John Cheshire

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Anthony Cheshire, KBE, CB, KStJ (born 4 September 1942) is a retired senior Royal Air Force commander.

For the British boxer, see John Cheshire (boxer). For the Welsh rugby league footballer, see John Cheshire (rugby league).

Sir John Cheshire
Sir John Cheshire addresses the public at Government House, Jersey, at the traditional reception to mark the Queen's Birthday, 2005
Born (1942-09-04) 4 September 1942
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1961–2000
RankAir Chief Marshal
Commands heldAllied Forces Northwestern Europe
RAF Lyneham
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
RelationsAir Chief Marshal Sir Walter Cheshire (father)

RAF career

Born the son of Group Captain (later Air Chief Marshal Sir) Walter Cheshire and educated at Ipswich School and Worksop College, Cheshire joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet at the RAF College Cranwell in 1961.[1] He was commissioned as a pilot officer on 17 December 1963,[2] and was successively promoted to flying officer (17 December 1964)[3] and to flight lieutenant (17 June 1966).[4] He was promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1971,[5] and to wing commander on 1 July 1977.[6]

In the late 1970s Cheshire served as Commander of the Special Forces Flight and then joined the Air Plans Directorate of the Ministry of Defence.[1] He was appointed Commander of the Air Wing in Brunei in 1980, for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1982 Birthday Honours.[7] He became the Station Commander at RAF Lyneham in 1982 and, after his promotion to group captain on 1 July,[8] Group Captain Contingency Plans at Headquarters United Kingdom Air Forces.[1] He went on to be air attache in Moscow in 1987, and was promoted to air commodore on 1 January 1988.[9] He became Deputy Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Bracknell in 1990, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1991 New Year Honours.[10] He was promoted to air vice marshal on 1 January 1992,[11] and appointed Assistant Chief of Staff Policy and Requirements at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.[1] As an acting air marshal, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1994 New Year Honours list.[12] He was knighted a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1995 New Year Honours,[13] and promoted to air marshal on 23 January 1995.[14] Appointed UK Military Representative to NATO in 1995, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Northwestern Europe on 11 March 1997, with a promotion to air chief marshal.[1][15][16] He retired in 2000.

Jersey and later life

In retirement Cheshire was the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey from 24 January 2001 to 7 April 2006 when his term of office ended. He was appointed chairman of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust in July 2008.[17]

Cheshire was married until the passing of his wife, and has a son and daughter, and three grandchildren.

References
  1. NATO Biography
  2. "No. 43224". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 January 1964. p. 567.
  3. "No. 43521". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 December 1964. p. 10929.
  4. "No. 44026". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 1966. p. 7091.
  5. "No. 45417". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 July 1971. p. 7209.
  6. "No. 47264". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 July 1977. p. 8753.
  7. "No. 49008". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1982. p. 8.
  8. "No. 49055". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 July 1982. p. 9466.
  9. "No. 51188". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 January 1988. p. 38.
  10. "No. 52382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1990. p. 6.
  11. "No. 52786". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1992. p. 183.
  12. "No. 53527". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1993. p. 2.
  13. "No. 53893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1994. p. 7.
  14. "No. 53933". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 February 1995. p. 966.
  15. "CHESHIRE, Air Chief Marshal Sir John (Anthony)". Who's Who 2013. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  16. "No. 54707". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 March 1997. p. 3298.
  17. "Who's Who". Royal Air Force Charitable Trust website. The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust Enterprises. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Edward Jones		 UK Military Representative to NATO
1995–1997		 Succeeded by
Sir Paul Haddacks
Preceded by
Sir Richard Johns		 Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces North West Europe
1997–2000		 Command disbanded
Responsibilities transferred to Regional HQ AFNORTH
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Michael Wilkes		 Lieutenant Governor of Jersey
2001–2006		 Succeeded by
Sir Andrew Ridgway
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.