27 August 1918.
Military offices
Preceded by
Unknown		 Officer Commanding RNAS Dover Command
1 August 1916 – 31 March 1918 		Command disbanded
Responsibilities transferred to VII Brigade
Vacant
Title last held by
T I Webb-Bowen
On 26 March 1918
(Italian operations)		 General Officer Commanding VII Brigade
(Dover and Dunkirk operations)
1 April – May 1918 		Brigade disbanded
Responsibilities transferred to No. 5 (Operations) Group
Preceded by
F C Halahan
As Officer Commanding		 General Officer Commanding No. 5 (Operations) Group
May 1918 – January 1919 		Vacant
Title next held by
W B Callaway
In 1937
As Air Officer Commanding
Preceded by
J F A Higgins		 General Officer Commanding Midland Area
January – February 1919 		Succeeded by
B H H Cooke
Preceded by
Unknown or none		 Director of Equipment
1919 – 1922 		Succeeded by
D le G Pitcher
Preceded by
F R Scarlett		 Commandant, No. 1 School of Technical Training
28 February 1924 – 31 March 1928 		Succeeded by
I M Bonham-Carter
Preceded by
F R Scarlett		 Air Officer Commanding Coastal Area
1928 – 1931 		Succeeded by
R H Clark-Hall
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