John Salmond

John Maitland Salmond

Air Marshal Sir John Salmond in 1925
Born 17 July 1881(1881-07-17)
London, England
Died 16 April 1968(1968-04-16) (aged 86)
Eastbourne, Sussex, England
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army (1901-1918)
 Royal Air Force (1918-1943)
Rank Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Battles/wars Second Boer War
World War I
World War II
Awards

Knight Grand Cross of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath
Companion of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and Bar

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, GCB, CMG, CVO, DSO and Bar (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. During the first half of the 20th century he was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force, serving as General Officer Commanding the RAF in France in 1918 and the Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq in the early 1920s when he dealt with a Kurdish uprising and a Turkish invasion. Most notably, he was Chief of the Air Staff from 1930 to 1933.

Contents

Early life and family

John Salmond was born the son of Major-General Sir William Salmond KCB of the Royal Engineers, and wife Emma Mary Hoyle,[1] born on 21 May 1849 the daughter of William Fretwell Hoyle of Hooton Levet Hall, Maltby, Yorkshire,[1] and Jane Grave Walker. He grew up the youngest child amongst three sisters, one of them being Emma Margaret Salmond (died 14 December 1959), who married on 28 October 1903 Andrew Ramsay Don-Wauchope, and a brother Geoffrey. His education followed the traditional pattern for those of his class in the 1880s. After first being taught by a series of governesses he then attended Miss Dixon's School in Thurloe Square, London. At the age of nine Salmond was sent to Aysgarth Preparatory School in Yorkshire. In 1894, he went up to Wellington College and in 1900 he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.[1] He became a Doctor of Civil Law.

In 1913, Salmond travelled to Scotland and married Helen Amy Joy Lumsden, a daughter of James Forbes Lumsden from Aberdeen.[1] Less than three years later, in 1916, Helen Salmond died giving birth to their first child,[1] a daughter, named Joy.

On 2 June 1924 Salmond married for the second time, this time to Hon. Monica Margaret Grenfell[1] (4 August 1893 - 17 June 1973), who was the elder daughter of William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough[1] and Ethel Anne Priscilla Fane. John and Monica Salmond had a daughter Rosemary Laura Salmond (died 1991), who married as his first wife on 14 November 1947 and divorced in 1974 Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale, and had four children, and a son Julian John William Salmond (born 20 December 1926), who married Brigid Louise Wright (born 1 November 1928) and had four children: Alicia Brigid Salmond (born 1951) and married on 11 May 1974 to Richard Anthony Head, 2nd Viscount Head; Georgina Salmond (born 1952), unmarried and without issue; Venetia Anne Salmond (born 1957) and married in London in 1984 to David John Morrison (born London, 12 January 1959, baptized South Wraxall Manor, Wiltshire, 26 April 1959), son of Hon. Sir Charles Andrew Morrison and Hon. Antoinette Sara Frances Sibell Long, and had a daughter and a son; and David John Julian Salmond (born 1969), unmarried and without issue.

Military career before 1930

After Salmond graduated from Sandhurst in 1901, he was commissioned into the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment.[2] He sailed for South Africa to join his unit which was engaged in the latter part of the Second Boer War. In 1902 he applied for a secondment to the West African Frontier Force but was turned down on the grounds that he was too young. Salmond re-applied the following year and this time was accepted,[2] spending the next year in Nigeria. Salmond's time in Africa was cut short as he was pronounced medically unfit and returned to England.

Salmond learned to fly in 1912.[2] During World War I he commanded several Royal Flying Corps units and formations, serving as a squadron, wing and brigade commander. In 1917 he was appointed Director-General of Military Aeronautics at the War Office.[3] Salmond was then appointed General Officer Commanding the Royal Flying Corps in the Field.[2] Upon the creation of the Royal Air Force, he became General Officer Commanding the RAF in the Field.[2] From 1923 to 1924 he was in charge of Iraq Command,[4] using aircraft to suppress uprisings. This was a new role for aircraft. At the time King Feisal was the British-sponsored ruler of Iraq. When King Feisal's troops rebelled, they were bombed.[5]

