Gareth Clayton (RAF officer)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Gareth Thomas Butler Clayton, KCB, DFC & Bar (13 November 1914 – 5 February 1992) was a senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Secretary from 1970 to 1972.

Sir Gareth Clayton
Born(1914-11-13)13 November 1914
Died5 February 1992(1992-02-05) (aged 77)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1936–1972
RankAir Chief Marshal
Commands heldAir Secretary (1970–72)
No. 11 Group (1962–63)
RAF Honington (1955–56)
RAF Cottesmore (1954–55)
No. 576 Squadron (1943–44)
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar
Mentioned in Despatches
Order of the Cloud and Banner (China)

RAF career

Clayton joined the Royal Air Force in 1936.[1] He served in the Second World War as a Flight Commander with No. 25 Squadron and then with No. 100 Squadron before being appointed Officer Commanding No. 576 Squadron in 1943 and then Deputy Station Commander at RAF Faldingworth in 1944.[1] He then served on the Air Staff at No. 1 Group and as a Staff Officer on the Future Operational Plans Staff at the Air Ministry.[1]

After the War he became Air Attaché in Lisbon and then Station Commander first at RAF Cottesmore and then at RAF Honington.[1] He was appointed Director of Operations – Air Transport & Overseas Theatres in 1959, Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in 1962 and Chief of Staff for the Second Tactical Air Force in 1963.[1] He went on to be Director-General of RAF Personnel Services in 1966, Chief of Staff at Headquarters RAF Strike Command in 1969[2] and Air Secretary in 1970 before retiring in 1972.[1]

He is buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, Polstead, Suffolk.[3]

The grave of Gareth Clayton in the churchyard of St Mary, Polstead, Suffolk

Further reading
  • Clayton, Sir Gareth (1992). And Then There Was One!. Gareth Clayton. ASIN B0032Q68GY.

References
  1. Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Gareth Clayton
  2. "No. 45051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 March 1970. p. 2556.
  3. Per photograph alongside
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Brian Burnett		 Air Secretary
1970–1972		 Succeeded by
Sir John Barraclough
Preceded by
Harold Maguire		 Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group
1962–1963		 Group disbanded
Richard Jones on reformation in 1968
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