# Walter Merton

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[Air Chief Marshal](/source/Air_Chief_Marshal) **Sir Walter Hugh Merton**, (29 August 1905 – 23 March 1986) was a senior [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force) (RAF) commander during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). After the war he held several senior RAF appointments before his retirement in 1963.

## RAF career

Born in Canada,[1] Merton joined the Royal Air Force as a cadet in 1924.[2] He was appointed Officer Commanding [No. 38 Squadron](/source/No._38_Squadron_RAF) in 1937.[2] He served in the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) as Officer Commanding [No. 218 Squadron](/source/No._218_Squadron_RAF) and then as Officer Commanding [No. 37 Squadron](/source/No._37_Squadron_RAF).[2] He continued his war service as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters 257 Wing and then in the Middle East.[2] He was made Station Commander at [RAF Luqa](/source/RAF_Luqa) in 1943 and Assistant Commandant at the RAF War Staff College in April 1944 before becoming Director of Organisation at the [Air Ministry](/source/Air_Ministry) in August 1944.[2]

After the war he became Station Commander at [RAF Mildenhall](/source/RAF_Mildenhall) and then at [RAF Upwood](/source/RAF_Upwood) before becoming Air [Attaché](/source/Attach%C3%A9) in [Prague](/source/Prague) in 1947.[2] He was appointed Deputy Director for Air Force Liaison in 1948, Head of the RAF Delegation in [Greece](/source/Greece) in 1949 and Air Officer Commanding [No. 63 Group](/source/No._63_Group_RAF) in 1951.[2] He went on to be Air Officer Commanding [No. 22 Group](/source/No._22_Group_RAF) in 1952, Chief of Staff to the [Royal New Zealand Air Force](/source/Royal_New_Zealand_Air_Force) in 1954 and Air Officer for Administration at Headquarters [RAF Bomber Command](/source/RAF_Bomber_Command) in 1956.[2] After that he was made Chief of Staff at Headquarters [Allied Air Forces Central Europe](/source/Allied_Air_Forces_Central_Europe) in 1959 and [Air Member for Supply and Organisation](/source/Air_Member_for_Supply_and_Organisation) in 1960[1] before retiring in 1963.[2]

In retirement he became [Inspector-General of Civil Defence](/source/Civil_Defence_Department).[2]

## References

1. [Service Aviation](http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%202876.html) Flight International, 6 November 1959

1. [Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Chief Marshal Sir Walter Merton](http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Merton.htm)

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