At the start of 1929, Salmond was promoted to air chief marshal[6] and appointed Air Member for Personnel, taking a seat on the Air Council at the same time.[7]

As Chief of the Air Staff

On 1 January 1930 Air Chief Marshal Salmond was appointed Chief of the Air Staff. As Hugh Trenchard's successor, Salmond also believed in keeping the RAF as an independent force. On 1 January 1933 Salmond was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force and he relinquished the post of Chief of the Air Staff on 1 April 1933.[2] Salmond was succeeded by his older brother, Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond. However, only 27 days later, Geoffrey Salmond died and John Salmond was temporarily re-appointed as Chief of the Air Staff. He finally stood down on 22 May 1933.[2]

Later years

During the Second World War, Salmond was Director of Armament Production at the Ministry of Aircraft Production.[2] He resigned this appointment in 1941 after clashing with Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister of Aircraft Production.[2] Salmond then accepted the appointment as Director-General of Flying Control and Air Sea Rescue.[2] Ill heath forced Salmond to retire in 1943 although he remained in close contact with the Service in the following years.[2] Salmond was President of the RAF Club for 23 years and regularly appeared at major RAF events. Salmond died in 1968, aged 86, at Eastbourne; he was survived by his second wife and three children.

Honours and awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g John Salmond at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Salmond
  3. ^ The organisation and function of the War Office, The Long, Long Trail - The British Army in the Great War of 1914-1918. Retrieved on 19 January 2007.
  4. ^ British Forces in Iraq 1921-1955, Regiments.org - Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth. Retrieved on 19 January 2007.
  5. ^ Air Power in Small Wars - the British air control experience, United States Air Force, Air University, Air and Space Power Journal. Retrieved on 19 January 2007.
  6. ^ London Gazette: no. 33453. p. 71. 1 January 1929.
  7. ^ London Gazette: no. 33453. p. 72. 1 January 1929.

Further reading

Military offices
Preceded by
H R M Brooke-Popham
Officer Commanding No. 3 Squadron
12 August 1914 – April 1915
Succeeded by
D S Lewis
Preceded by
E B Ashmore
Officer Commanding the Administrative Wing, RFC
1915
Succeeded by
unknown
Preceded by
C J Burke
Officer Commanding 2nd Wing
19 August 1915 – 10 February 1916
Succeeded by
D S Lewis
Vacant
Title last held by
J F A Higgins on 15 January 1916
Officer Commanding the Second Brigade, RFC
10 February – 16 February 1916
Succeeded by
T I Webb-Bowen
New title
Brigade formed
Officer Commanding the Fifth Brigade, RFC
16 February 1916 – 9 March 1916
None
Absorbed into Sixth Brigade
Preceded by
Unknown
Officer Commanding the Sixth Brigade, RFC
Command retitled Officer Commanding the Training Brigade in July 1916

9 March 1916 – 22 June 1917
Enlarged to Training Division in June 1917
New title
Division formed from Training Brigade
General Officer Commanding the Training Division, RFC
22 June 1917 – 18 October 1917
Succeeded by
C A H Longcroft
Preceded by
Sir David Henderson
Director-General of Military Aeronautics
18 October 1917 – 18 January 1918
Succeeded by
E L Ellington
Preceded by
H M Trenchard
General Officer Commanding the Royal Flying Corps in the Field
Post retitled GOC the RAF in the Field on 1 April 1918

18 January 1918 – 4 January 1919
Post disestablished
Preceded by
A E Borton
As Officer Commanding Iraq Group
Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command
1922 – 1924
Succeeded by
J F A Higgins
New title Commander-in-Chief Air Defence of Great Britain
1925 – 1928
Succeeded by
F R Scarlett
Preceded by
Sir Philip Game
Air Member for Personnel
1929 – 1930
Succeeded by
Sir Tom Webb-Bowen
Preceded by
Sir Hugh Trenchard
Chief of the Air Staff
1930 – 1933
Succeeded by
Sir Geoffrey Salmond
Preceded by
Sir Geoffrey Salmond
Chief of the Air Staff
1933
Succeeded by
Sir Edward Ellington