Richard Peirse

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Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse KCB DSO AFC (30 September 1892 - 5 August 1970), was a senior Royal Air Force commander.

Son of an Admiral, Peirse became a Midshipman in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve and later served as a pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service until 1 April 1918 when it became the Royal Air Force. With the formation of the RAF, Peirse became Officer Commanding 222 Squadron RAF. By 1933 he was an Air Commodore, and by 1936 he was an Air Vice-Marshal. On the 30 April 1940 as an acting Air Marshal he was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

In 1940, Peirse was made Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Bomber Command.

During early 1942, he was overall commander of Allied air forces in the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia.

In March 1942, Peirse was appointed commander of British Air Forces in India and on November 16, 1943 he was made Commander in Chief, Allied Air Command South-East Asia.

However his career came to an abrupt halt in 1944, when he eloped with the wife of General Sir Claude Auchinleck.

[edit] Awards and decorations

• 10 April 1915 Peirse was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for services rendered in the aerial attack on Dunkirk on the 23 January 1915.
• 1 January 1919 he was awarded the Air Force Cross
• 1 April 1919 he was awarded The Croce di Guerra by the King of Italy for services rendered in the Mediterranean area.
• 6 November 1936 he was appointed to the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (as an Ordinary Member of the Military Division of the Third Class, or Companions of the Most Honourable Order (CB)). He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1940.
• 15 March 1946 he became a Commander of the United States Legion of Merit.
• 29 July 1947 he was awarded the Cloud and Banner Decoration (Third Grade) by the President of the National Government of the Republic of China.

[edit] References

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Chf Mshl Peirse

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Charles Portal	Commander-in-Chief Bomber Command 1940–1942	Succeeded by J E A Baldwin
Preceded by Sir Patrick Playfair	Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India 1942–1943	Succeeded by Sir Guy Garrod