# John Miles Steel

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Royal Air Force Air Chief Marshal (1877–1965)

Air Chief Marshal Sir John Miles Steel GCB KBE CMG John Steel in September 1928. Born (1877-09-11)11 September 1877 Died 2 December 1965(1965-12-02) (aged 88) Allegiance United Kingdom Branch Royal Navy (c. 1897–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–45) Service years 1897–1937 1939–45 Rank Air Chief Marshal Commands Reserve Command (1939–40) Bomber Command (1936–37) Air Defence of Great Britain (1935–36) RAF India (1931–35) Wessex Bombing Area (1926–30) No. 8 Group (1918) No. 58 Wing (1918) RNAS Eastchurch (1917–18) Conflicts Second Boer War First World War Second World War Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Mentioned in Despatches (2) Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd Class with Swords (Russia)

[Air Chief Marshal](/source/Air_Chief_Marshal) **Sir John Miles Steel**, [GCB](/source/Knight_Grand_Cross_of_the_Order_of_the_Bath), [KBE](/source/Knight_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire), [CMG](/source/Companion_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George) (11 September 1877 – 2 December 1965) was a senior [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) commander.

## Military career

Steel attended the [training ship *Britannia*](/source/Britannia_Royal_Naval_College) from 1892 to 1894.[1] and subsequently served in the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy).[2] He was promoted to [sub-lieutenant](/source/Sub-lieutenant) in 1897 and served in the [Second Boer War](/source/Second_Boer_War) as a member of the [Naval Brigade](/source/Naval_Brigade).[2] He was promoted to [lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant_(Royal_Navy)) in 1900, and was posted temporary in July 1902 to [HMS *St George*](/source/HMS_St_George_(1892)), serving in the [Channel Squadron](/source/Channel_Squadron).[3] A permanent posting followed in September that year, when he was posted to [HMS *Royal Sovereign*](/source/HMS_Royal_Sovereign_(1891)),[4] coast guard ship at [Portsmouth](/source/Portsmouth). Promotion to [commander](/source/Commander_(Royal_Navy)) followed in 1912, and to [captain](/source/Captain_(Royal_Navy)) in 1916.[2]

In 1917 Steel was transferred from fleet duties to the [Royal Naval Air Service](/source/Royal_Naval_Air_Service) and was appointed Officer Commanding [RNAS Eastchurch](/source/RNAS_Eastchurch).[2] In early 1918 Steel was appointed Officer Commanding No. 58 Wing which was based at Eastchurch[2] and in March, at the age of 40, Steel learned to fly.[2] Meanwhile, he became General Officer Commanding [No. 8 Group](/source/No._8_Group_RAF).[2] On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the [Royal Flying Corps](/source/Royal_Flying_Corps) to form the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force).[2] Steel, like other RNAS personnel transferred to the RAF and was promoted to the temporary rank of [brigadier general](/source/Brigadier_general).[2] Promoted to [group captain](/source/Group_captain) and then [air commodore](/source/Air_commodore) in 1919 he was appointed [Deputy Chief of the Air Staff](/source/Deputy_Chief_of_the_Air_Staff_(United_Kingdom)) and Director of Operations and Intelligence and, following his promotion to [air vice marshal](/source/Air_vice_marshal) in 1925, he was made Air Officer Commanding the Wessex Bombing Area and then Air Officer Commanding [RAF India](/source/RAF_India).[2] He was promoted to [air marshal](/source/Air_marshal) in 1932 and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, [Air Defence of Great Britain](/source/Air_Defence_of_Great_Britain) in August 1935.[2] When [Bomber Command](/source/RAF_Bomber_Command) was created from the Air Defence of Great Britain command in July 1936, Steel became its first Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the rank of [air chief marshal](/source/Air_chief_marshal).[2]

