Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford

{{Short description|Marshal of the Royal Air Force (1893–1971)}} {{Use British English|date=January 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] [[The Right Honourable]] | name = The Viscount Portal of Hungerford | image = Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Kcb, Dso, Mc, Chief of Air Staff 1940-1945 TR3.jpg | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|GCB|OM|DSO1|MC|DL}} | image_upright = 1.1 | alt = | caption = Air Chief Marshal Portal standing by a staff car outside Air Ministry buildings in London, during the [[Second World War]] | nickname = Peter | birth_date = {{birth date|1893|05|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Hungerford]], Berkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1971|04|22|1893|05|21|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Funtington|West Ashling]], West Sussex, England | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = [[British Army]] (1914–18) [[Royal Air Force]] (1918–45) | service_years = 1914–1945 | rank = [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] | service_number = | unit = | commands = [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]] (1940–46) [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] (1940) [[Air Member for Personnel]] (1939–40) [[British Forces Aden|Aden Command]] (1934–35) [[No. 7 Squadron RAF|No. 7 Squadron]] (1927–28) [[No. 1 Wing RAF|No. 1 Wing]] (1919) [[No. 16 Squadron RAF|No. 16 Squadron]] (1917–18) | battles = [[First World War]] [[Second World War]] | awards = [[Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Member of the Order of Merit]] [[Distinguished Service Order]] & [[Medal bar|Bar]] [[Military Cross]] [[Mentioned in Despatches]] (3) | spouse = {{marriage|Joan Margaret Welby|1919}} | relations = [[Rosemary Portal, 2nd Baroness Portal of Hungerford]] (daughter) | other_work = }} [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] '''Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100|sep=,|KG|GCB|OM|DSO1|MC|DL}} (21 May 1893 – 22 April 1971) was a senior [[Royal Air Force]] officer. He served as a bomber pilot in the [[First World War]], and rose to become first a flight commander and then a squadron commander, flying light bombers on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].

In the early stages of the [[Second World War]] he was commander-in-chief of [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]]. He was an advocate of strategic [[Area bombardment|area bombing]] against German industrial areas, and viewed it as a war winning strategy. In October 1940 he was made [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]], and remained in this post for the rest of the war. During his time as Chief he continuously supported the [[strategic bombing]] offensive against Germany, and advocated the formation of the [[Pathfinder Force]], critical to improving the destructive force of Bomber Command. He fended off attempts by the [[Royal Navy]] to take command over [[RAF Coastal Command]], and resisted attempts by the [[British Army]] to establish their own Army Air Arm. Portal retired from the RAF following the end of the war. He served as Controller of Production (Atomic Energy) at the Ministry of Supply for six years. Portal was then made chairman of [[British Aluminium]]. He was unsuccessful in fending off a hostile takeover of British Aluminum by [[Ivan Stedeford|Sir Ivan Stedeford]]'s [[Tube Investments]], in what was known as the "Aluminium War". Afterward he served as chairman of the [[British Aircraft Corporation]].

==Early life== Portal was born at Eddington House, [[Hungerford]], [[Berkshire]], the son of Edward Robert Portal and his wife Ellinor Kate (née Hill).<ref name=odnb>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31561?docPos=1 "Portal, Charles Frederick Algernon."] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.'' Retrieved: 9 July 2012.</ref> His younger brother [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] [[Reginald Henry Portal|Sir Reginald Portal]] (1894–1983) joined the [[Royal Navy]] and also had a distinguished career.<ref name=odnb/> The Portals had [[Huguenot]] origins, having arrived in England in the 17th century.<ref>Richards 1978, pp. 6–11.</ref> He was related to the goldsmith and dramatist [[Abraham Portal]], and more distantly so to [[Wyndham Portal, 1st Viscount Portal]].<ref name="odnb" />

Charles Portal, or "Peter" as he was nicknamed, was educated at [[Winchester College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]].<ref name="odnb" /> Portal had intended to become a [[barrister]] but he did not finish his degree and he left undergraduate life to enlist as a private soldier in 1914.<ref name="prob23">Probert 1991, p. 23.</ref>

