Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy

For the economist and social scientist, see Charles Elworthy (scientist).

The Lord Elworthy
Born	23 March 1911(1911-03-23) New Zealand
Died	4 April 1993(1993-04-04) (aged 82)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1933–1971
Rank	Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Knight of the Order of the Garter Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Samuel Charles Elworthy, Baron Elworthy KG, GCB, CBE, DSO, LVO, DFC, AFC (23 March 1911 – 4 April 1993) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served as the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) of the United Kingdom and thus the professional head of the British Armed Forces.

RAF career

Educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College Cambridge,^[1] Elworthy was called to the Bar before he joined the Royal Air Force in 1933.^[2]

He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 82 Squadron in December 1940 and Group Captain responsible for Operations at HQ Bomber Command in May 1942 before being given command of RAF Waddington in April 1943 and becoming Senior Air Staff Officer at No. 5 Group in August 1944.^[2]

After the war he was made Officer Commanding RAF Tangmere in 1951 and RAF Odiham in 1953 before becoming Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Bracknell in 1957.^[2] He became Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1959, Commander-in-Chief British Forces Arabian Peninsular in 1960 and Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command in 1961.^[2] He was Chief of the Air Staff from 1 September 1963 to 31 March 1967 and then Chief of the Defence Staff until his retirement in 1971.^[2]

RPAF career

Elworthy became the first commanding officer^[3] of RPAF Station, Drigh Road (now PAF Base Faisal) on 1 November 1947.^[4]

Later life

He was made a life peer as Baron Elworthy, of Timaru in New Zealand and of Elworthy in the County of Somerset, in 1972^[5] and served as Lord Lieutenant of Greater London between 1973 and 1978. In 1977, Elworthy was made a Knight of the Garter,^[6] becoming the second RAF officer after Lord Portal to receive the honour.

Elworthy had the distinction of being in the Guinness Book of Records for the most post-nominal letters for a non-royal during his life-time. He was second overall to 1st Earl Roberts who held eight post-nominal compared to his seven.

His son is Air Commodore the Hon Sir Timothy Elworthy KCVO CBE, the Director of Royal Travel to the Queen.^[7]

Honours and awards

• Baron - 30 Mar 1972 (Conferred 11 May 1972)
• Knight of the Garter - 26 Apr 1977
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath - 1 Jan 1962 (KCB - 1 Jan 1961, CB - 1 Jan 1960)
• Commander of the Order of the British Empire - 1 Jan 1946
• Distinguished Service Order - 22 Apr 1941
• Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO 4th Class) - 16 Jul 1953
• Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem - 8 Oct 1976
• Distinguished Flying Cross - 7 Mar 1941
• Air Force Cross - 1 Jan 1941
• Mentioned in Despatches - 24 Sep 1941, 1 Jan 1943, 14 Jan 1944
• Master of Arts

Coat of arms

References

1. ^ Probert, p. 60
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Elworthy
3. ^ PAF base Faisal Retrieved 23 December 2010
4. ^ Charles Elworthy RAFweb. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 45668. p. 5627. 11 May 1972. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 47207. p. 5631. 26 April 1977. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
7. ^ Air Cdre the Hon Sir Timothy Elworthy, KCVO, CBE Debrett's People of Today
8. ^ Macauly, Gregor (2009). "The Arms of Charles Darwin". The New Zealand Armorist: The Journal of the Heraldry Society of New Zealand 109 (Summer 2009). 

• Probert, H. (1991). High Commanders of the Royal Air Force. HMSO. ISBN 0-11-772635-4

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Geoffrey Tuttle	Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1959–1960	Succeeded by Sir Ronald Lees
Preceded by Sir Hubert Patch	Air Officer Commanding British Forces Arabian Peninsula 1960–1961	Post Disbanded
New title Joint command established	Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command (Aden) 1961–1963	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Sir Thomas Pike	Chief of the Air Staff 1963–1967	Succeeded by Sir John Grandy
Preceded by Sir Richard Hull	Chief of the Defence Staff 1967–1971	Succeeded by Lord Hill-Norton
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Viscount Slim	Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle 1971–1978	Succeeded by Sir John Grandy
Preceded by Sir Gerald Templer	Lord Lieutenant of Greater London 1973–1978	Succeeded by The Baroness Phillips

Persondata
Name	Elworthy, Charles Elworthy, Baron
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 March 1911
Place of birth	New Zealand
Date of death	4 April 1993
Place of death