Peter Robin Harding
| Sir Peter Harding | |
|---|---|
| Born |
2 December 1933 London, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Years of service | 1952–94 |
| Rank | Marshal of the Royal Air Force |
| Commands held |
Chief of the Defence Staff (1993–94) Chief of the Air Staff (1988–92) RAF Strike Command (1985–88) No. 11 Group (1981–82) RAF Bruggen (1974–76) No. 18 Squadron (1966–69) |
| Battles/wars | Gulf War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Robin Harding, GCB (born 2 December 1933) is a retired Royal Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in the 1950s, a squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He became Chief of the Air Staff in 1988 and served in that role during the Gulf War in 1991. He became Chief of the Defence Staff in 1992 but resigned after his affair with Lady (Bienvenida) Buck, the wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck, became public.
Born to Peter Harding and Elizabeth (née Clear), Harding was educated at Chingford High School and commissioned into the Royal Air Force as an acting pilot officer on national service on 3 September 1952 and given a permanent commission in the same rank on 15 October 1952. He was promoted to the substantive rank of pilot officer on 12 August 1953 and posted to No. 12 Squadron flying Canberra bombers in 1954.
Promoted to flying officer on 10 September 1954, Harding became a qualified flying instructor and flight commander at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1957, before being promoted to flight lieutenant on 10 March 1958. In 1960 he was sent to Australia to serve as a pilot with No. 1 Squadron RAAF flying Canberra bombers again. He attended RAF Staff College in 1963 and was promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1963. In 1964 he started a tour in the Air Secretary's department at the Ministry of Defence. He became Officer Commanding No. 18 Squadron at RAF Gütersloh and then RAF Acklington in 1966 and then, having been promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1968, he joined the Defence Policy Staff at the Ministry of Defence in 1970.
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