Geoffrey Salmond

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Sir Geoffrey Salmond
Mentioned in Despatches (7)
Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd Class (Russia)
Grand Officer of the Order of the Nile (Egypt)
Grand Commander of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)
RelationsMajor General Sir William Salmond (father)
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Salmond (brother)
Gwen Salmond (sister)
Anne Baker (daughter)

evacuation from Kabul
of British embassy staff and others, by air.

In 1933, Salmond served as Chief of the Air Staff for only a matter of days before being taken ill and subsequently dying from cancer.

Early life and education

Geoffrey Salmond was born on 19 August 1878 to Major General Sir William Salmond and Emma Mary Salmond (née Hoyle).[1] His siblings included a brother, John,[1] and a sister Gwen.[2] He was educated at Aysgarth School followed by Wellington College in Berkshire before joining the Army.[1]

Royal Artillery service

Salmond joined the

Royal Military Academy Woolwich around 1897.[3] He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery on 23 June 1898[4] and saw active service during the Second Boer War.[3] He took part in the relief of Ladysmith and the operations on the Tugela Heights.[5] He received the Queen's Medal and seven clasps, then on 10 November 1900 he was sent to China[6] and gained a medal for the operations during the Boxer Rebellion there.[5] He was seconded to study Japanese on 2 May 1905[7] and promoted to captain on 2 December 1905.[8] He was then appointed Adjutant with the Royal Field Artillery on 4 February 1908.[9] Then in 1911 he attended the Staff College, Camberley.[3]

Royal Flying Corps service

Salmond was awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate no. 421 on 18 February 1913,[10] and then joined the reserve of the Royal Flying Corps on 17 April 1913.[11] He became a staff office at the War Office on 31 July 1913,[12] a staff officer in the Directorate of Military Aeronautics on 31 August 1913 and then a staff officer at Headquarters Royal Flying Corps in France on 4 August 1914.[13]

Salmond went on to take up the post of Officer Commanding

Battle of Aubers Ridge.[3] He was appointed a wing commander on 18 August 1915[15] and sent to command the Fifth Wing in Egypt in November 1916.[3] He was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel on 3 June 1916.[16]

In July 1916, Salmond was promoted to temporary brigadier general and given command of the RFC in the Middle East.[3] The Distinguished Service Order was conferred on him on 3 March 1917:[17]

for conspicuous ability and devotion to duty when personally directing the work of the Royal Flying Corps during the action. The striking success attained was largely due to his magnificent personal example.

The action referred to was during the operations in Sinai at the end of 1916.[1] In this command he was responsible for providing air cooperation for General Jan Smuts's force in East Africa,[5] for the forces in Salonika and Mesopotamia, for Allenby's conquest of Palestine, and for the RFC in India.[5] He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel on 3 September 1918.[18]

While holding the command of the Middle East, he had laid out an airway from Cairo to South Africa,

mentioned in despatches on account of his services in the Middle East on 28 June 1919.[23]

Royal Air Force service

Geoffrey (pictured left) with his father and brother John

Salmond was awarded a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force as a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1926 Birthday Honours.[3]

Salmond's next appointment was as

evacuation from Kabul of British embassy staff and others.[27] He was promoted to air marshal on 1 July 1929.[28] In September 1931, Salmond returned from India to take up command of the Air Defence of Great Britain organization which was responsible for British air defences, including both fighters and bombers.[3] He was promoted to air chief marshal several months later on 1 January 1933.[29]

On 1 April 1933, Air Chief Marshal Salmond took over from his brother John as Chief of the Air Staff.[30][31] Salmond had become severely unwell and days later (5 April) arrangements were announced for Sir John Salmond to resume the RAF's senior post temporarily.[32]

Family

In 1910 he married Margaret Carr, daughter of

Anne wrote a biography of Salmond, published in 2003, and is still alive at the age of 109.[33]

Death

Salmond died on 27 April 1933 and Sir John carried on his duties as Chief of the Air Staff for several more weeks afterwards.[3] Salmond had a large funeral procession with Trenchard as one of the pallbearers.[34]

Publications

  • Salmond, Sir Geoffrey (1929). Report on the Air Operations in Afghanistan Between December 12th, 1928, and February 25th, 1929. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35916. Retrieved 5 August 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Obituary Mary H. Hoyle Salmond.. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond". Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ^ "No. 26983". The London Gazette. 1 July 1898. p. 3985.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Obituary: Sir Geoffrey Salmond Air Chief Marshal And Chief of the Air Staff". The Times. London. 28 April 1933. p. 19. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  6. ^ "No. 27248". The London Gazette. 20 November 1900. p. 7137.
  7. ^ "No. 27798". The London Gazette. 26 May 1905. p. 3769.
  8. ^ "No. 27875". The London Gazette. 16 January 1906. p. 383.
  9. ^ "No. 28111". The London Gazette. 21 February 1908. p. 1206.
  10. ^ "Aviators' Certificates". Flight International. 1913. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ "No. 28720". The London Gazette. 20 May 1913. p. 3592.
  12. ^ "No. 28747". The London Gazette. 19 August 1913. p. 5932.
  13. ^ "No. 28879". The London Gazette. 25 August 1914. p. 6686.
  14. ^ "No. 29055". The London Gazette. 2 February 1915. p. 1018.
  15. ^ "No. 29276". The London Gazette. 24 August 1915. p. 8520.
  16. ^ "No. 29608". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1916. p. 5565.
  17. ^ "No. 29968". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 March 1917. p. 2190.
  18. ^ "No. 31160". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 January 1919. p. 1760.
  19. ISBN 978-1-78155-370-1
    .
  20. ^ "No. 31002". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 November 1918. p. 13274.
  21. ^ "No. 31098". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1918. p. 91.
  22. ^ "No. 31273". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 April 1919. p. 4513.
  23. ^ "No. 31498". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 August 1919. p. 10195.
  24. ^ "No. 31486". The London Gazette. 1 August 1919. p. 9864.
  25. ^ "No. 32635". The London Gazette. 10 March 1922. p. 2048.
  26. ISBN 978-3-030-60554-4
    .
  27. ISSN 1463-6298
    .
  28. ^ "No. 33513". The London Gazette. 2 July 1929. p. 4365.
  29. ^ "No. 33898". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1932. p. 16.
  30. ^ "No. 33926". The London Gazette. 31 March 1933. p. 2194.
  31. ^ "Sir Geoffrey Salmond ill". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 3 April 1933. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. ^ "Sir Geoffrey Salmond". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 28 April 1933. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  33. ^ "Happy 100th for Anne", Salisbury Journal, 21 May 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2014
  34. ^ "Air Staff Chief's funeral". The Scotsman. 2 May 1933. p. 12 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Geoffrey Salmond.
Military offices
Preceded by Officer Commanding No. 1 Squadron RFC
January – August 1915 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Unknown
 Officer Commanding
Fifth Wing, RFC

1915–1916
New title
Middle East Brigade established
 General Officer Commanding
GOC
HQ RFC Middle East from October 1917
1916–1917 		Succeeded by
New title
Palestine Brigade established
 Officer Commanding Palestine Brigade
October – November 1917
Preceded by
AOC
Middle East Area
1917–1922 		Succeeded by
Preceded by RAF
Director-General of Supply and Research

Post renamed Air Member for Supply and Research in 1923
1922–1926 		Succeeded by
Sir John Higgins
Air Officer Commanding RAF India

1926–1931 		Succeeded by
Commander-in-Chief Air Defence of Great Britain
1931–1933 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Air Staff
1933 		Succeeded by
Sir John Salmond
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