Dermot Boyle

Sir Dermot Boyle
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Boyle
Born	(1904-10-02)2 October 1904 Rathdowney, County Laois, Ireland
Died	5 May 1993(1993-05-05) (aged 88) Sway, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1922–60
Rank	Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Commands held	Chief of the Air Staff (1956–59) Fighter Command (1953–56) No.1 (Bomber) Group (1951–53) RAF Staff College (1947–48) No.11 Group (1945–46) No. 85 (Base) Group (1945) RAF Stradishall (1942–43) No. 83 Squadron (1937, 1940–41)
Battles/wars	Second World War Suez Crisis
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross Mentioned in Despatches (3) Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Croix de Guerre (Belgium)

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Dermot Alexander Boyle, GCB, KCVO, KBE, AFC (2 October 1904 – 5 May 1993) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War initially as a staff officer with the Advanced Air Striking Force in Reims in which capacity he organised the evacuation of the Force through Brest in May 1940. His war service included tours as a bomber squadron commander, as a station commander and also as an air group commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1950s and, in that role, deployed British air power during the Suez Crisis in October 1956 and defended the RAF against the views of Duncan Sandys, the Minister for Defence, who believed that the V bomber force rendered manned fighter aircraft redundant.

Born the son of Alexander Francis and Anna Maria (née Harpur) Boyle, Dermot was brought up in Abbeyleix, County Laois and educated at St Columba's College, Dublin. He joined the Royal Air Force on 14 September 1922 as a flight cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. On successfully passing through the College, he was commissioned as a pilot officer on 31 July 1924 and immediately posted to No. 17 Squadron at RAF Hawkinge where he flew Snipes. He transferred to No. 1 Squadron at RAF Hinaidi in Iraq to undertake air policing duties in December 1925 and, having been promoted to flying officer on 31 January 1926, he transferred again this time to No. 6 Squadron at RAF Mosul also in Iraq in November 1926. He attended the Flying Instructor's Course at the Central Flying School in March 1927 and then became a Qualified Flying Instructor there the following month. Dermot Boyle and Richard Atcherley together formed the school's display team while they were resident at the Central Flying School at this time. Boyle was made Assistant Adjutant at No. 601 (County of London) Squadron at RAF Hendon on 5 October 1929 and was promoted to flight lieutenant on 13 October 1929.