Charles Burnett (RAF Officer) - Inter-war Period

Inter-war Period

By the close of the war, Burnett had transferred to the newly-formed Royal Air Force (RAF) and the next few years of his military career were to involve many changes of post. In 1919, Burnett was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier-general and appointed (again temporarily) as General Officer Commanding the RAF's Palestine Brigade. Later the same year, he accepted the offer of a permanent commission in the RAF with the rank of wing commander.

In April 1920, Burnett was given command of the RAF's Mesopotamian Wing and when the wing was upgraded to a group, he worked as a staff officer at the group's HQ. From February to October 1921, Burnett was a supernumerary, first at the HQ Middle East Area and then at No. 7 Group where he was sent pending his next posting. It was during this time that Burnett was promoted to Group Captain, although for some of the period he was on the half-pay list.

Burnett took up command of No. 29 Group in October 1921 but this was a short-lived appointment. In April 1922, Burnett was posted as station commander of RAF Leuchars which was a training base at that time. Once again Burnett did not spend long in post. By December 1922, he was a supernumerary once more, this time at the RAF Depot. From 1923-early 1927, Burnett served as the Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence at the Air Ministry. He was made a Companion of the Bath (CB) in the 1927 New Year Honours. Burnett was then posted as the Commandant of the Central Flying School where he served until January 1929.

Having just been promoted to air commodore, Burnett's next tour saw him return to Iraq as the Senior Air Staff Officer at the HQ of Iraq Command where he served for the next two years. In early 1931, he returned to the UK and he was appointed to the double-hatted position of Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence. Burnett was promoted air vice-marshal the following July and he remained in post for a little under a year and a half.

In November 1932, Burnett returned to Iraq once more, this time as the Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command which placed him in charge of all British forces in Iraq. During his time in command Burnett was involved in the suppression of several tribal incursions near Kuwait and during one such occasion Burnett was wounded.

Burnett returned to Great Britain at the start of 1935 to take up command of the RAF's Inland Area. At the start of 1936, whilst Burnett was Air Officer Commanding Inland Area, he was promoted to air marshal and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the New Year Honours list. Later that year the RAF's command structure underwent a major reorganization. One of the changes was the redesignation of Inland Area as Training Command and Burnett became the command's first Air Officer Commander-in-Chief. The next three years placed great demands upon Burnett and his command; as the threat from the German Luftwaffe increased, Training Command played a key role in the expansion of the RAF.

In July 1939, just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Burnett was appointed an additional Inspector-General of the RAF and in August he was a member of British military mission to the Soviet Union.