Air Vice Marshal John Denis Breakey began his military career in the Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

 during World War I. As the RNAS was merged into the Royal Air Force, he scored nine aerial victories as a fighter pilot.

After returning to service for World War II, he rose to become an Air Commodore

Air Commodore

Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

 during the war, and an Air Vice Marshal afterwards.

Personal life

Breakey was born on 18 May 1899, in Sheffield, England.

He retired from the Royal Air Force on 10 May 1954.

He died on 8 January 1965.

Promotions and appointments

3 June 1917: Appointed probationary Flight Officer

Flight officer

The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces where it was an air force warrant officer rank. It was also an air force rank in several Commonwealth nations where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flight lieutenant...

 in Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

 on the same day as Frederick Britnell

Frederick Britnell

Captain Frederick John Shaw Britnell was a flying ace in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during World War I. He was credited with nine aerial victories...

10 October 1917: Appointed temporary probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant

26 October 1917: Appointed Flight Sub-Lieutenant with seniority from 10 October 1917

1 April 1918: Commissioned as lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The 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...

 on its day of existence

19 August 1918: Promoted to temporary captain

Duty assignments

ca June 1917: Assigned to No. 3 Naval Squadron as a Sopwith Camel

Sopwith Camel

The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...

 fighter pilot

1 April 1918: Continued service in unit when it was absorbed into the Royal Air Force as 203 Squadron

List of aerial victories

See also Aerial victory standards of World War I

Aerial victory standards of World War I

During World War I, the national air services involved developed their own methods of assessing and assigning credit for aerial victories.The victory scores of the pilots represented at List of World War I flying aces often cannot be definitive, but are based on itemized lists that are the best...

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	15 May 1918 @ 1145 hours	Sopwith Camel Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...  serial number D3384	LVG LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin-Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bomber biplanes during World War I.The raid on London in 1916 was...	Destroyed	Salome Salomé, Nord -References:*...	Victory shared with Edwin Hayne Edwin Hayne Captain Edwin Tufnell Hayne was a World War I flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.-Early life:Edwin Tufnell Hayne was the son of Emily and Tufnell Hayne. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa... , Harold Beamish Harold Beamish Harold Francis Beamish was a flying ace of World War I from New Zealand. He had 11 victories, many in a Sopwith Camel.He served in the R.N.A.S. and the R.A.F., becoming a Captain, and later returned to New Zealand, where he was a sheep farmer.... , three other pilots
2	16 May 1918 @ 1120 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D3384	Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.III |-See also:-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Grosz, Peter M. Pfalz D.IIIa . Berkhamsted, Herts, UK: Albatros Publications, 1995. ISBN 0-94841-425-1.* Guttman, Jon. Balloon-Busting Aces of World War 1 ...	Driven down out of control	North of La Bassée La Bassée La Bassée is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-History:La Bassée was the birthplace of the painter and draftsman Louis-Léopold Boilly .-References:*...
3	17 May 1918 @ 1120 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D3384	Albatros D.V Albatros D.V |-See also:-Bibliography:*Bennett, Leon. Gunning for the Red Baron. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58544-507-X....	Destroyed	Merville Merville, Nord -References:*...	Victory shared with Beamish, Ronald Sykes Ronald Sykes Captain Ronald Sykes was a World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories.-World War I service:Sykes joined the Royal Naval Air Service in April 1917. In September, he joined 9 Naval Squadron to fly a Sopwith Camel in Roy Brown's flight. On the 20th, he shot down an Albatros D.III out of... , two other pilots
4	18 May 1918 @ 1120 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D3384	Rumpler Rumpler The Rumpler Tropfenwagen was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamlined car . The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28...	Set afire; destroyed	Merville	Victory shared with Beamish
5	25 August 1918 @ 1300 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D9651	DFW DFW DFW may refer to:*Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport*Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a metropolitan area in north Texas*Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources*Division of Fisheries and Wildlife...	Destroyed	North of Hem
6	20 September 1918 @ 1530 hours	Sopwith Camel	Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the summer and autumn of 1918. In service, the D.VII quickly proved itself to be a formidable aircraft...	Driven down out of control	Haynecourt Haynecourt Haynecourt is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
7	26 September 1918 @ 1300 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D9651	Fokker D.VII	Set afire; destroyed	Southwest of Lieu-Saint-Amand Lieu-Saint-Amand -References:*...
8	29 September 1918 @ 0730 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D9651	LVG	Destroyed	Sensee Canal Sensée Canal The Canal de la Sensée is a project that was developed under Napoleon. In March 1806, the imperial government gave orders to build a canal which would link the Scarpe River and the Escaut River . The work was commenced under the direction of Augustin Honnorez in June 1819 and the Sensée canal was... , Hem Hem To hem a piece of cloth is to sew a cut edge in such a way as to prevent unraveling of the fabric.There are many different styles of hems of varying complexities. The most common hem...
9	2 October 1918 @ 0850 hours	Sopwith Camel s/n D9592	Fokker D.VII	Destroyed	Morenchies Morenchies Morenchies is a former commune in the Nord department in northern France. In 1971 it was merged into Cambrai.-Heraldry:-References:...

