Charles Portal
| The Viscount Portal of Hungerford | |
|---|---|
Marshal of the RAF Sir Charles Portal, 1947
|
|
| Nickname(s) | Peter |
| Born |
21 May 1893 Hungerford, Berkshire |
| Died | 22 April 1971 (aged 77) West Ashling, West Sussex |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
British Army (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–45) |
| Years of service | 1914–45 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Royal Air Force |
| Commands held |
Chief of the Air Staff (1940–46) Bomber Command (1940) Air Member for Personnel (1939–40) Aden Command (1934–35) No. 7 Squadron (1927–28) No. 1 Wing (1919) No. 16 Squadron (1917–18) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Knight of the Order of the Garter Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Member of the Order of Merit Distinguished Service Order & Bar Military Cross Mentioned in Despatches (3) |
 Portrait in oils of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal
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Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, KG, GCB, OM, DSO & Bar, MC, DL (21 May 1893 – 22 April 1971) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. In the First World War he was a pilot, then a flight commander and then a squadron commander flying light bombers on the Western Front. In the early stages of the Second World War he was commander-in-chief of Bomber Command in which role he advocated strategic area bombing against German industrial areas, the same sort of targets that the Luftwaffe was already targeting in the United Kingdom. He was then Chief of the Air Staff during the rest of the War and in that role he fended off an attempt by the Royal Navy to take over RAF Coastal Command as well as an attempt by the British Army to establish their own Army Air Arm. He was also an advocate of the need for a renewed strategic bombing offensive. In retirement Portal was chairman of British Aluminium and unsuccessfully fought in the "Aluminium War" against a hostile takeover bid by Sir Ivan Stedeford's Tube Investments; he then became chairman of the British Aircraft Corporation.
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