Edmund Hudleston

Sir Edmund Hudleston
Nickname(s) Phoenix
Born (1908-12-30)30 December 1908
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia
Died 14 December 1994(1994-12-14) (aged 85)
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
Years of service 1927–1967
Rank Air Chief Marshal
Commands held Allied Air Forces Central Europe (1963–64)
Transport Command (1962–63)
Vice-Chief of the Air Staff (1957–62)
No. 3 Group (1953–56)
No. 1 Group (1950–51)
No. 84 Group (1944–46)
Battles/wars North-West Frontier
Second World War
Suez Crisis
Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches (5)
Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States)
Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Croix de guerre (Belgium)
Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Croix de Guerre (France)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Edmund Cuthbert Hudleston GCB, CBE, ADC (30 December 1908 – 14 December 1994) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force.

RAF career

Born in Kalgoorlie and educated at Guilford School in Western Australia, Hudleston joined the Royal Air Force in 1927.[1] He served as an armament officer in India before attending the RAF Staff College, Andover in 1938.[1] During World War II he served in various senior staff officer positions at RAF Middle East Command and Desert Air Force before being appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 84 Group in 1944.[1]

After the war, Hudleston attended the Imperial Defence College before becoming Head of the UK Military Delegation to the Western European Union Military Staff's Committee in 1948 and Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans & Policy at Headquarters SHAPE in 1951.[1] He was made Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group in 1953 and then became an instructor at the Imperial Defence College in 1956 before being appointed Chief of Staff (Air) for Operation Musketeer, the operation to recover the Suez Canal.[1] He went on to be Vice-Chief of the Air Staff in 1957, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Transport Command in 1962 and Commander of Allied Air Forces Central Europe in 1963.[1] He is last appointment was as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Central Europe in 1964 before retiring in 1967.[1]

In retirement he became a Director at the Optical Division of Pilkington Brothers.[1]

Family

In 1936 he married Nancye Davis; they had one son and one daughter.[2] Following the death of his first wife he married Brenda Withrington.[2]

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman
Vice-Chief of the Air Staff
1957–1962
Succeeded by
Sir Wallace Kyle
Preceded by
Sir Denis Barnett
Commander-in-Chief Transport Command
1962–1963
Succeeded by
Sir Kenneth Cross
Preceded by
The Earl of Bandon
Commander Allied Air Forces Central Europe
1963–1964
Succeeded by
Johannes Steinhoff
Chief of Staff and acting Commander
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