{{Short description|Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1886–1973)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = [[Air Chief Marshal]] | name = Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Bath|GCB]], [[Order of the British Empire|GBE]], [[Order of St Michael and St George|CMG]], [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]], [[Military Cross|MC]] | image = Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt (cropped).jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Air Chief Marshal Ludlow-Hewitt | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1886|06|09|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1973|08|15|1886|06|09|df=yes}} | death_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = [[British Army]] (1905–18)<br/>[[Royal Air Force]] (1918–45) | service_years = 1905–45 | rank = [[Air Chief Marshal]] | unit = | commands = [[Inspector-General of the RAF]] (1940–45)<br/>[[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] (1937–40)<br/>[[RAF India]] (1935–37)<br/>[[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]] (1930–32)<br/>[[RAF Staff College, Andover|RAF Staff College]] (1926–30)<br/>3rd (Corps) Wing (1916–17)<br/>[[No. 3 Squadron RAF|No. 3 Squadron]] (1915–16)<br/>[[No. 15 Squadron RAF|No. 15 Squadron]] (1915) | battles = [[First World War]]<br/>[[Second World War]] | awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]<br/>[[Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Distinguished Service Order]]<br/>[[Military Cross]]<br/>[[Mentioned in Despatches]] (6)<br/>[[Legion of Honour|Knight of the Legion of Honour]] (France) | relations = | other_work = }} [[Air Chief Marshal]] '''Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt''' (9 June 1886 – 15 August 1973) was a senior [[Royal Air Force]] commander.
==Early life== He was the second son and the second of five children of the Rev. Thomas Arthur Ludlow-Hewitt (17 May 1850 - 16 June 1936) of Clancoole, County Cork and later vicar of Minety, Wiltshire and Edith Annie Hudson (9 March 1854 - 15 November 1944).<ref>{{cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31380|title=Hewitt, Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-|year=2004 }}</ref>
==First World War== Educated at [[Eastman's School]],<ref>Hammerton, Sir John ''ABC of the RAF'' London 1941 p.48</ref> [[Radley College]] and Sandhurst, Ludlow-Hewitt was commissioned into the [[Royal Irish Rifles]] in 1905, but transferred to the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC) before the [[First World War]], where he qualified on 11 September 1914 for the [[Royal Aero Club]]'s [[List of pilots awarded an Aviator's Certificate by the Royal Aero Club in 1914|Aviator's Certificate no. 886]].<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Ludlow-Hewitt.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt]</ref> During the war he served first as a pilot in [[No. 1 Squadron RAF|No. 1 Squadron]] [[Royal Flying Corps]] and then later as the Officer Commanding [[No. 15 Squadron RAF|No. 15 Squadron]] and [[No. 3 Squadron RAF|No. 3 Squadron]] on the Western Front.<ref name=air/> In 1916 Ludlow-Hewitt took up command of the 3rd (Corps) Wing as a temporary lieutenant colonel.<ref name=air/> Late in the following year, he was promoted to brigadier general and made the Inspector of Training at the headquarters of the RFC Training Division.<ref name=air/> Like other members of the RFC, he transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation on 1 April 1918.<ref name=air/> It was also on that date that he became [[General Officer Commanding]] (GOC) the Training Division.<ref name=air/> Less than two months later he was appointed GOC the 10th Brigade.<ref name=air/>
==Later career== He was appointed [[Air Secretary]] in 1922 and Commandant of the [[RAF Staff College, Andover|RAF Staff College]] in 1926.<ref name=air/> He went on to be Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]] in 1930, [[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]] and Director of Operations and Intelligence in 1933 and Air Officer Commanding the [[RAF India]] in 1935.<ref name=air/> In 1937 Ludlow-Hewitt was promoted to [[air chief marshal|Air Chief Marshal]] and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]].<ref name=air/> In the [[Second World War]], Ludlow-Hewitt was replaced by Portal in April 1940 because of Ludlow-Hewitt's insistence on the formation of Operational Training Units, at the expense of the availability of front line airmen.<ref name=Commanders>{{Cite web |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandcommandersofworldwariithecommandchief.cfm |title=RAF Commanders in WW-II |access-date=21 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218181752/http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/bombercommandcommandersofworldwariithecommandchief.cfm |archive-date=18 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He spent the remainder of the war as [[Inspector-General of the RAF]] and did not retire until November 1945, making him the RAF officer with the longest service as an [[List of Royal Air Force air chief marshals|Air Chief Marshal]] during the 20th century.<ref name=air/>
==References== {{commons category|position=left|Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt}} {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} |- {{s-new}} {{s-ttl|title=General Officer Commanding [[X Brigade RFC|X Brigade]]|years=1918}} {{s-vac|unknown}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Robert Brooke-Popham]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Commandant [[RAF Staff College, Andover]]|years=1926–1930}} {{s-aft|after=[[Philip Joubert de la Ferté]]}} |- {{succession box | title=Air Officer Commanding [[RAF Iraq Command|Iraq Command]] | before=Robert Brooke-Popham | after=[[Christopher Courtney]] | years=1930–1932}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Charles Burnett (RAF officer)|Charles Burnett]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (United Kingdom)|Deputy Chief of the Air Staff]]<br/>and Director of Operations and Intelligence|years=1 February 1933 – 26 January 1935}} {{s-aft|after=Christopher Courtney}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[John Miles Steel|Sir John Steel]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Air Officer Commanding]] [[RAF India]] |years=1935–1937}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferté}} |- {{succession box| title=Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]]| before=Sir John Steel| after=[[Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford|Sir Charles Portal]]|years=1937–1940}} |- {{s-bef|before=[[Leslie Gossage|Sir Leslie Gossage]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Inspector-General of the RAF]] |years=1940–1945}} {{s-aft|after=[[Arthur Barratt|Sir Arthur Barratt]]}} {{s-end}}
{{RAF generals}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludlow-Hewitt, Edgar}} [[Category:1886 births]] [[Category:1973 deaths]] [[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]] [[Category:British aviation pioneers]] [[Category:Royal Air Force air chief marshals]] [[Category:Royal Air Force generals of World War I]] [[Category:Royal Ulster Rifles officers]] [[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]] [[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]] [[Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour]] [[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Wiltshire]] [[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]] [[Category:People educated at Radley College]]