## Second World War

In August 1939 Steel came back from retirement to serve as [Air Officer Commanding](/source/Air_Officer_Commanding) [Reserve Command](/source/RAF_Home_Command).[2] In April 1940 he was succeeded as AOC by [William Welsh](/source/William_Welsh_(RAF_officer)) and Steel returned to retirement.[2] The following year in April once again returned to active service, this time as the Controller-General of Economy at the [Air Ministry](/source/Air_Ministry).[2] He retired for the last time on 26 September 1945.[2]

## Family life

In 1909, Steel married Laura Kathleen Sinclair-Thomson. The marriage took place on 29 July 1909 at St Andrew's, Wells Street, London.[5] According to *Who’s Who*, Laura Kathleen was a daughter of Dr William Sinclair-Thomson and Jessie Methven, daughter of [George Addison Cox](/source/George_Addison_Cox). The couple had three sons and one daughter.[6] Their daughter, Helen Marjorie Steel, married Niale Shane Trevor Benson in 1939.[7]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["King's Collections : Archive Catalogues : Military Archives"](https://kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma). *kingscollections.org*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-air_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-air_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-air_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-air_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-air_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-air_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-air_2-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-air_2-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-air_2-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-air_2-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-air_2-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-air_2-11) [***m***](#cite_ref-air_2-12) [***n***](#cite_ref-air_2-13) [***o***](#cite_ref-air_2-14) [***p***](#cite_ref-air_2-15) ["J M Steel_P"](http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Steel.htm). *www.rafweb.org*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "Naval & Military intelligence". *The Times*. No. 36808. London. 1 July 1902. p. 7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "Naval & Military intelligence". *The Times*. No. 36863. London. 3 September 1902. p. 4.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Steel, J. P., *A memoir of Lt.-col. Edward Anthony Steel, 1800–1919*, p.55.](https://archive.org/details/memoirofltcoledw00steeiala/page/54/mode/2up?q=%22John+Miles+Steel%22)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [*Who’s Who*, 1964, p.2892.](https://archive.org/details/whoswho19640000blac/page/2892/mode/2up?q=%22Sinclair-Thomson%22)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [*Who’s Who*, 1951, p.221.](https://archive.org/details/whoswho1951annua00lond/page/220/mode/2up?q=%22Sir+John+Miles+Steel%22)

External image Sir John Miles Steel by Walter Stoneman

Military offices Preceded by Robert Groves Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence 8 September 1919 – 12 April 1926 Succeeded by Cyril Newall Preceded by Geoffrey Salmond Air Officer Commanding RAF India 1931–1935 Succeeded by Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Preceded by Sir Robert Brooke-Popham Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Air Defence of Great Britain 1935–1936 Succeeded by None Preceded by New Creation Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command 1936–1937 Succeeded by Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Preceded by Sir Christopher Courtney Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Reserve Command 1939–1940 Succeeded by Sir William Welsh

v t e Royal Air Force generals RAF generals between 1 April 1918 and 31 July 1919 Lieutenant-Generals David Henderson John de Mestre Hutchison Major-Generals Edward Ashmore Sefton Brancker George Cayley Edward Ellington Philip Game Frederick Gordon Frederick Heath-Caldwell John Higgins Mark Kerr Charles Lambe Charles Longcroft Godfrey Paine Geoffrey Salmond John Salmond Frederick Sykes Hugh Trenchard Tom Webb-Bowen Brigadier-Generals William Alexander John Becke Amyas Borton Harold Briggs Robert Brooke-Popham Charles Burnett Walter Caddell Lionel Charlton Christopher Courtney Alfred Critchley Hugh Dowding Francis Leycester Festing Eugene Gerrard Percy Groves Robert Marsland Groves John Hearson Thomas Higgins Cuthbert Hoare Felton Holt Guy Livingston Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt Norman MacEwen Edward Maitland Edward Masterman Cyril Newall Duncan Pitcher Francis Scarlett John Miles Steel Oliver Swann Harry Viener Vyell Vyvyan James George Weir Kenneth Wigram

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [John Miles Steel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Miles_Steel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Miles_Steel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.