marshal of the Royal Air Force

{{Infobox military rank

| name = Marshal of the Royal Air Force

| image = UK-Air-OF10-Flag.svg

| image_size = 150px

| caption = Marshal of the RAF rank flag

| image2 = United Kingdom-Air force-OF-10-collected.svg

| image_size2 = 100px

| caption2 = Marshal of the Royal Air Force sleeve & shoulder board with EIIR cypher.

| image3 = MRAF star plate.svg

| image_size3 = 100px

| caption3 = A Marshal of the RAF star plate

| country = {{flagu|United Kingdom|name=United Kingdom}}

| service branch = {{air force|United Kingdom}}

| abbreviation = Mshl of RAF / MRAF

| rank = Five-star rank

| NATO rank = OF-10

| Non-NATO rank = O-11

| formation = 1927

| abolished =

| higher rank =

| lower rank = Air chief marshal

| equivalents = {{unbulleted list|Admiral of the Fleet (RN)|Field Marshal (British Army)}}

}}

File:Marshal of the RAF Sir Hugh Trenchard.jpg.]]

Marshal of the Royal Air Force (MRAF) is the highest rank in the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF).{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/structure/commissionedranks.cfm |title=Ranks and Badges of the Royal Air Force |access-date=1 December 2007 |year=2007 |publisher=Royal Air Force |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214025748/http://www.raf.mod.uk/structure/commissionedranks.cfm |archive-date=14 December 2007 |url-status=dead }} In peacetime it was granted to RAF officers in the appointment of Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), and to retired Chiefs of the Air Staff (CAS), who were promoted to it on their last day of service. While surviving Marshals of the RAF retain the rank for life,{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435306/Telegraph-Style-Book-The-Services.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525184238/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1435306/Telegraph-Style-Book-The-Services.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 May 2008 | work=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | title=Telegraph style book: the Services | date=12 April 2008 | access-date=12 May 2010}} the highest rank to which officers on active service are promoted is now air chief marshal. Although general promotions to Marshal of the Royal Air Force have been discontinued since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, further promotions to the rank may still be made in wartime, for members of the Royal Family and certain very senior RAF air officers in peacetime at the discretion of the monarch; all such promotions in peacetime are only honorary, however.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2014-birthday-honours-for-service-personnel-and-defence-civilians|title=2014 Birthday Honours for service personnel and defence civilians|date=13 June 2014|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=22 June 2014}} In 2012, the then Prince of Wales was promoted to the rank in recognition of his support for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as head of the armed forces (commander-in-chief), while in 2014 Lord Stirrup, who had served as Chief of the Air Staff and Chief of the Defence Staff for over seven years, was also promoted.

Marshal of the Royal Air Force is a five-star rank.{{cite web|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Glossary.htm |title=Glossary |access-date=21 March 2008 |last=Barrass |first=Malcolm |date=8 September 2007 |work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413024542/http://www.rafweb.org/Glossary.htm |archive-date=13 April 2008 }} MRAF has a NATO ranking code of OF-10, equivalent to an admiral of the fleet in the Royal Navy or a field marshal in the British Army.{{cite book |title=The Queen's Regulations for the Army |url=http://www.army.mod.uk/linkedfiles/servingsoldier/termsofserv/discmillaw/ref/queens_regulations_incl_a27.pdf|access-date=21 March 2008 |date=28 February 2000 |publisher=HMSO |location=Norwich |pages=2–4/7 |chapter=Chapter 2 Part 4 |orig-year=28 February 2000}}

The rank was instituted in 1919 and the first officer to be promoted to MRAF was Sir Hugh Trenchard in 1927. Since that time, including Trenchard, there have been 27 men who have held the rank. Of those, 22 have been professional RAF officers and five have been senior members of the British Royal Family. King George V did not formally hold the rank of marshal of the RAF; rather he assumed the title of Chief of the Royal Air Force.{{cite journal |date=23 January 1953|title=From All Quarters |journal=Flight |volume=LXIII |issue=2296 |page=86 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200088.html|access-date=1 May 2009}} In this capacity from time to time he wore RAF uniform with the rank insignia of a marshal of the RAF. He first publicly wore such uniform in 1935, the year before his death.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,847457,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610110017/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,847457,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 June 2008 |title=The King and the Sea |access-date=2 April 2008 |date=29 July 1935 |magazine=Time }}

Excluding monarchs and other members of the Royal Family, the only two RAF officers ever to have held the rank without serving as Chief of the Air Staff were Lord Douglas of Kirtleside and Sir Arthur Harris. Both held high command during the Second World War. Harris was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command and Douglas was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command, Middle East Command and Coastal Command.