==First World War== At the beginning of the [[First World War]], Portal joined the [[British Army]] and served as a [[dispatch rider]] in the motorcycle section of the [[Royal Engineers]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Portal.htm "Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Portal."] ''Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation.'' Retrieved: 29 July 2012.</ref> Portal was made a [[corporal]] very soon after joining the Army and he was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] only weeks later.<ref name=prob23/> Around the same time, Portal was commended in [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Sir John French]]'s first despatch of September 1914.<ref name=odnb/> In December 1914, Portal was given command of all riders in the [[I Corps (United Kingdom)|1st Corps]] Headquarters Signals Company.<ref name=odnb/>

In July 1915, with the need for dispatch riders decreasing, Portal transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC).<ref name=air/> He served first as an observer and then, from November 1915, as a flying officer.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29563 |page=4328 |date=28 April 1916 |supp=y}}</ref> He graduated as a pilot in April 1916, and joined [[No. 60 Squadron RAF|No. 60 Squadron]] flying [[Morane-Saulnier|Morane]] monoplanes on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name=air/> He became a flight commander with [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|No. 3 Squadron]] flying [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2|BE2c aircraft]] on the Western Front on 16 July 1916.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29691 |page=7636 |date=1 August 1916 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> Portal was promoted to temporary [[Major (rank)|major]] in June 1917<ref name=air/> and given command of [[No. 16 Squadron RAF|No. 16 Squadron]] flying [[Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8|RE8 aircraft]] on the Western Front at the same time.<ref name=air/> He was promoted to temporary [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] on 17 June 1918<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30776 |page=7771 |date=2 July 1918 |nolink=y}}</ref> and given command of No. 24 (Training) Wing at [[RAF Spitalgate|RAF Grantham]] in August 1918.<ref name=air/> Portal was awarded the [[Military Cross]] in January 1917, the citation for which reads:

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry in action. He has done excellent artillery work in the air, often in bad weather and at low altitudes; he has always set his flight the best of examples. On one occasion he shot down a hostile machine.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29898|page=462|date=9 January 1917|nolink=y}}</ref>}}

He was also awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) on 18 July 1917 and a [[Medal bar|Bar]] to his DSO on 18 July 1918. The DSO's citation reads:

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. For many months he has done magnificent work in co-operation with the artillery. During an attack he succeeded in silencing nine active hostile batteries, ranging our artillery. His splendid example has been of the greatest value.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30188 |page=7213 |date=17 July 1917 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref>}}

The bar's citation:

{{Quote|For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During a period of four months, chiefly under adverse weather conditions, he repeatedly carried out successful raids by day and night, his ingenuity and daring enabling him to drop many tons of bombs on important enemy posts. One night he crossed the lines five times, only landing between each flight to replenish with bombs. Another day he took on single-handed five enemy machines, and drove down three of them—a most gallant and splendid feat. On another day, despite thick mist, he registered one of our batteries on an enemy battery, causing the destruction of one pit and obtaining one fire and two explosions; and another day, flying for 5 1/4 hours, he carried out two very successful counter-battery shoots, observing 350 rounds. He has always set a most magnificent example to the squadron under his command.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30813 |page=8739 |date=23 July 1918 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref>}}

==Inter-war career== In August 1919 Portal was appointed to a permanent commission in the [[Royal Air Force]] in the rank of [[Major (rank)|major]] (shortly afterwards redesignated as a [[squadron leader]]).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31486 |date=1 August 1919 |page=9865|nolink=y}}</ref> He became a chief flying instructor at the [[Royal Air Force College Cranwell]] in November 1919 and then attended [[RAF Staff College, Andover|RAF Staff College]] in 1922, before joining the air staff conducting flying operations in the home sector in April 1923.<ref name=air/> Promoted to [[Wing commander (rank)|wing commander]] on 1 July 1925,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33063 |page=4456 |date=3 July 1925 |nolink=y}}</ref> he attended the senior officers' war course at the [[Royal Naval College, Greenwich|Royal Naval College]], [[Greenwich]], in 1926 before taking over [[No. 7 Squadron RAF|No. 7 Squadron]] flying [[Vickers Virginia|Vickers Virginia bombers]] in March 1927<ref name=air/> and concentrated on improving bombing accuracy.<ref name=odnb/>

