Brian Burnett
Sir Brian Burnett | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 March 1913 |
| Died | September 16, 2011 (aged 98) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1932 - 1972 |
| Rank | Air Chief Marshal |
| Commands held | No. 51 Whitley Squadron No. 33 Air Navigation School RAF Gaydon No. 3 Group Far East Command |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross |
Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Kenyon Burnett GCB DFC AFC (March 10 1913- 16 September 2011) was a former senior Royal Air Force officer who became Air Secretary.
Early life and RAF career
Burnett was born on in Hyderabad in India, where his father was principal of Nizam College. He was educated at Charterhouse School,[1], Heidelberg University and Wadham College in Oxford.
Burnett joined the Reserve of Air Force Officers in 1932 and transferred to the RAF in 1934.[2] Burnett’s name came to prominence in 1938, when he was the navigator and second pilot of a Wellesley bomber that completed a record-breaking non-stop flight of 7,158 miles from Ismailia in Egypt to Darwin in Australia, for which Burnett was awarded the AFC.
He served in World War II as Commander of No. 51 Whitley Squadron and then as Commander of No. 33 Air Navigation School in Canada before becoming Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 25 Group in 1944.[2]
After the War he became an Instructor at the RAF Staff College, Bracknell and then joined the UN Military Staff Committee in New York.[2] He served on the Joint Planning Staff at the Air Ministry from 1949 and became Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters No. 3 Bomber Group from 1951.[2] He was made Station Commander at the RAF 'V' Bomber Station RAF Gaydon in 1954, Director of Bombing and Reconnaissance Operations at the Air Ministry in 1956 and Air Officer in charge of Administration at Headquarters RAF Bomber Command in 1959.[2] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 3 Group in 1961, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff in 1964 and Air Secretary in 1967.[3] His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief Far East Command in Singapore in 1970 before he retired in 1972.[2]
In retirement he became Chairman of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.[1]
Further reading
- A Pilot at Wimbledon: the memoirs of Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Kenyon Burnett, published by Blenheim Press, 2009, ISBN 9781906302139
References
- ^ a b Nicholas Owen meets Sir Brian Burnett Surrey Life, 11 November 2009
- ^ a b c d e f Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "No. 44472". The London Gazette (invalid
|supp=(help)). 8 December 1967.
External links