{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person |name= Sir Charles Laverock Lambe |image= AVM Lambe.jpg |caption= Air Vice Marshal Lambe |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1875|05|10|df=yes}} |birth_place= |death_date= {{death date and age|1953|04|25|1875|05|10|df=yes}} |death_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= [[Royal Navy]] (1889–1918)<br/>[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–31) |service_years =1891–1931 |rank= [[Air Vice Marshal]] |unit= |commands= [[RAF Coastal Area|Coastal Area]] (1928–31)<br/>[[RAF Halton]] (1924–28)<br/>[[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]] (1924–28)<br/>[[Midland Area RAF|Midland Area]] (1919)<br/>[[No. 5 Group RAF|No. 5 Group]] (1918–19)<br/>VII Brigade RAF (1918)<br/>[[RNAS Dover Command]] (1916–18)<br/>[[No. 5 Squadron RNAS]] (1915)<br/>{{HMS|Hermes|95|6}} (1914–15) |battles= [[Benin Expedition of 1897]]<br/>[[First World War]] |awards= [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]]<br/>[[Officer of the Legion of Honour]] (France)<br/>[[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de guerre]] (France)<br/>[[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Commander of the Order of Leopold]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Knight of the Order of the Crown]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de guerre]] (Belgium)<br/>[[Distinguished Service Medal (United States Navy)|Navy Distinguished Service Medal]] (United States)<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31691 |date=16 December 1919 |page=15614 |supp=y}}</ref> |relations= |other_work= }} [[Air Vice Marshal]] '''Sir Charles Laverock Lambe''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CMG|DSO}} (10 May 1875 – 25 April 1953) was a distinguished officer in the [[Royal Navy]] and a foundational commander in the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) on its creation in 1918. Lambe was one of the most senior officers with naval experience to serve in the 1920s RAF.
==Biography== Joining the [[Royal Navy]] in 1889, Lambe attended the [[Britannia Naval College|training ship ''Britannia'']]. In 1897 he was promoted to lieutenant and served aboard [[HMS Magpie (1889)|HMS ''Magpie'']], taking part in Rear Admiral [[Harry Rawson|Rawson]]'s [[Benin Expedition of 1897|punitive expedition to Benin]]. Lambe later served at the Naval Ordnance Department as an assistant to the Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes. Promoted to Commander in 1908 he was again appointed an assistant to the Director of Naval Ordnance in 1913.
In August 1914, Lambe was appointed as captain of the seaplane carrier [[HMS Hermes (1898)|HMS ''Hermes'']], which sank after being torpedoed in October of the same year. At the start of August 1916, having just been promoted to wing captain, Lambe took up appointment as the officer commanding the [[Royal Naval Air Service]]'s Dover Command which included RNAS units at Dunkirk. During his time at the Dover Command, Lambe's aircraft carried out bombing raids on the German submarine harbours at [[Bruges]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The crisis of the naval war |url=https://archive.org/details/crisisofnavalwar00jelluoft |last=Jellicoe |first=John, Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl Jellicoe|authorlink=John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe |year=1920 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/crisisofnavalwar00jelluoft/page/72 72], 73 }}</ref> On 1 April 1918, Lambe was appointed [[General Officer Commanding]] the VII Brigade of the RAF. On 23 April, Lambe's VII Brigade carried out air attacks as part of the [[First Ostend Raid|blocking of Zeebrugge and Ostend]].<ref>{{cite web| title = AIRCRAFT in the ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND BATTLES| work = [[Flight (magazine)|Flight]]| publisher = [[Royal Aero Club|The Royal Aero Club of the U.K.]]| date = 27 February 1919| url = http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1919/1919%20-%200268.html| access-date =4 July 2011 }}</ref> On 9 May, Lambe was once again the air commander in a naval action, this time for the [[Second Ostend Raid]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30870 |date=27 August 1918 |page=10088 |supp=y}}</ref>
In 1919 Lambe was selected by [[Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard|Sir Hugh Trenchard]] to sit on the Air Council and in 1924 he was appointed commandant of the RAF's [[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]]. In 1928 Lambe was appointed [[Air Officer Commanding]] [[Coastal Area (RAF)|Coastal Area]] (the forerunner of [[RAF Coastal Command|Coastal Command]]) from where he retired in the rank of [[air vice marshal]] in 1931. Lambe died on 25 April 1953.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Lambe.htm Air of Authority—A History of RAF Organisation—AVM Lambe] * [http://www.firstworldwar.bham.ac.uk/donkey/lambe.htm Profile]
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-break}} {{s-vac|unknown}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Officer Commanding]] [[RNAS Dover Command]]|years=1916–1918}} {{s-non|reason=Command disbanded<br/><small>Responsibilities transferred to VII Brigade</small>}} {{s-break}} {{s-vac|last=[[Tom Webb-Bowen]]<br/><small>On 26 March 1918<br>(Italian operations)</small>}} {{s-ttl|title=[[General Officer Commanding]] [[VII Brigade RAF|VII Brigade]]<br/><small>(Dover and Dunkirk operations)</small>|years=April – May 1918}} {{s-non|reason=Brigade disbanded<br/><small>Responsibilities transferred to No. 5 (Operations) Group</small>}} {{s-bef|before=[[Frederick Halahan]]<br/><small>As Officer Commanding</small>}} {{s-ttl|title=General Officer Commanding [[No. 5 Group RAF|No. 5 (Operations) Group]]|years=1918–1919}} {{s-vac|next=[[William Bertram Callaway|William Callaway]]<br/><small>In 1937<br/>As Air Officer Commanding</small>}} {{s-bef|before=[[John Frederick Andrews Higgins|John Higgins]]}} {{s-ttl|title=General Officer Commanding [[Midland Area RAF|Midland Area]]|years=January – February 1919}} {{s-aft|after=[[Bertram Cooke]]}} {{s-bef|before=Unknown or none}} {{s-ttl|title=Director of Equipment|years=1919–1922}} {{s-aft|after=[[Duncan Pitcher]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Francis Scarlett (RAF officer)|Francis Scarlett]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant, [[No. 1 School of Technical Training RAF|No. 1 School of Technical Training]] |years=1924–1928}} {{s-aft|after=[[Ian Bonham-Carter]]}} {{s-bef|before=Francis Scarlett}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Officer Commanding]] [[RAF Coastal Area|Coastal Area]]|years=1928–1931}} {{s-aft|after=[[Robert Clark-Hall]]}} {{s-end}}
{{RAF generals}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambe, Charles Laverock}} [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1953 deaths]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air vice-marshals]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Navy officers]] [[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]] [[Category:Knights of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)]] [[Category:Recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)]] [[Category:British recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]] [[Category:Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States)]] [[Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I]] [[Category:British military personnel of the Benin Expedition of 1897]] [[Category:Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal]] [[Category:19th-century Royal Navy personnel]]