Philip Joubert de la Ferté

Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté
Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté by Herbert James Gunn
Born	(1887-05-21)21 May 1887 Darjeeling, India
Died	21 January 1965(1965-01-21) (aged 77) Uxbridge, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army (1907–18) Royal Air Force (1918–43)
Years of service	1907–43
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	Inspector-General of the RAF (1943) Coastal Command (1936–37, 1941–43) Air Forces in India (1937–39) No. 11 Group (1936) Fighting Area (1934–36) RAF Staff College, Andover (1930–33) No. 23 Group (1929–30) No. 2 (Training) Group (1919) RAF in Italy (1918–19) 14th (Army) Wing (1917–18) 21st Wing (1917) Fifth Wing (1916–17) No. 33 Squadron (1916) No. 1 Squadron (1915) No. 15 Squadron (1915)
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches (5) Knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy) War Cross for Military Valor (Italy) Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
Other work	Author

Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Bennet Joubert de la Ferté, KCB, CMG, DSO (21 May 1887 – 21 January 1965) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1930s and the Second World War.

Joubert de la Ferté was born in Darjeeling, India to Colonel Charles Henry Joubert de la Ferté and Eliza Jane née Meville. He was of partial French descent, his paternal grandfather having emigrated to England in 1840. He was sent to England as a child where he attended Elstree School and later Harrow School.

Joubert de la Ferté joined the British Army attending the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and gaining his commission in 1907. From 1907 to 1913 he served in the Royal Field Artillery, rising to the rank of lieutenant. In 1913 he attended the Central Flying School and went on to serve in the Royal Flying Corps. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, he joined the British Expeditionary Force flying one of the first two operational sorties of the war. In 1915 Joubert de la Ferté was appointed Officer Commanding, No. 15 Squadron RFC. Later that year he took up command of No. 1 Squadron. As the war progressed, Joubert de la Ferté commanded No. 33 Squadron and then several different wings. On 1 April 1918 Joubert de la Ferté transferred to the Royal Air Force in the rank of lieutenant colonel and by the end of hostilities in 1918 he had command of the Royal Air Force in Italy.