John Salmond

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Maitland Salmond, (17 July 1881 – 16 April 1968) was a British military officer who rose to high rank in the Royal Flying Corps and then the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served as a squadron commander, a wing commander and then as General Officer Commanding the RAF on the Western Front towards the end of the war. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq in the early 1920s when he halted a Turkish invasion and sought to put down a Kurdish uprising against King Faisal, the British-sponsored ruler of Iraq. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the early 1930s and bitterly opposed the position taken by British politicians at the World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, which would have led to the UK's complete aerial disarmament. In the event the talks broke down when Adolf Hitler withdrew from the Conference in October 1933. Early life John Salmond was born the son of Major General Sir William Salmond and Emma Mary Salmond (née Hoyle). His siblings included a brother, Geoffrey, and sister, Gwen. After first being taught by a series of governesses he then attended Miss Dixon's School in Thurloe Square, London. At the age of nine Salmond was sent to Aysgarth Preparatory School in Yorkshire. In 1894, he went up to Wellington College and in 1900 he attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Military career After Salmond graduated from Sandhurst with a commission as a second lieutenant on 8 January 1901, he was transferred to the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment on 9 March 1901. He sailed for South Africa to join his unit, which was engaged in the latter part of the Second Boer War. In 1902 he applied for a secondment to the West African Frontier Force but was turned down on the grounds that he was too young: he re-applied the following year and was accepted on 14 November 1903. He was immediately seconded to the colonial service and then promoted to lieutenant on 5 April 1904. Salmond's time in Africa was cut short as he was pronounced medically unfit and returned to England in November 1906. He was promoted to captain on 26 June 1910. Salmond learned to fly at the Central Flying School in 1912 and was awarded Royal Aero Club certificate No. 272 on 13 August 1912. Having been seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, he became a flight commander at the Central Flying School on 12 November 1912 and then a squadron commander there on 31 May 1913.