Origins

Prior to the creation of the RAF's officer rank titles in 1919, it was proposed that by analogy with field marshal, the highest rank title should be air marshal. It was later decided to use the rank of air marshal as an equivalent rank to lieutenant general{{cite web |url=http://www.rafweb.org/Ranks1.htm |title=Commissioned Ranks of the Royal Air Force 1919 – present |access-date=31 December 2007 |last=Barrass |first=Malcolm |date=11 June 2007 |work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127001742/http://www.rafweb.org/ranks1.htm |archive-date=27 November 2007}} and "marshal of the air" was put forward as the highest RAF rank. This new rank title was opposed by the then Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir Henry Wilson, who considered that the title was "ridiculous". However, the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard was unmoved and the title was adopted. Though never held by a Royal Air Force officer, the rank title of marshal of the air lasted until April 1925, when it was changed to marshal of the Royal Air Force.{{Citation| title = New Royal Air Force Title| journal = Flight| volume = 17| issue = 17| year = 1923| pages = 249| url = https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925%20-%200249.html}} Questioned in the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Air Sir Samuel Hoare stated that the reason for the change in title was that marshal of the air was "somewhat indefinite in character" and the new title was deemed more appropriate.{{cite hansard |jurisdiction= United Kingdom |title= MARSHAL OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE|url= https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1925/may/12/marshal-of-the-royal-air-force|house= House of Commons |date= 12 May 1925|column= 1689W|speaker= Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|position= Secretary of State for Air}} It has also been reported that King George V was not happy with the title of marshal of the air, feeling it might imply attributes which should properly be reserved for God.{{cite book

| last =Laffin| first =John| author-link =John Laffin| title =Swifter than Eagles. A biography of Marshal of the RAF Sir John Salmond| publisher =William Blackwood & Sons Ltd| year =1964| pages =149}}

Insignia, command flag and star plate

The rank insignia consists of four narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) above a light blue band on a broad black band. This insignia is derived from the sleeve lace of an admiral of the fleet and is worn on both the lower sleeves of the tunic or on the shoulders of the flying suit or the service working dress uniform. Marshals of the Royal Air Force wear shoulder boards with their service dress at ceremonial events. These shoulder boards show the air officer's eagle surrounded by a wreath, two crossed marshal's batons and, since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the St Edward's Crown representing royal authority.[http://www.britairforce.com/raf_rankbadges_1.htm Raf 1] Prior to 1953, the Tudor Crown (sometimes called the King's Crown) was used.

The command flag of a marshal of the Royal Air Force has a broad red horizontal band in the centre with a thinner red band on each side of it.

The vehicle star plate for a marshal of the Royal Air Force depicts five white stars (marshal of the Royal Air Force is equivalent to a five-star rank) on an air force blue background.

The rank insignia and flag exists in some other air forces for equivalent ranks. The rank title differs slightly, often being a variation on marshal of the air force, usually with the name of the relevant air force in place of the words 'Royal Air Force'. A notable example of this practice is the rank of marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force.

File:British RAF OF-10.svg|Marshal of the RAF sleeve insignia

File:British RAF OF-10 (ceremonial shoulder board).svg|Marshal of the RAF shoulder board

File:File-UK-Air-OF10-mess-insignia.svg|Marshal of the RAF sleeve mess insignia

File:RAF-MRAF-OF-10.png|Marshal of the RAF sleeve on No. 1 Service Dress uniform

File:UK-Air-OF10-Flag.svg|Marshal of the RAF command flag

File:MRAF star plate.svg|Marshal of the RAF star plate

Marshals of the Royal Air Force

File:George V in the uniform of a Marshal of the RAF.jpg in the uniform of a Marshal of the RAF (Ex officio)]]

