Post War and Later Life
He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1946 New Year Honours. He was appointed Vice-Chief of the Air Staff with the acting rank of air marshal on 1 June 1946 and confirmed in the rank of air marshal on 1 July 1947. He became Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean & Middle East in March 1948 and Air Member for Supply and Organisation on 2 March 1950. He was promoted to air chief marshal on 8 January 1951. He was advanced Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1952 New Year Honours.
He became Chief of the Air Staff in 1 January 1953. As such he was the only Chief of the Air Staff to have been originally commissioned in the Royal Navy (Sir Frederick Sykes served in the Navy for a little under a year even though he was originally commissioned in the Army). In that role his main preoccupation was the establishment of the V Force and the necessary supporting weapons, airfields and personnel. He was advanced Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1953 New Year Honours. He attended the funeral of King George VI in February 1952 and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. He was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 1 June 1954. He was the first and only Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, serving from 1 January 1956, through the Suez Crisis, until 1 January 1959 when he became the first Chief of the Defence Staff, a post he held until July 1959.
In retirement he worked for a variety of charitable organisations including the Royal Central Asian Society, the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society and the Forces Help Society. He died at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Wroughton in Wiltshire on 12 September 1987.
Read more about this topic: William Dickson (RAF Officer)
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