RAF Bomber Command - Commanders-in-Chief

Commanders-in-Chief

At any one time several air officers served on the staff of Bomber Command and so the overall commander was known as the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, the most well-known being Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris. The commanders-in-chief and their dates of appointment are listed below with the rank which they held whilst in post.

• 14 July 1936 - Air Chief Marshal Sir John Steel
• 12 September 1937 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
• 3 April 1940 - Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal
• 5 October 1940 - Air Marshal Sir Richard Peirse
• 8 January 1942 - Air Vice Marshal J E A Baldwin (Acting C-in-C)
• 22 February 1942 - Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris
• 15 September 1945 - Air Marshal Sir Norman Bottomley
• 16 January 1947 - Air Marshal Sir Hugh Saunders
• 8 October 1947 - Air Marshal Sir Aubrey Ellwood
• 2 February 1950 - Air Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd
• 9 April 1953 - Air Marshal Sir George Mills
• 22 January 1956 - Air Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst
• 20 May 1959 - Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross
• 1 September 1963 - Air Marshal Sir John Grandy
• 19 February 1965 - Air Marshal Sir Wallace Kyle