Philip Joubert de la Ferté

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Philip Joubert de la Ferté
21 May 188721 January 1965

Allegiance Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Flag of the Royal Air Force Royal Air Force
Rank Air Chief Marshal
Battles/wars World War I, World War II
Other work Author

Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté KCB, CMG, DSO (21 May 188721 January 1965) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1930s and the Second World War.

Joubert de la Ferté joined the British Army attending the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and gaining his commission in 1907. From 1907 to 1913 he served in the Royal Field Artillery, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1913 he attended the Central Flying School and went on to serve in the Royal Flying Corps. With the outbreak of war in 1914, he joined the British Expeditionary Force flying one of the first two operational sorties of the war. In 1915 Joubert de la Ferté was appointed Officer Commanding, No. 15 Squadron RFC. Later that year he took up command of No. 1 Squadron. As the war progressed, Joubert de la Ferté commanded several different wings and by the end of hostilities in 1918 he had command of the Royal Air Force in Italy.

On the 1 April 1918 Joubert de la Ferté transferred to the Royal Air Force in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

During the inter-war years, Joubert de la Ferté occupied several staff and command posts, rising through the ranks. Notably, he served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command.

At the start of the Second World War, Joubert de la Ferté was Air Officer Commanding Air Forces in India. On his return to Great Britain he occupied a number of senior staff appointments and returned to his former post as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command. It was there that he pioneered several innovations. These included Planned Flying and Maintenance and the introduction of a torpedo version of the Beaufighter.

Joubert de la Ferté visits a hospital in Pakokku, Burma.
Joubert de la Ferté visits a hospital in Pakokku, Burma.

On 23 November 1943, Joubert de la Ferté was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff (Information and Civil Affairs) at the South East Asia Command. Two years later on 14 November 1945, Joubert de la Ferté retired from the RAF.

[edit] Author

The following books by Joubert de la Ferté were published:

  • The Fated Sky: An Autobiography - Hutchinson (1952)
  • Look at Aircraft - H Hamilton (1960)
  • The Forgotten Ones: The Story of the Ground Crews - Hutchinson (1961)
  • Fun and Games - Hutchinson (1964)

[edit] References

Military offices
Preceded by
W G H Salmond
Officer Commanding Fifth Wing, RFC
July 1916 – February 1917
Succeeded by
A E Borton
Preceded by
E R Ludlow-Hewitt
Commandant RAF Staff College, Andover
19301933
Succeeded by
W R Freeman
Vacant
Title last held by
I M Bonham-Carter
Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group
14 July 19367 September 1936
Succeeded by
E L Gossage
Preceded by
Sir Arthur Longmore
Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command
1936–1937
Succeeded by
Sir Frederick Bowhill
Preceded by
Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
Air Officer Commanding, RAF India
post retitled AOC, Air Forces in India in 1938

19371939
Succeeded by
Sir John Higgins
Preceded by
Sir Frederick Bowhill
Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command
1941–1943
Succeeded by
Sir John Slessor
Persondata
NAME Joubert de la Ferté, Philip
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Joubert de la Ferté, Philip Bennet
SHORT DESCRIPTION 1930s senior commander in the Royal Air Force
DATE OF BIRTH 21 May 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH 21 January 1965
PLACE OF DEATH