Peirse, Richard Edmund Charles

Date of birth:: September 30th, 1892 (Croydon/London, United Kingdom)
Date of death:: August 5th, 1970 (Aylesbury district/Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom)
Nationality:: British

Biography

Career:
?: Monkton Combe School;
?: King's College London;
1912: Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve;
November 1st, 1912: Officer, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve;
October 1st, 1913: Grain Island NAS;
May 6th, 1914: Assistant Instructor, Central Flying School;
May 7th, 1915: Flight Commander, No 4 Squadron/Wing RNAS;
1915: Flight Commander, No 2 Wing RNAS;
1915: Flight Commander, No 5 Squadron RNAS (Dover);
1916: Flight Commander, No 4 Wing, Eastchurch;
June 30th, 1916: Squadron Commander, RNAS;
1917: Squadron Commander, RNAS Cranwell;
December 31st, 1917: Officer Commanding, Wing (Dover);
April 1st, 1918: Commanding Officer No. 222 Squadron, Royal Air Force;
June 5th, 1919: Officer Commanding, Aircraft in Fighting Ships, No 29 Group;
1920: Staff Officer, Headquarters No. 29 Group;
April 1st, 1922: RAF Staff College, Andover;
April 4th, 1923: Station Commander RAF Gosport;
September 15th, 1925: Air Staff, Deputy Directorate of Staff Duties;
January 8th, 1927: Imperial Defence College;
February 3rd, 1928: Air Staff, Headquarters RAF Middle East;
September 25th, 1929: Station Commander RAF Heliopolis;
July 8th, 1930 - December 31st, 1930: Half Pay List, Scale B;
November 17th, 1930: Supernumerary, Headquarters Coastal Area;
December 18th, 1930: Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence, Air Ministry;
August 11th, 1932: Supernumerary, RAF Depot;
1933: Air Officer Commanding Palestine Transjordan Command;
January 25th, 1937: Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence;
October 30th, 1939: Member Air Council;
April 22nd, 1940 - October 4th, 1940: Vice-Chief of the Air Staff;
October 5th, 1940 - January 1942: Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command;
March 6th, 1942: Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF India;
November 16th, 1943 - November 27th, 1944: Allied Air Commander in Chief, South-East Asia;
May 1945: Retirement.

Promotions:
1912: Midshipsman;
November 1st, 1912: Sub-Lieutenant;
July 1st, 1914: Flight Lieutenant;
May 7th, 1915: Flight Commander;
June 30th, 1916: Squadron Commander;
December 31st, 1917: Acting Wing Commander;
April 1st, 1918: temporary Lieutenant Colonel;
August 1st, 1919: Squadron Leader;
January 1st, 1922: Wing Commander;
July 1st, 1929: Group Captain;
July 1st, 1933: Air Commodore;
January 1st, 1936: Air Vice-Marshal;
October 30th, 1939: acting Air Marshal;
July 1st, 1940: temporary Air Marshal;
April 14th, 1942: Air Marshal;
July 1st, 1942: temporary Air Chief Marshal;
May 1945: Air Chief Marshal.

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Mentioned in Dispatches

Period:: First World War (1914-1918)
Rank:: Flight Lieutenant
Awarded on:: February 17th, 1915

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

Period:: First World War (1914-1918)
Rank:: Flight Lieutenant
Unit:: No 4. Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service
Awarded on:: April 10th, 1915

"These Officers have repeatedly attacked the German submarine station at Ostend and Zeebrugge, being subjected on each occasion to heavy and accurate fire, their machines being frequently hit In particular, on 23rd January, they each discharged eight bombs in an attack upon submarines alongside the mole at Zeebrugge, flying down to close range At the outset of this flight Lieutenant Davies was severely wounded by a bullet in the thigh, but nevertheless he accomplished his task, handling his machine for an hour with great skill in spite of pain and loss of blood"