Neil Cameron, Baron Cameron of Balhousie

The Lord Cameron of Balhousie
Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Cameron of Balhousie
Born	(1920-07-08)8 July 1920 Perth, Scotland
Died	29 January 1985(1985-01-29) (aged 64) London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1939–79
Rank	Marshal of the Royal Air Force
Commands held	Chief of the Defence Staff Chief of the Air Staff No. 46 Group RAF Abingdon No. 258 Squadron
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Knight of the Order of the Thistle Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Neil Cameron, Baron Cameron of Balhousie, KT, GCB, CBE, DSO, DFC (8 July 1920 – 29 January 1985) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He fought in the Second World War as a fighter pilot taking part in the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Alam el Halfa, the First Battle of El Alamein and the Second Battle of El Alamein and then in operations in Burma. He served as Chief of the Air Staff in the late 1970s advising the British Government on the reinforcement of the British garrison in Belize which was under threat from Guatemala at the time. He also served as the Chief of the Defence Staff at the end of the 1970s in which role he secured pay comparability for services personnel involved in civil support during the firemen's strike, visited the People's Republic of China and lectured extensively on the Soviet air threat.

The only son and younger child of Neil Cameron (a retired company sergeant major in the Seaforth Highlanders) and his wife, Isabella Cameron (née Stewart), Cameron was brought up by his mother and grandfather in Perth, his father having died when he was three weeks old. Cameron attended the Northern District School and took up employment with the Commercial Bank of Scotland in the Fife town of Newburgh in 1937.