John Miles Steel

For other persons named John Steel, see John Steel.

Sir John Miles Steel
Born	(1877-09-11)11 September 1877
Died	2 December 1965(1965-12-02) (aged 88)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy (c. 1897–18) Royal Air Force (1918–45)
Years of service	1897–37 1939–45
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands held	Reserve Command (1939–40) Bomber Command (1936–37) Air Defence of Great Britain (1935–36) RAF India (1931–35) Wessex Bombing Area (1926–30) No. 8 Group (1918) No. 58 Wing (1918) RNAS Eastchurch (1917–18)
Battles/wars	Second Boer War First World War Second World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Mentioned in Despatches (2) Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd Class with Swords (Russia)

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Miles Steel, GCB, KBE, CMG (11 September 1877 – 2 December 1965) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.

Military career

Steel attended Britannia Naval College in 1892^[1] and subsequently served in the Royal Navy.^[2] He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1897 and served in the Second Boer War as a member of the Naval Brigade.^[2] He was promoted to lieutenant in 1900, and was posted temporary in July 1902 to the HMS St George, serving in the Channel Squadron.^[3] Promotion to commander followed in 1912, and to captain in 1916.^[2] In 1917 Steel was transferred from fleet duties to the Royal Naval Air Service and was appointed Officer Commanding RNAS Eastchurch.^[2] In early 1918 Steel was appointed Officer Commanding No. 58 Wing which was based at Eastchurch^[2] and in March, at the age of 40, Steel learned to fly.^[2] Meanwhile, he became General Officer Commanding No. 8 Group.^[2] On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force.^[2] Steel, like other RNAS personnel transferred to the RAF and was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general.^[2] Promoted to group captain and then air commodore in 1919 he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence and, following his promotion to air vice marshal in 1925, he was made Air Officer Commanding the Wessex Bombing Area and then Air Officer Commanding RAF India.^[2] He was promoted to air marshal in 1932 and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain in August 1935.^[2] When Bomber Command was created from the Air Defence of Great Britain command in July 1936, Steel became its first Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the rank of air chief marshal.^[2]

Second World War

In August 1939 Steel came back from retirement to serve as Air Officer Commanding Reserve Command.^[2] In April 1940 he was succeeded as AOC by William Welsh and Steel returned to retirement.^[2] The following year in April once again returned to active service, this time as the Controller-General of Economy at the Air Ministry.^[2] He retired for the last time on 26 September 1945.^[2]

References

↑ Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir John Steel
↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36808). London. 1 July 1902. p. 7.

External image
Sir John Miles Steel by Walter Stoneman

Military offices
Preceded by Robert Groves	Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence 8 September 1919 – 12 April 1926	Succeeded by Cyril Newall
Preceded by Geoffrey Salmond	Air Officer Commanding RAF India 1931–1935	Succeeded by Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
Preceded by Sir Robert Brooke-Popham	Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Defence of Great Britain 1935–1936	Succeeded by None
Preceded by New Creation	Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command 1936–1937	Succeeded by Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt
Preceded by Sir Christopher Courtney	Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Reserve Command 1939–1940	Succeeded by Sir William Welsh

Chief of the Air Staff (India)

Commander, Indian Group (1919–1920)	Tom Webb-Bowen

Air Officer Commanding RAF, India (1920–1938)	Tom Webb-Bowen Philip Game Sir Edward Leonard Ellington Sir Geoffrey Salmond Sir John Miles Steel Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté

Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Air Forces in India (1938–1947)	Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté Sir John Frederick Andrews Higgins Sir Patrick Playfair Sir Richard Peirse Sir Guy Garrod Meredith Thomas Sir Roderick Carr Sir Hugh Walmsley

Air Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Air Force (1947–1948)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**

Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Air Force (1948–1950)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst**

Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force (1950–1955)	Sir Thomas Elmhirst Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman Gerald Gibbs** Subroto Mukerjee

Chief of the Air Staff (1955–present)	Subroto Mukerjee Aspy Engineer Arjan Singh Pratap Chandra Lal Om Prakash Mehra Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Idris Latif Dilbagh Singh Lakshman Mohan Katre Denis La Fontaine Surinder Mehra Nirmal Chandra Suri Swaroop Kaul Satish Kumar Sareen Anil Tipnis Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Shashindra Pal Tyagi Fali Homi Major Pradeep Vasant Naik Norman Anil Kumar Browne Arup Raha

(**Seconded from the Royal Air Force)

Aviation in World War I

People and aircraft	Commanders Aces Aircraft of the Entente Powers Aircraft of the Central Powers Zeppelins

Campaigns and battles	Strategic bombing German Cuxhaven Bombing of cities Aerial reconnaissance Fokker Scourge Flight over Vienna Bloody April Battles

Entente Powers air services	British air services Royal Flying Corps Royal Naval Air Service Royal Air Force Australian Flying Corps Canadian Air Force (1918–20) French Air Service Imperial Russian Air Service Royal Italian Air Corps United States Army Air Service Greek air services Army Air Service Naval Air Service

Central Powers air services	Imperial German Air Service Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops Ottoman Aviation Squadrons Bulgarian Army Aeroplane Section

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