James Robb (RAF officer)

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Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb, GCB, GBE, DSO, DFC, AFC, RAF, (26 January 1895 – 18 December 1968) was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He was Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1945 to 1947. James Robb was born in Hexham in 1895 to James Thomas Robb JP. William Robb, originally from Scotland settled in Hexham and founded the Department store there in the mid C19th. James was educated at George Watsons School in Edinburgh. Sir James was a brilliant fighter pilot who shot down 7 enemy aircraft in the First World War. Robb was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his service during operations in Kurdistan in 1925. He became Deputy Chief of Combined Operations under Lord Louis Mountbatten in the Second World War. He also served in the Headquarters staff in Mediterranean Allied Air Forces before Eisenhower had him appointed Deputy Chief of Staff (Air) at Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force, in which capacity he received the German Surrender. In 1945 he was appointed AOC in C Fighter Command, before being made Commander in Chief, Air Forces Western Europe. In 1951 he became Inspector General of the RAF.

[edit] References

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Chief Marshal Robb
• Who was Who (1969)

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Roderic Hill	Commander-in-Chief Fighter Command 1945–1947	Succeeded by Sir William Elliott
Preceded by Sir Hugh Saunders	Inspector-General of the RAF 1951	Succeeded by Sir Thomas Williams
Heraldic offices
Preceded by Sir Max Horton	King of Arms of the Order of the Bath 1952–1965	Succeeded by Sir Richard Goodbody