Promotions and appointments

1 August 1919: Appointed lieutenant in the Royal Air Force on a permanent commission with seniority of 1 April 1918

1 July 1924: Promoted to Flight Lieutenant

1 February 1935: Promoted to Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader

Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...

1 July 1938: Promoted to Wing Commander

Wing Commander (rank)

Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...

Duty assignments

13 June 1919: Pilot in 47 Squadron

1 February 1921: Test pilot, Aeroplane Experimental Establishment

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment

The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992.-History:...

24 July 1923: Flight Commander, 22 Squadron

15 September 1924: Student in Aircraft Engineering Course at the Home Aircraft Depot

2 December 1926: Posted to staff duty at Home Aircraft Depot

1 February 1929: Flight duty with 204 Squadron at RAF Southampton

2 January 1930: Flight duty with 205 Squadron, RAF Southampton

16 May 1931: Staff duty, Headquarters RAF Singapore

3 April 1933: Supernumerary

Supernumerary

A Supernumerary is an additional member of an organization. A supernumerary is also a non-regular member of a staff, a member of the staff or an employee who works in a public office who is not part of the manpower complement...

, RAF Depot

3 April 1934: Staff duty

25 March 1935: Officer Commanding, 201 Squadron

4 October 1937: Air Staff, Deputy Director of Operational Requirements; subsequently raised to Director

Promotions and appointments

1 December 1940: Promoted to temporary Group Captain

Group Captain

Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...

ca 26 May 1941: Promoted to acting Air Commodore

Air Commodore

Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...

26 November 1941: Designated War Substantive Group Captain

20 April 1943: Promoted to acting Air Vice Marshal

1 June 1943: Became temporary Air Commodore

1 December 1943: Confirmed as Group Captain

20 April 1944: Designated War Substantive Air Commodore

1 January 1946: Promoted to Air Commodore, appointed as temporary Air Vice Marshal

1 July 1947: Promoted to Air Vice Marshal

Duty assignments

April 1943: Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Technical Requirements

September 1945: Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding

Air Officer Commanding is a title given in the air forces of Commonwealth nations to an air officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, an air vice marshal might be the AOC 38 Group...

, 222 Group

1 October 1945: Air Officer Commanding, Air Headquarters, Malaya

13 January 1948: Air Officer in charge of Administration, Headquarters Bomber Command

Bomber Command

Bomber Command is an organizational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. Many countries have a "Bomber Command", although the most famous ones were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for Strategic bombing , and is composed of bombers...

1951: Air Officer Commanding, 21 (Training) Group

1 August 1951: Head of Royal Air Force Staff for British Joint Services Mission to Washington, DC

Honours and awards

18 February 1919: Breakey was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for valour; the citation read:
12 July 1919: Breakey was awarded a Bar in lieu of a second award for valour of the Distinguished Flying Cross.

1 January 1944: John Denis Breakey was honoured for his services with induction into the Order of the Bath.

Endnotes

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