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Rochford Hughes

Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1914-1996)

Summary

Royal Air Force Air Marshal (1914-1996)

Field	Value
name	Sir Rochford Hughes
image	File:SW Rochford Hughes (cropped from No. 1 Pilots course, Flying Training School, RNZAF Station Wigram, 1938).jpg
image_size	150px
caption	Rochford Hughes in 1938
birth_date
birth_place	Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand
death_date
death_place	Taupō, New Zealand
allegiance	New Zealand
United Kingdom
branch	Royal New Zealand Air Force (1937–38)
Royal Air Force (1938–69)
serviceyears	1937–1969
rank	Air marshal
commands	Far East Air Force (1966–69)
No. 19 (Reconnaissance) Group (1962–64)
RAF Jever (1955–59)
Royal Aircraft Establishment (1952–54)
No. 511 Squadron (1945–46)
battles	Second World War
awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Air Force Cross
Mentioned in dispatches
Flying Cross (Greece)

United Kingdom Royal Air Force (1938–69) No. 19 (Reconnaissance) Group (1962–64) RAF Jever (1955–59) Royal Aircraft Establishment (1952–54) No. 511 Squadron (1945–46) Commander of the Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross Mentioned in dispatches Flying Cross (Greece) Air Marshal Sir Sidney Weetman Rochford Hughes, (25 October 1914 – 17 September 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding Far East Air Force from 1966 to 1969.

RAF career

Educated at Waitaki Boys' High School, Hughes was part of the editorial team at the New Zealand Herald from 1933. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1937 but was transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1938. He served in the Second World War mainly in the Middle East and North Africa; after being shot down, he was taken prisoner in 1941 by a group of Italian soldiers near Benghazi, although he later turned the tables and took 130 Italians prisoner himself. He became Officer Commanding No. 511 Squadron in September 1945. After the war, he served as Officer Commanding the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough before becoming Station Commander at RAF Jever in 1955. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding No. 19 (Reconnaissance) Group in 1962 and Deputy Controller of Aircraft (RAF) at the Ministry of Aviation in 1964 before becoming Air Officer Commanding Far East Air Force in 1966 and retiring in 1969.

Hughes later advised the Singaporean government on military and civilian aviation matters. Following the Mount Erebus disaster, he consulted for the commission that was established to investigate the incident.

References

{{London Gazette. (29 December 1942)
[https://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Hughes_SWR.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Rochford Hughes]
[http://www.airforce.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/airforce-news/afn69web.pdf Flight Lieutenant S W R Hughes] Air Force News, April 2006
(12 July 1970). "Singapore's Arms Develop Fast". Press.
(2 February 1982). "Some Pilot Error, Adviser Believes". Press.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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