Portal attended the [[Royal College of Defence Studies|Imperial Defence College]] in 1929 and became deputy director of Plans in the Directorate of Operations & Intelligence at the [[Air Ministry]] in December 1930.<ref name=air/> Promoted to [[group captain]] on 1 July 1931,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33731 |page=4250 |date=30 June 1931 |nolink=y}}</ref> he was appointed commander of [[British Forces Aden|British forces in Aden]] in February 1934,<ref name=air/> in which role he tried to control the local tribesmen by use of an air blockade.<ref name=odnb/> Promoted to [[air commodore]] on 1 January 1935,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34119 |page=16 |date=28 December 1934 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> he joined the Directing Staff at the Imperial Defence College in January 1936.<ref name=air/> Portal was promoted to [[air vice-marshal]] on 1 July 1937<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34414 |page=4253 |date=2 July 1937 |nolink=y}}</ref> before being appointed Director of Organization at the Air Ministry on 1 September 1937.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34432 |page=5561 |date=3 September 1937 |nolink=y}}</ref>

==Second World War== Appointed a [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]] in the 1939 [[New Year Honours]],<ref name=air/> Portal became [[Air Member for Personnel]] on the Air Council on 1 February 1939.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34594 |page=689 |date=31 January 1939 |nolink=y}}</ref> He was promoted to the acting rank of [[air marshal]] on 3 September 1939,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34742 |page=7963 |date=28 November 1939 |nolink=y}}</ref> appointed commander-in-chief of [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] in April 1940<ref name=air/> and promoted to the substantive rank of air marshal on 1 July 1940.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34949 |page=5579 |date=20 September 1940 |nolink=y}}</ref> Portal advocated strategic [[Area bombardment|area bombing]] against German industrial areas, the same sort of targets that the Luftwaffe was already targeting in the United Kingdom.<ref name=prob24>Probert 1991, p. 24.</ref> He was advanced to [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] in the [[1940 Birthday Honours]].<ref name=air/>

On 25 October 1940, Portal was appointed as [[Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Air Staff]] with the temporary rank of [[air chief marshal]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34989 |page=6492 |date=12 November 1940 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> (made permanent in April 1942).<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35525 |page=1648 |date=14 April 1942 |nolink=y}}</ref> He continued in this capacity for the remainder of the war.<ref name=air/> The first issue he had to resolve was an attempt by the [[Royal Navy]] to take over [[RAF Coastal Command]] as well as an attempt by the [[British Army]] to establish their own Army Air Arm.<ref name=prob25>Probert 1991, p. 25.</ref> Portal successfully persuaded both the Army and the Navy that the RAF could adequately look after their needs.<ref name=prob24/> The second great task facing Portal was to renew the strategic bombing offensive.<ref name=prob24/> In August 1941 he received a report on the relative inefficiency of RAF daytime raids and proposals for area bombing by night: to implement the proposals he determined that a new leader was required and replaced the chief of bomber command, Air Chief Marshal [[Richard Peirse]], with [[Arthur Harris]].<ref name=prob25/> He was advanced to [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] in the [[1942 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35586 |page=2478 |date=5 June 1942 |nolink=y}}</ref>

[[File:Jalta 1945.jpg|thumb|right|The Yalta Conference. Portal is shown standing behind Churchill.]]

Portal accompanied Churchill to all the great conferences and made a good impression on Americans.<ref name=odnb/> In January 1943, at the [[Casablanca Conference]], the [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] selected him to coordinate the bomber forces of both the United States and Britain in a combined bomber offensive over Germany.<ref name=odnb/> The forces were transferred to U.S. General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] for the duration of [[Operation Overlord]];<ref name=odnb/> but when their control reverted to the Combined Chiefs, Portal still advocated area bombing of German cities instead of specific targets, such as Axis oil production facilities.<ref name=spiegel>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,607524,00.html "The Logic Behind the Destruction of Dresden."] ''Der Spiegel,'' 13 February 2009. Retrieved: 29 July 2012.</ref> He was promoted to [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]] on 1 January 1944.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36309 |page=43 |date=31 December 1943 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref>

[[File:Winston Churchill and his Chiefs of Staff around a conference table aboard SS QUEEN MARY en route to the USA, May 1943. A16709.jpg|thumb|left|Seated in May 1943 around a conference table aboard the [[RMS Queen Mary|RMS ''Queen Mary'']] are, left to right: Air Marshal Sir Charles Portal, Admiral of the Fleet [[Dudley Pound|Sir Dudley Pound]], General [[Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke|Sir Alan Brooke]], Mr [[Winston Churchill]]. Prime Minister Churchill is presiding over the meeting at the end of the table.]]