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left" !Date of promotion!!Image!!Officer!!Year of birth!!Year of death!!class="unsortable"\|Notes
1 January 1927{{London Gazette \|issue=33235 \|date=31 December 1926 \|page=9 \|supp=y }}{{cite web \|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Trenchard.htm \|title=Marshal of the RAF The Viscount Trenchard of Wolfeton \|access-date=25 May 2009 \|last=Barrass \|first=Malcolm \|date=9 October 2007 \|work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation }}	100px	Sir Hugh Trenchard (later The Viscount Trenchard)	1873	1956	Chief of the Air Staff 1918 and 1919–1930
1 January 1933{{London Gazette \|issue=33898 \|date=30 December 1932 \|page=15 \|supp=y }}	100px	Sir John Salmond	1881	1968	Chief of the Air Staff 1930–1933
21 January 1936{{London Gazette \|issue=34251 \|date=31 January 1936 \|page=665 }}	100px	King Edward VIII	1894	1972	Assumed the rank on the date shown following accession to the throne.(Ex officio)
11 December 1936{{London Gazette \|issue=34351 \|date=18 December 1936 \|page=8187 }}	100px	King George VI	1895	1952	Assumed the rank on the date shown following accession to the throne.(Ex officio)
1 January 1937{{London Gazette \|issue=34356 \|date=1 January 1937 \|page=17 }}	100px	Sir Edward Ellington	1877	1967	Chief of the Air Staff 1933–1937
4 October 1940[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Newall.htm Baron Newall]	100px	Sir Cyril Newall (later The Lord Newall)	1886	1963	Chief of the Air Staff 1937–1940. Retired 20 days after promotion.
1 January 1944{{London Gazette\|issue=36309 \|page=43 \|date=31 December 1943 \|supp=y}}	100px	Sir Charles Portal (later Viscount Portal of Hungerford)	1893	1971	Chief of the Air Staff 1940–1946
12 September 1945{{London Gazette\|issue=37261 \|date=11 September 1945\|page=4532 }}	100px	Sir Arthur Tedder (later The Lord Tedder)	1890	1967	Chief of the Air Staff 1946–1950
1 January 1946{{London Gazette\|issue=37414 \|date=28 December 1945 \|page=187\|supp=y }}	100px	Sir Sholto Douglas (later The Lord Douglas of Kirtleside)	1893	1969
1 January 1946{{cite web \|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Harris.htm \|title=Marshal of the RAF Sir Arthur Harris \|access-date=31 March 2008 \|last=Barrass \|first=Malcolm \|date=29 September 2007 \|work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation }}	100px	Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris	1892	1984	Promoted several months after retirement.
8 June 1950{{London Gazette\|issue=38941 \|supp=y\|page=3045\|date=13 June 1950}}	100px	Sir John Slessor	1897	1979	Chief of the Air Staff 1950–1952
15 January 1953{{London Gazette \|issue=39753 \|date=13 January 1953 \|page=349 \|supp=y }}	100px	The Duke of Edinburgh	1921	2021	Honorary appointment.
1 June 1954{{London Gazette\|issue=40186 \|supp=y\|page=3195\|date=28 May 1954}}	100px	Sir William Dickson	1898	1987	Chief of the Air Staff 1953–1955 Chief of the Defence Staff 1959
1 January 1958{{London Gazette\|issue=41266\|date=27 December 1957\|page=7593 \|supp=y}}	100px	Sir Dermot Boyle	1904	1993	Chief of the Air Staff 1956–1959
12 June 1958{{London Gazette \|issue=41409 \|date=3 June 1958 \|page=3561 \|supp=y }}	100px	The Duke of Gloucester	1900	1974	Honorary appointment.
6 April 1962{{London Gazette\|issue=42644 \|supp=y\|page=2929\|date=6 April 1962 }}	100px	Sir Thomas Pike	1906	1983	Chief of the Air Staff 1960–1963
1 April 1967{{cite web \|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Elworthy.htm \|title=Marshal of the RAF The Lord Elworthy of Timaru \|access-date=18 April 2008 \|last=Barrass \|first=Malcolm \|date=16 June 2007 \|work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation}}	100px	Sir Charles Elworthy (later The Lord Elworthy)	1911	1993	Chief of the Air Staff 1963–1967 Chief of the Defence Staff 1967–1971
1 April 1971{{cite web \|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Grandy.htm \|title=Marshal of the RAF Sir John Grandy \|access-date=1 April 2008 \|last=Barrass \|first=Malcolm \|date=16 June 2007 \|work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation}}		Sir John Grandy	1913	2004	Chief of the Air Staff 1967–1971 Promoted and retired on the same day.
