Air Chief MarshalAir chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Sir George Holroyd Mills,
GCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
,
DFCThe Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
,
RAFThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
(26 March 1902 – 14 April 1971) was a senior
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
commander. After his retirement from the RAF, Mills served as
Black RodThe Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, generally shortened to just Black Rod, is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in the
Houses of ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
until 1970. He was also a trustee of the
Imperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
.
RAF career
Mills joined the RAF College at Cranwell as a cadet in 1920 and became one of the earliest graduates of the newly formed College. After graduating he spent a short time at the RAF Depot. Mills was then posted to
MesopotamiaMesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
flying DH 9As with No. 8 Squadron. He transferred to
No. 100 SquadronNo. 100 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is based at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, UK, and operates the Hawker-Siddeley Hawk.-World War I:No. 100 was established on 23 February 1917 at Hingham in Norfolk as the Royal Flying Corps' first squadron formed specifically as a night bombing unit and...
in 1927 flying
Hawker Horsley|-See also:-Bibliography:* Jarrett, Philip. "By Day and By Night: Hawker Horsley part 1". Aeroplane Monthly, Volume 21 No 10, Issue 246, October 1993. pp. 32–40....
aircraft. He attended the RAF Staff College in 1935.
He served in the Second World War taking up command of
No. 115 SquadronNo. 115 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron during World War I. It was then equipped with Handley Page O/400 heavy bombers. During World War II the squadron served as a bomber squadron and after the war it flew in a similar role till 1958, when it was engaged as a radio calibration unit...
in late 1939 and then joining the Air Staff at Headquarters
Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
before becoming Station Commander at
RAF WattonRoyal Air Force Station Watton is a former military airfield in Norfolk, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southwest of East Dereham....
. He was appointed Director of Policy (General) at the
Air MinistryThe Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
in September 1943 and Air Officer Commanding
Balkan Air ForceThe Balkan Air Force was a late-World War II Allied air formation.-History:The formation was based at Bari in Italy, and activated on 7 June 1944 from AHQ 'G' Force to simplify command arrangements for the air support of Special Operations Executive-operations in the Balkans, i.e. across the...
in February 1945.
After the War he was appointed Director of Plans at the Air Ministry in 1946, Air Officer Commanding
No. 1 GroupNumber 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in Air Command.The group is today referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK plus RAF Unit Goose Bay in Canada, which is used extensively as an...
in 1949 and Air Officer Commanding Air Headquarters Malaya in 1952. He went on to be Air Officer Commander-in-Chief
Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
in April 1953, Commander Allied Air Force Central Europe in January 1956 and Chairman of the
NATO Standing Group in Washington D. C. before retiring in September 1962.
In retirement he served as
Gentleman Usher of the Black RodThe Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, generally shortened to just Black Rod, is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
in the
Houses of ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
His sons are Derek Mills (RAF officer and Spitfire pilot)
Nigel Mills (RAF officer)Air Marshal Sir Nigel Holroyd Mills KBE QHP FRCGP FRCP was a British military doctor, Surgeon General, 1990–1991, and Director General Medical Services , 1987–1991....
and daughter Virginie Mills.
Honours and awards
- Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
- 31 May 1940
- Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- 14 June 1945
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB)
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- 1 January 1954
- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB)
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- 1 January 1959