Richard Atcherley

Richard Atcherley and his twin David were born on 12 January 1904.

They were the sons of Major General Sir Llewellyn Atcherley, Chief Constable of the West Riding of Yorkshire,[http://www.antonymaitland.com/vernapdx.htm Biography of Sir Richard Atcherley] and his wife, Eleanor Frances "Nelly" Mickelthwait (1871–1957), daughter of Richard Mickelthwait, of Ardsley House, in the valley of Deane near Barnsley. The Atcherley twins were first cousins of William Empson, a literary critic and poet, and both attended Oundle School in Northamptonshire.

In 1922, Atcherley attended the RAF College Cranwell and was commissioned two years later.[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/AtcherleyR.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley] He initially served as a pilot on No. 29 Squadron, flying Snipes out of Duxford. In 1925, Atcherley attended the Central Flying School and then returned to his squadron as both a pilot and a qualified flying instructor.

File:British team for Schneider Trophy race 1929.jpg

He was a member of the RAF team that competed for the Schneider Trophy in 1929.[http://www.paffalcons.com/cas/index.php PAF's Chiefs of the Air Staff] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225095224/http://paffalcons.com/cas/index.php |date=25 February 2009 }}

Atcherley was appointed Officer Commanding No. 219 Squadron in October 1939 and then became Officer Commanding the Air Element of the British Expeditionary Force in Norway in May 1940.

He went on to be Station Commander at RAF Drem in Scotland in June 1940 in which year he was also awarded the Air Force Cross. He was awarded a bar to his Air Force Cross on 24 September 1941.{{London Gazette|issue=35284|supp=y|page=5569|date=23 September 1941}} In 1942 he served as Station Commander at RAF Fairwood Common and then at RAF Kenley.

He was promoted to temporary group captain on 27 March 1942.{{London Gazette|issue=35503|page=1386|date=27 March 1942}} In April 1943 Atcherley became Air Officer Commanding of No. 211 Group at Tripoli in Libya. At the time of the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) on 10 July 1943, No. 211 Group was the primary fighter force of Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst's Desert Air Force, a sub-command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham's Northwest African Tactical Air Force.Army Air Forces Historical Office Headquarters, Participation of the Ninth & Twelfth Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, Army Air Forces Historical Study No. 37, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 1945.

Later that year he transferred to Headquarters RAF Fighter Command and in 1944 he moved to Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Air Force in preparation for Operation Overlord. He spent the closing stages of the War as Commandant of the Fighter Leaders' School and then as Commandant of the Central Fighter Establishment.

After the War he was appointed Commandant of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell before becoming Chief of the Air Staff for the Royal Pakistani Air Force in 1949 and then Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group in 1951. He went on to be Head of the RAF Staff in Washington D. C. in 1953 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at Flying Training Command in 1955 before retiring in 1959.

In retirement he became Sales Director at Folland Aircraft Limited.[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%201563.html Folland Visitor] Flight International, 5 June 1959

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{{s-bef|before=Walter Bryant}}

{{s-ttl|title=RAF College Commandant|years=1946–1948}}

{{s-aft|after=George Beamish}}

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{{s-bef|before=Allan Perry-Keene}}

{{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief, Royal Pakistan Air Force|years=1949–1951}}

{{s-aft|after=Leslie William Cannon}}

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{{s-bef|before=Gilbert Harcourt-Smith}}

{{s-ttl|title=Air Officer Commanding No. 12 Group |years=1951–1953}}

{{s-aft|after=William Crisham}}

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{{s-bef|before=Sir Lawrence Pendred}}

{{s-ttl|title=Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Flying Training Command|years=1955–1959}}

{{s-aft|after=Sir Hugh Constantine}}

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Category:1904 births

Category:1970 deaths

Category:Chiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan

Category:People educated at Oundle School

Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath

Category:Graduates of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell

Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)

Category:Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway)

Category:Royal Air Force air marshals

Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II

Category:British expatriates in Pakistan

Category:Commandants of the Royal Air Force College Cranwell

Category:Military personnel from York