Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation

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Air Commodore Sir Harald Peake

Harald                          b: xx xxx 1899/1900                                                       d: 24 May 1978

KT - 1 Jan 1973

(AuxAF): - Sqn Ldr: 10 Feb 1936, Act A/Cdre: 14 Nov 1938, Wg Cdr: 28 Aug 1939, Gp Capt: xx xxx xxxx, A/Cdre: Retained.

10 Feb 1936:            Officer Commanding, No 609 (West Riding) Sqn. AuxAF. (Hart, Hind – Yeadon)

14 Nov 1938:           Appointed to the General List as a Squadron Leader (Acting Air Commodore)

14 Nov 1938:            Director of the Auxiliary Air Force

26 Mar 1940:            Director of Public Relations

xx xxx xxxx:               Director of Air Force Welfare.

26 Sep 1945:             Resigned his commission in the Auxiliary Air Force

He was a director of several Coal Mining companies in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire and he joined the Auxiliary Air Force in 1936, becoming it's first Director in 1938.  He had served in the Guards at the end of WW1 and then attended Cambridge University, where he rowed in the University eight.

In the 1950's he married Felicity Hanbury, who as an Assistant Section Officer, was the senior WAAF at RAF Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain. Her first husband had been killed in an airplane accident. A qualified pilot herself, she went on to become Director of the WAAF during WWII and the first Director of the newly formed WRAF after the war.   Post war he was Chairman of the RAF Benevolent Fund, for which he was created a Knight Bachelor