Jack Baldwin (RAF officer)

Sir John Eustice Arthur Baldwin
Wing Commander Baldwin as Commandant of the Central Flying School c.1929
Born	13 April 1892 Halifax, England
Died	28 July 1975 (aged 83) Rutland, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	c. 1910–1944
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	Third Tactical Air Force Bomber Command No. 3 Group No. 21 Group RAF College Cranwell No. 1 Group Central Flying School 41st Wing RFC No. 55 Squadron
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (4)

Air Marshal Sir John Eustice Arthur Baldwin KBE, CB, DSO, DL (13 April 1892 – 28 July 1975) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Early life

Educated at Rugby School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Baldwin was commissioned into the 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars in 1911 and served as a cavalry Officer in the First World War.^[1]

RAF Service

Baldwin was awarded the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's Certificate no. 971 on 17 November 1914 and became a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps.^[2] He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 55 Squadron in October 1916 and Officer Commanding No. 41 Wing in December 1917 before transferring to the Royal Air Force on its formation in 1918.^[2] He was appointed Commandant of the Central Flying School in 1928 and served as Aide-de-Camp to King George V from 1931 to 1932.^[2] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Group in 1934, Director of Personal Services in 1935 and Commandant of the RAF College Cranwell in 1936 before taking up the post of Air Officer Commanding No. 21 Group in 1938.^[2] He retired in August 1939.^[2]

Just two weeks later, Baldwin was recalled to serve in the Second World War as Air Office Commanding No. 3 Group at RAF Bomber Command.^[2] Between 9 January and 21 February 1942, he was acting Commander in Chief of Bomber Command, after the removal of Richard Peirse. During this brief tenure the "Channel Dash" occurred, when the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau escaped from the French port of Brest and fled up the English Channel to the sanctuary of Kiel harbour in northern Germany.^[3] In October 1942 he became Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, India.^[2] This appointment was followed from November 1943 by his posting as Air Officer Commanding Third Tactical Air Force which supported the ground battle in South East Asia.^[2] On 5 February 1943, Baldwin attended the departure of Major General Orde Wingate, the Chindits and the 1st Air Commando Group departed for Operation THURSDAY in Burma.^[4] He reverted to the Retired List again on 15 December 1944.^[2]

Notes and references

1. Falconer, Jonathon (1998). The Bomber Command Handbook 1939–1945. Stroud: Sutton Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7509-1819-5.
2. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir John Baldwin
3. RAF History – Bomber Command 60th Anniversary
4. Royle, Trevor, “Orde Wingate: A Man of Genius 1903–1944,” Frontline Books, October 2010, ISBN 978-1848325722