Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt

Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
	Air Chief Marshal Ludlow-Hewitt
Born	9 June 1886
Died	15 August 1973 (aged 87)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army (1905–18); Royal Air Force (1918–45)
Years of service	1905–45
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands	Inspector-General of the RAF (1940–45); Bomber Command (1937–40); RAF India (1935–37); Iraq Command (1930–32); RAF Staff College (1926–30); 3rd (Corps) Wing (1916–17); No. 3 Squadron (1915–16); No. 15 Squadron (1915)
Battles / wars	First World War; Second World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath; Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire; Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George; Distinguished Service Order; Military Cross; Mentioned in Despatches (6); Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt, GCB, GBE, CMG, DSO, MC, DL (9 June 1886 – 15 August 1973) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.

Early life

He was the second son and the second of five children of the Rev. Thomas Arthur Ludlow-Hewitt (17 May 1850 - 16 June 1936) of Clancoole, County Cork and later vicar of Minety, Wiltshire and Edith Annie Hudson (9 March 1854 - 15 November 1944).^[1]

First World War

Educated at Eastman's School,^[2] Radley College and Sandhurst, Ludlow-Hewitt was commissioned into the Royal Irish Rifles in 1905, but transferred to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) before the First World War, where he qualified on 11 September 1914 for the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's Certificate no. 886.^[3] During the war he served first as a pilot in No. 1 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and then later as the Officer Commanding No. 15 Squadron and No. 3 Squadron on the Western Front.^[3] In 1916 Ludlow-Hewitt took up command of the 3rd (Corps) Wing as a temporary lieutenant colonel.^[3] Late in the following year, he was promoted to brigadier general and made the Inspector of Training at the headquarters of the RFC Training Division.^[3] Like other members of the RFC, he transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation on 1 April 1918.^[3] It was also on that date that he became General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Training Division.^[3] Less than two months later he was appointed GOC the 10th Brigade.^[3]

Later career

He was appointed Air Secretary in 1922 and Commandant of the RAF Staff College in 1926.^[3] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command in 1930, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence in 1933 and Air Officer Commanding the RAF India in 1935.^[3] In 1937 Ludlow-Hewitt was promoted to Air Chief Marshal and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command.^[3] In the Second World War, Ludlow-Hewitt was replaced by Portal in April 1940 because of Ludlow-Hewitt's insistence on the formation of Operational Training Units, at the expense of the availability of front line airmen.^[4] He spent the remainder of the war as Inspector-General of the RAF and did not retire until November 1945, making him the RAF officer with the longest service as an Air Chief Marshal during the 20th century.^[3]

References

^ "Hewitt, Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31380. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Hammerton, Sir John ABC of the RAF London 1941 p.48
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
^ "RAF Commanders in WW-II". Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.

Military offices
New title	General Officer Commanding X Brigade 1918	Succeeded by unknown
Preceded by Robert Brooke-Popham	Commandant RAF Staff College, Andover 1926–1930	Succeeded by Philip Joubert de la Ferté
Preceded by Robert Brooke-Popham	Air Officer Commanding Iraq Command 1930–1932	Succeeded by Christopher Courtney
Preceded by Charles Burnett	Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence 1 February 1933 – 26 January 1935	Succeeded by Christopher Courtney
Preceded by Sir John Steel	Air Officer Commanding RAF India 1935–1937	Succeeded by Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
Preceded by Sir John Steel	Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command 1937–1940	Succeeded by Sir Charles Portal
Preceded by Sir Leslie Gossage	Inspector-General of the RAF 1940–1945	Succeeded by Sir Arthur Barratt

[1] "Hewitt, Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31380. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] Hammerton, Sir John ABC of the RAF London 1941 p.48

[air-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt

[Commanders-4] "RAF Commanders in WW-II". Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.

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[4]

v t e Royal Air Force generals
RAF generals between 1 April 1918 and 31 July 1919
Lieutenant-Generals	David Henderson John de Mestre Hutchison
Major-Generals	Edward Ashmore Sefton Brancker George Cayley Edward Ellington Philip Game Frederick Gordon Frederick Heath-Caldwell John Higgins Mark Kerr Charles Lambe Charles Longcroft Godfrey Paine Geoffrey Salmond John Salmond Frederick Sykes Hugh Trenchard Tom Webb-Bowen
Brigadier-Generals	William Alexander John Becke Amyas Borton Harold Douglas Briggs Robert Brooke-Popham Charles Burnett Walter Caddell Lionel Charlton Christopher Courtney Alfred Critchley Hugh Dowding Francis Leycester Festing Eugene Gerrard Percy Robert Clifford Groves Robert Marsland Groves John Hearson Thomas Higgins Cuthbert Hoare Felton Holt Guy Livingston Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Norman MacEwen Edward Maitland Edward Masterman Cyril Newall Duncan Pitcher Francis Rowland Scarlett John Miles Steel Oliver Swann Harry Viener Vyell Vyvyan James George Weir Kenneth Wigram