Philip Game - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Game was born in Streatham, Surrey, England, on 30 March 1876 to George Beale Game, a merchant from Broadway, Worcestershire, and his wife Clara Vincent. Before entering the army, he was educated at Charterhouse School. Following officer training at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, Game was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 2 November 1895 into the Royal Artillery. Promoted to Lieutenant on 2 November 1898 and further promoted to Captain on 20 June 1901, he served in the Second Boer War and was Mentioned in Dispatches. As a young artillery Captain he was made officer in charge of the gun carriage bearing the coffin of Queen Victoria at her funeral in 1901. Following brief postings in India and Ireland, Game attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1910 and was posted as a GSO at the War Office. He later won the Royal United Services Institute Gold Medal Essay. On 11 August 1908 he married Gwendolen Hughes-Gibb, the daughter of Francis Hughes-Gibb of Dorset, and was promoted as a Major on 15 February 1912.

Following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Game served on the front in France, including at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. In the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the Légion d'honneur and the Order of the Crown of Italy and was five times Mentioned in Dispatches. In early 1916 Game transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a result of Hugh Trenchard's request for an experienced staff officer to serve in his headquarters. Game transferred to the Royal Air Force on its creation in 1918. At the end of the war, Game continued to work under Trenchard, but as Director of Training and Organisation in the RAF. In 1922 he was promoted to the rank of Air Vice-Marshal and appointed Air Officer Commanding RAF India. The next year he took up the post of Air Member for Personnel and was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) a year later. Game retired suddenly on 1 January 1929, at the age of 52, allegedly owing to the rumours of his being appointed Chief of the Air Staff. On 1 March 1929 he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in the military division (GBE).