31 March 1974{{cite web \|url=http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Spotswood.htm \|title=Marshal of the RAF Sir Denis Spotswood \|access-date=2 April 2008 \|last=Barrass \|first=Malcolm \|date=7 October 2007 \|work=Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation}}		Sir Denis Spotswood	1916	2001	Chief of the Air Staff 1971–1974 Promoted and retired on the same day.
6 August 1976{{cite book \|last=Probert \|first=Henry \|author-link=Henry Probert \|title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force \|publisher=HMSO \|location=London \|isbn=0-11-772635-4 \|pages=133 \|year=1991}}	100px	Sir Andrew Humphrey	1921	1977	Chief of the Air Staff 1974–1976 Chief of the Defence Staff 1976–1977
31 July 1977{{cite book \|last=Probert \|first=Henry \|title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force \|publisher=HMSO \|location=London \|isbn=0-11-772635-4 \|pages=135 \|year=1991}}{{London Gazette \|issue=47289 \|date=1 August 1977 \|page=9978 \|supp=y }}		Sir Neil Cameron (later The Lord Cameron of Balhousie)	1920	1985	Chief of the Air Staff 1976-1977 Chief of the Defence Staff 1977–1979
14 October 1982{{cite book \|last=Probert \|first=Henry \|title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force \|publisher=HMSO \|location=London \|isbn=0-11-772635-4 \|pages=137 \|year=1991 }}	100px	Sir Michael Beetham	1923	2015	Chief of the Air Staff 1977–1982 Promoted and retired on the same day.
15 October 1985{{cite book \|last=Probert \|first=Henry \|title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force \|publisher=HMSO \|location=London \|isbn=0-11-772635-4 \|pages=139 \|year=1991}}		Sir Keith Williamson	1928	2018	Chief of the Air Staff 1982–1985 Promoted and retired on the same day.
14 November 1988{{cite book \|last=Probert \|first=Henry \|title=High Commanders of the Royal Air Force \|publisher=HMSO \|location=London \|isbn=0-11-772635-4 \|pages=141 \|year=1991}}	100px	Sir David Craig (later The Lord Craig of Radley)	1929	Living	Chief of the Air Staff 1985–1988 Chief of the Defence Staff 1988–1991
6 November 1992{{London Gazette \|issue=53103 \|date=9 November 1992 \|page=18862 \|supp=y }}	100px	Sir Peter Harding	1933	2021	Chief of the Air Staff 1988–1992 Chief of the Defence Staff 1992–1994 Resigned commission 14 June 1994.{{London Gazette \|issue=53814 \|date=10 October 1994 \|page=14206 \|supp=y }}
16 June 2012{{cite news\|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9335960/Prince-Charles-awarded-highest-rank-in-all-three-armed-forces.html \|title=Prince Charles awarded highest rank in all three armed forces\|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph\|date=16 June 2012\|access-date= 17 June 2012}}	100px	King Charles III	1948	Living	Honorary appointment and at that time The Prince of Wales Assumed the rank in full capacity on the day following accession to the throne. (Ex officio)
13 June 2014{{cite web\|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2014-birthday-honours-for-service-personnel-and-defence-civilians\|title=2014 Birthday Honours for service personnel and defence civilians\|date=13 June 2014\|publisher=Ministry of Defence\|access-date=22 June 2014}}	100px	The Lord Stirrup	1949	Living	Chief of the Air Staff 2003–2006 Chief of the Defence Staff 2006–2010 Honorary rank.

Unlike other MRAFs who only relinquished their appointments, Sir Peter Harding resigned from the RAF in 1994.{{cite book |last=Rallings |first=Colin |author2=Broughton, David |others=Farrell, David |title=British Elections and Parties Yearbook |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=0-7146-4243-6 |pages=179 |chapter=Reference Section |year=1996 }} Consequently, his name was removed from the Air Force List, but it was later reinstated.{{cite news |title=Marshal of the RAF Sir Peter Harding, charismatic and imposing Chief of Defence Staff brought down after a tabloid exposé – obituary |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=22 August 2021 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/08/22/marshal-raf-sir-peter-harding-charismatic-imposing-chief-defence/ |access-date=22 August 2021|last1=Obituaries |first1=Telegraph }}

References

External links

{{commons category-inline|Marshals of the Royal Air Force}}

Category:Military ranks of the Royal Air Force