{{Use British English|date=August 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Infobox military person |name= Alfred Critchley |image=Brig-Gen Alfred Critchley.png |image_size= |alt= |caption= Critchley in 1915 |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1890|02|23|df=yes}} |birth_place= [[Calgary|Calgary, Alberta]], Canada |death_date= {{death date and age|1963|02|09|1890|02|23|df=yes}} |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= Canada<br />United Kingdom |branch= [[Canadian Army]] (1907–18)<br />[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–43) |service_years= 1907–19<br />1939–43 |rank= [[Air Commodore]] |service_number= |unit= |commands= [[No. 54 Group RAF|No. 54 (Reserve) Group]] (1939–43)<br />RAF Training Brigade (1918–19) |battles= [[First World War]]<br />[[Second World War]] |awards= [[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br />[[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]<br />[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br />[[Mentioned in Despatches]] |relations= |other_work= [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Twickenham]] (1934–35)<br />co-Founder of [[Greyhound Racing Association]] }} [[Air Commodore]] '''Alfred Cecil Critchley''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CMG|CBE|DSO}} (23 February 1890 – 9 February 1963) was a military commander, entrepreneur and [[politician]] in the United Kingdom. He served as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) from 1934 to 1935.
==Early life and military career== Critchley was born in [[Calgary|Calgary, Northwest Territories]] (now Alberta), Canada in 1890 and brought to England at the age of nine and attended St Bees School in Cumberland. .<ref name=Ticher>{{cite book|last = Ticher|first=Mike|title=''The Story of Harringay Stadium and Arena''|publisher=Hornsey Historical Society|year=2002|isbn =0-905794-29-X}}.</ref> His first career was a military one, initially in [[Lord Strathcona's Horse]], a Canadian military regiment and, towards the end of the [[First World War]], in the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC). He was seconded to the RFC on 4 March 1918 with the temporary rank of brigadier general<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30582 |date=15 March 1918 |page=3405 |supp=y }}</ref> at the age of only 28. Remaining in the RFC and then [[Royal Air Force]] to the end of the war, Critchley played a senior role in organising training, commanding the RFC and then [[RAF Cadet Brigade|RAF's Cadet Brigade]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jefford |first=C. G. |author-link= |date=2014 |title=Observers and Navigators And Other Non-Pilot Aircrew in the RFC, RNAS and RAF |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2ZEBgAAQBAJ |location= |publisher= Grub Street|pages=60, 228 |isbn=9781909808409}}</ref> By the end of the war he had become the youngest brigadier general in the British Imperial forces{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} and had married Maryon Galt, the cousin of the wife of the press baron Sir Max Aitken, later [[Lord Beaverbrook]].<ref name=Ticher/>
==Business and politics== After the war Critchley involved himself in a number of business ventures in [[Central America]] before returning to the UK where he became a director of Associated Portland Cement. In 1926 he helped form the private company, the [[Greyhound Racing Association]] (GRA). Under the auspices of this company he became a significant sporting entrepreneur in the UK. The company introduced greyhound racing to the UK in [[Belle Vue (greyhound racing)|Belle Vue]], [[Manchester]] in 1926. The success of this initial trial led the company to purchase the [[White City Stadium]] in [[London]]. The GRA subsequently built both the [[Harringay Stadium]] and [[Harringay Arena]].<ref name=Ticher/>
He was married for a second time in London to Miss Joan Foster of Mount Street, London on 22 December 1927.<ref>''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 December 1927</ref>
Critchley contested the [[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929 general election]] as a Conservative in the [[Manchester Gorton (UK Parliament constituency)|Manchester Gorton]] constituency, a [[safe seat]] for the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] where he was heavily defeated.
In February 1931, he contested the [[1931 Islington East by-election|Islington East by-election]] as a candidate for the [[Empire Free Trade Crusade]] and the [[United Empire Party]], which both sought to make the British Empire a free trade bloc. The Empire Crusade had won the Paddington South by-election in October 1930, and hoped to repeat its success. Critchley came second, with 27.2% of the votes, and the Empire Crusade never won another seat.
He rejoined the Conservative Party, and won the [[1934 Twickenham by-election|Twickenham by-election]] on 22 June 1934. Nevertheless, he did not contest the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 general election]].
He was a director general of the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] from 1943 to 1946.<ref>Obiituary in ''[[The Guardian]]'', 10 February 1963</ref>
In 1953 he suffered a severe infection which caused him to go blind. In 1954 he was involved in the publishing deals of [[Robert Maxwell]].<ref name=Ticher/>
==Sport== In addition to his interest in greyhound racing, Critchley was a keen sportsman, and was a leading amateur golfer who won the [[French International Amateur Championship|French]], Belgian and Dutch open amateur championships,<ref>{{cite book |title=Golfer's Handbook |date=1984 |pages=496, 501, 502 |isbn=978-0-333-36003-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/golfershandbook1984unse/page/500/mode/2up}}</ref> and competed in the first [[1934 Masters Tournament|Masters Tournament in 1934]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rhodes |first1=Don |title=Beyond Golf |url=https://augustamagazine.com/2020/03/30/beyond-golf/ |website=Augusta Magazine |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=30 May 2020}}</ref> He also took part in bobsleigh events with his son John Galt Critchley,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS85013547&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title="Sports in Brief." Times [London, England] 11 Jan. 1939|publisher=Times Digital Archive}}</ref> who went on to claim a [[silver medal]] at the [[FIBT World Championships 1939]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS118961215&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0|title="Winter Sports." Times [London, England] 31 Jan. 1939|publisher=Times Digital Archive}}</ref>
==Further reading== ''Critch! The Memoirs of Brigadier General'', A.C. Critchley, London, Hutchinson, 1961
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Critchley.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Commodore A C Critchley] * {{Hansard-contribs | brigadier-general-alfred-critchley | Alfred Critchley }} * {{Rayment-hc|external links=y|date=March 2012}}
{{S-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-new|reason=Brigade established}} {{s-ttl|title=General Officer Commanding [[RFC Cadet Brigade]]<br><small>RAF Cadet Brigade from 1 April 1918</small>|years=1917-1918}} {{s-aft|after=[[Charles Longcroft|C A H Longcroft]]<br><small>As Commandant [[RAF (Cadet) College]]</small>}} |- {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency)|Twickenham]] | years = [[1934 Twickenham by-election|1934]]–[[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935]] | before = [[Hylton Murray-Philipson]] | after = [[Edward Keeling|Sir Edward Keeling]] }} {{S-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critchley, Alfred Cecil}} [[Category:1890 births]] [[Category:1963 deaths]] [[Category:British people of Canadian descent]] [[Category:Military personnel from Calgary]] [[Category:Canadian military personnel of World War I]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:People educated at St Bees School]] [[Category:Politicians from Calgary]] [[Category:People in greyhound racing]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935]] [[Category:Lord Strathcona's Horse soldiers]]