Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford

Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford KG , GCB , OM , DSO , MC (* May 21, 1893 in Hungerford , † April 22, 1971 in Chichester , Sussex ) was during the Second World War as chief of the air staff chief of the air forces of the United Kingdom .

Life

Portal was the descendant of a Huguenot family who emigrated to England in the 17th century. After an education at Winchester College and the University of Oxford , where he studied law, he enrolled in the military in 1914 as a volunteer without having finished his studies, initially served as a motorcyclist and was promoted to officer in 1914. In 1915 he came to the Royal Flying Corps , where he was promoted in quick succession and achieved the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel by 1918 . He flew various types from the Morane fighter to BE2 reconnaissance aircraft to the RE8 bomber. At the end of the war he was in command of No. 4 (training) wing . In 1919 he was given the permanent rank of Squadron Leader .

After attending the first course at the newly opened RAF Staff College in 1922/23, he joined the Air Staff, and from 1927 commanded No. 7 Squadron with Vickers Virginia and attended Imperial Defense College from 1929 . In 1930 he became Deputy Director of Plans in the Directorate of Operations & Intelligence and in 1934 Commander of the British Armed Forces in Aden . In July 1937 he was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal and Director of Organizational Affairs in the Air Ministry . After the outbreak of war in 1939 he was promoted to temporary Air Marshal and in April 1940 received command of the RAF Bomber Command . In October 1940 he took over command of the British Air Force ( Royal Air Force ) as 'Air Chief Marshal' and Chief of the Air Staff and held it until the end of the war. In June 1944 he was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force .

Portal was an advocate of an area attack strategy and was instrumental in building the RAF's strategic bomber fleet. He was also present as Churchill's companion at all war conferences , including the Casablanca Conference , where the Allies' combined bomber offensive against the German Reich was decided. He coordinated these on behalf of the Combined Chiefs of Staff .

After the war, Portal retired from the Air Force and was promoted to Baron Portal of Hungerford, of Hungerford in the County of Berkshire in 1945 and a year later to Viscount Portal of Hungerford, of Hungerford in the County of Berkshire . After working in the Ministry of Supply , he was successively Chairman of the Board of British Aluminum and British Aircraft Corporation .

When he died in 1971, his Viscount title expired because he had no male offspring. His baron title, however, had been given a special notice so that his daughter Rosemary could inherit it.

Others

In the Area Bombing Directive (issued on February 14, 1942) the new commander in chief of the RAF Bomber Command , Arthur Harris , was allowed to use his armed forces with immediate effect without any restrictions: “ You are accordingly authorized to use your forces without restriction [... ] ”. He was ordered to concentrate the operations on the morale of the enemy civil population - in particular on the industrial workers: “ It has been decided that the primary objective of your operations should be focused on the morale of the enemy civil population and in particular the industrial workers ”.

The day after the instruction was announced, the portal became even clearer; he wrote: “ […] I suppose it is clear that the aiming points will be the built up areas, and not, for instance, the dockyards or aircraft factories where these are mentioned in Appendix A. This must be made quite clear if it is not already understood. "(German:" I assume that it is clear that the targets will be built-up areas and not, for example, shipyards or aircraft factories according to Appendix A. This must be made clear to everyone, if it has not yet been understood in this way. " )

literature

• Denis Richards: Portal of Hungerford: The Life of Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Viscount Portal of Hungerford, KG, GCB, OM, DSO, MC. Heinemann, 1977. ISBN 0-434-62825-5 .

Web links

Commons : Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Charles Portal on Spartacus Schoolnet
• Air Marshal Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st and last Viscount Portal of Hungerford on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
• Charles Portal on rafweb.org

predecessor	Office	successor
Sir Cyril Newall	Chief of the Air Staff 1940-1946	Sir Arthur Tedder
New title created	Baron Portal of Hungerford 1945–1971	Rosemary Portal
New title created	Viscount Portal of Hungerford 1946-1971	Title expired