Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Charles Longcroft

Charles Alexander Holcombe          b: 13 May 1883         r: 2 Nov 1929           d: 20 Feb 1958

 KCB - 9 Jun 1938 (CB - 2 Jun 1923), CMG - xx xxx 1919, DSO - 1 Jan 1918, AFC - 1 Jan 1919, MiD - 19 Oct 1914, SS3S - 25 Aug 1915, LoH, O - xx xxx 1917.

For a list of foreign decoration abbreviations, click here

(Army): - 2 Lt:  2 May 1903, Lt: 13 Dec 1906, (T) Capt: 20 Nov 1912, Capt: 13 Aug 1913, (T) Maj: 1 May 1914, (B) Maj: 22 Jun 1914, (T) Lt Col: 18 Aug 1915, (T) Brig-Gen: 28 Aug 1916, (B) Lt Col: 1 Jan 1917, (T) Maj-Gen: 18 Oct 1917.

(RAF): - (T) Maj-Gen [Lt Col]: 1 Apr 1918, Col:  1 Apr 1918, (T) Brig-Gen: 29 Apr 1918,  Act Brig-Gen: 1 May 1919, Gp Capt: 1 Aug 1919, A/Cdre: 5 Aug 1919, AVM: 1 Jul 1925.

xx xxx xxxx:          Attended RMC Sandhurst.

 2 May 1903:         Officer, The Welsh Regiment.

14 Nov 1904:        Served in India

xx xxx 1906:           Attended Musketry Course, Satara

 6 Oct 1906:            Served in UK

10 Oct 1906:           Served in South Africa

 1 Jul 1907:             Served in UK

29 Dec 1907:          Served in South Africa

 1 Sep 1909:            Served in UK

xx xxx 1911:           Attended Signalling Course, Aldershot

10 Apr 1912:           Attached, Air Battalion, RE.

13 May 1912:          Seconded for service with the RFC

 1 Jul 1912:              Flying Officer, RFC.

12 Nov 1912:          Appointed Flight Commander.

20 Nov 1912:          Flight Commander, No 2 Sqn RFC. (Various types – Farnborough/Montrose)

 1 May 1914:           Officer Commanding, No 1 Sqn RFC. (Various types – Farnborough/Western Front)

xx Aug 1914:           Supernumerary, No 2 Sqn RFC.

xx Sep 1914            Officer Commanding, No 1 Sqn RFC. (Various types – Farnborough/Western Front)

29 Jan 1915:            Officer Commanding, No 4 Sqn RFC. (Various types – Western Front)

18 Aug 1915:          Officer Commanding, ? Training Wing RFC.

12 Apr 1916:          Officer Commanding, 2nd (Corps) Wing RFC.

27 Aug 1916:          Brigadier-General Commanding, V Brigade RFC.

17 Oct 1917:           Returned to Home Establishment

18 Nov 1917:          GOC, Training Division, RFC.

13 Apr 1918:           Attached, III Brigade

29 Apr 1918:           GOC, III Brigade.

20-22 Jun 1918:       Temporary duty in England

 1 Dec 1918:            Posted to HQ Reserve Brigade, RAF

 3 Mar 1919:            Returned to Home Establishment

 1 Apr 1919?:          GOC/AOC, HQ South-Western Area.

 1 Aug 1919:           Resigned his commission in the Welsh Regiment on appointment to a Permanent Commission in the RAF.

 1 Aug 1919:           Awarded Permanent Commission as a Colonel

 1 Nov 1919:           Commandant, RAF (Cadet) College.

 5 Feb 1920:           AOC, RAF Cranwell.

15 Aug 1923:           Supernumerary, RAF Depot.

29 Oct 1923:           Supernumerary, HQ Coastal Area (for Special Duty)

10 Dec 1923:           Director of Personal Services.

 9 Oct 1923:            Placed on half pay list, scale A

 1 Nov 1926:            AOC, Inland Area.  

15 Nov 1932:           Appointed Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod of the Order of the Bath.

Gaining his RAeC Certificate (No H192), on 5 March 1912 he promptly volunteered for service with the Air Battalion.  Two months later the RFC came into being and he was transferred to the new unit  In August 1913, he carried out one the RFC's longest flights to date, when he flew Lt Col. Sykes to Montrose and back in a day, a total flight time of 7 hours 20 minutes.  In late 1919 he become the first Commandant of the newly created RAF College at Cranwell, the first intake of cadets arriving in February 1920.  In 1932  he was appointed a Gentleman Usher of the Scarlet Rod in the Order of the Bath, a post he held throughout WW2 until 1948 when he became Registrar and Secretary of the order.  However, from 1938 until 1945, he also served as the President of the Aerodrome Board. On 24 April 1953, he had the honour to present No 1 Squadron with it's Standard.  He had been it's first CO following the conversion of the unit from an airship to an aeroplane squadron and it was also the first presentation of a standard to a squadron in the RAF 's history.   Retired at his own request.