In early 1944, Portal's view of strategic bombing changed; he felt that bombers could also play a more auxiliary role in the allied offensive. (Much of what is known about Portal's thinking is based on memoranda he wrote.) He argued for the new approach on the basis of the huge increase in the size of the bomber force, which would carry out not just precision bombing but also indiscriminate [[area bombing]] by night of all German cities with populations exceeding 100,000. Portal thought that the resulting damage to the German war effort and civilian morale would lead to victory within six months. A second memorandum in 1945 made a similar argument.<ref name=spiegel/>

In March 1945, [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] gave the final order to stop Portal's strategy of area bombing, after the firestorm of [[Dresden]] a few weeks earlier. Churchill subsequently distanced himself from the bombing writing that "the destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied Bombing".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/area_bombing_01.shtml "British Bombing Strategy in World War Two."] ''BBC,'' 17 February 2011. Retrieved: 29 July 2012.</ref>

==Post-war activities==

[[File:Funtington Church.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|right|St. Mary's parish church and cemetery, in [[Funtington]], [[West Sussex]], where Lord Portal of Hungerford's ashes are buried.]] In 1945, after the war's end, Portal retired from the RAF and on 12 October 1945 he was raised to the peerage as '''[[Baron Portal of Hungerford]]''' in the [[Berkshire|County of Berkshire]], with remainder, failing male issue of his own, to his daughters and their male heirs.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37305 |date=12 October 1945 |page=5026|nolink=y}}</ref> On 8 February 1946 he was further honoured when he was made '''Viscount Portal of Hungerford''', in the County of Berkshire, with normal remainder to his heirs male.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37461 |date=8 February 1946 |page=864|nolink=y}}</ref> He was made a [[Member of the Order of Merit]] on [[1946 New Year Honours|1 January 1946]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37407 |date=28 December 1945 |page=7|nolink=y}}</ref> He was also awarded the American [[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medal]] on 15 March 1946<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=37501 |date=12 March 1946 |page=1379 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Dutch [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] on 18 November 1947.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38125 |date=14 November 1947 |page=5423 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> He was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Belgian [[Order of the Crown (Belgium)|Order of the Crown with Palm]] and awarded the Belgian [[Croix de guerre (Belgium)|Croix de Guerre, 1940, with Palm]] on 27 August 1948.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38390 |date=27 August 1948 |page=4724|nolink=y}}</ref>

From 1946 to 1951, Portal was Controller of Production (Atomic Energy) at the [[Ministry of Supply]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1946-02-01 |title=Development of Atomic Energy in Britain |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=157 |issue=3979 |pages=128 |doi=10.1038/157128a0 |issn=1476-4687|bibcode=1946Natur.157Q.128. |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Christopher Hinton, Baron Hinton of Bankside|Christopher Hinton]], responsible for the production of [[fissile]] material, said later, "I cannot remember that he ever did anything that helped us."<ref>{{cite book|title=Austerity Britain|author= David Kynaston|year= 2007|page= 449|publisher= Bloomsbury|isbn= 978-0747579854|author-link= David Kynaston}}</ref> He attended the funeral of [[George VI|King George VI]] in February 1952<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=39575 |supp=y|page=3349|date= 17 June 1952|nolink=y}}</ref> and the [[coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]] in June 1953.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40020 |supp=y|page=6268|date=17 November 1953|nolink=y}}</ref>

