David Craig, Baron Craig of Radley
| The Lord Craig of Radley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
17 September 1929 Dublin, Ireland |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1951–91 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Royal Air Force |
| Commands held |
Chief of the Defence Staff (1988–91) Chief of the Air Staff (1985–88) RAF Strike Command (1982–85) No. 1 Group (1978–80) RAF Akrotiri (1972–74) RAF Cranwell (1968–70) No. 35 Squadron (1963–65) |
| Battles/wars | Gulf War |
| Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air |
| Other work | Convenor of the Crossbench Peers |
Marshal of the Royal Air Force David Brownrigg Craig, Baron Craig of Radley, GCB, OBE (born 17 September 1929) is a retired Royal Air Force officer and member of the House of Lords. He was a fast jet pilot in the 1950s, a squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He served as Chief of the Air Staff during the late 1980s, when the Boeing Airborne early warning and control system was ordered and the European Fighter programme was being developed. He then served as Chief of the Defence Staff during the Gulf War. He was granted a life peerage as Baron Craig of Radley after his retirement from active service in 1991, sitting as a crossbencher.
The son of Major Francis Brownrigg Craig and his wife Olive Craig, Craig grew up in what later became the Republic of Ireland, was largely unaffected by the events of the Second World War. In 1943 he came to Britain and started at Radley College where, in addition to his studies, he rowed, captained the school's first team at rugby and later became Head of School. He gained a place at Lincoln College, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in Mathematics, and joined the Oxford University Air Squadron.
Craig was commissioned as a pilot officer on 19 September 1951 (with seniority from 19 December 1949). He was initially put through the pilot's course at No. 7 Flying Training School at RAF Cottesmore where he was promoted to flying officer on 19 March 1952 before earning his "wings" in April 1952. He went on to the Advanced Flying School at RAF Driffield where he was promoted to flight lieutenant on 19 December 1952 and then to 209 Advanced Flying School at RAF Weston Zoyland where he was a jet conversion instructor. In 1955 he joined No. 247 squadron at RAF Odiham which was converting from Meteors to Hunters. After attending the guided weapons course at the RAF Technical College at Henlow, he was posted to a missile evaluation site at North Coates. He was promoted to squadron leader on 1 January 1959 and posted to the Air Ministry later that year. He attended RAF Staff College in 1961 before joining No. 35 Squadron at RAF Coningsby in January 1963 initially as a flight commander and then as Officer Commanding the Squadron flying Vulcan B2 aircraft.
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