Portal was elected Chairman of [[British Aluminium]] and in 1958/1959 he fought in the [[City of London]]'s "Aluminium War" against a hostile takeover bid by [[Ivan Stedeford|Sir Ivan Stedeford]], chairman and chief executive of [[TI Group|Tube Investments]]. T.I. along with its ally [[Reynolds Group Holdings|Reynolds Metals]] of the US, won the takeover battle, and in the process, rewrote the way the City conducted its business in relation to shareholders and investors. Stedeford replaced Portal as Chairman of British Aluminium. In 1960 Portal was elected chairman of the [[British Aircraft Corporation]].<ref name=prob26>Probert 1991, p. 26.</ref> Portal died from [[cancer]] at his home at [[Funtington|West Ashling]] near [[Chichester]] on 22 April 1971.<ref name=odnb/> His ashes are buried near his home in [[Funtington]] churchyard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/charles-viscount-portal|title=Charles, Viscount Portal|first=PixelToCode|last=pixeltocode.uk|website=Westminster Abbey}}</ref> In 1975 a [[Statue of Charles Portal|statue]] commemorating Portal was unveiled by Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] in the gardens outside the [[Ministry of Defence Main Building (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence Main Building]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=Margaret |title=Discovering London statues and monuments |date=2002 |publisher=Shire Publications |isbn=978-0-7478-0495-6 |edition=5. ed., revised and updated |series=Discovering series |location=Princes Risborough |pages=127}}</ref>

==Family== In July 1919, Portal married Joan Margaret Welby (1898–1996); they had a son (who died at birth) and two daughters.<ref name=odnb/> The viscountcy died with him but he was succeeded in the barony according to the special remainder by his elder daughter, [[Rosemary Portal, 2nd Baroness Portal of Hungerford|Rosemary Ann]], who died in 1990.<ref name=odnb/>

==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = {{center|[[File:Coat of Arms of Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, KG, GCB, OM, DSO, MC, DL.png|250px]]}} |escutcheon = Argent a lion rampant Sable between a fleur-de-lys Azure and a rose Gules barbed and seeded Proper on a chief of the third an astral crown Or. |crest = Issuant from an astral crown Or a portal between two towers Proper. |supporters = Dexter a pilot of the Royal Air Force, sinister a mechanic of the Royal Air Force, both in service dress Proper. |motto = Armet Nos Ultio Regum<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1956}}</ref> }}

==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * Probert, Henry. ''High Commanders of the Royal Air Force.'' London: HMSO, 1991. {{ISBN|0-11-772635-4}}. * Richards, Denis. ''Portal of Hungerford: The Life of Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Viscount Portal of Hungerford, KG, GCB, OM, DSO, MC.'' London: [[Heinemann (book publisher)|Heinemann]], 1978. {{ISBN|0-434-62825-5}}. {{Refend}}

==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category|Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford}} *[http://www.spartacus-educational.com/2WWportal.htm Spartacus Educational – Charles Portal] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120306060522/http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/archives/search/dhh/80-89/87/87-89.doc Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal Fonds]

{{external media | float = left | width = 258px | image1 = [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/air-chief-marshal-sir-charles-portal-18931971-135664 Portrait in oils of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal] }}

{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=[[Owen Tudor Boyd|Owen Boyd]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Officer Commanding [[RAF Aden Command|Aden Command]] Air Officer Commanding from 1 January 1935|years=1934–1935}} {{s-aft|after=[[Leslie Gossage]]}}

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{{s-bus}} |- {{s-vac|unknown}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of [[British Aluminium]]|years=1953–1958}} {{s-aft|after=[[Ivan Stedeford|Sir Ivan Stedeford]]}}

{{s-new|reason=Corporation formed}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the [[British Aircraft Corporation]]|years=1960–1963}} {{s-aft|after=[[George Edwards (aviation)|Sir George Edwards]]}}

{{s-reg|uk}} {{s-new| rows = 2 | creation}} {{s-ttl| title = [[Viscount Portal of Hungerford]] | years = 1946–1971 }} {{s-non| reason = Extinct }} |- {{s-ttl| title = [[Baron Portal of Hungerford]] | years = 1945–1971 }} {{s-aft| after = [[Rosemary Portal, 2nd Baroness Portal of Hungerford|Rosemary Ann Portal]] }} {{s-end}}

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