Career
Breadner obtained his pilot"s certificate at Wright Flying School and was commissioned in the British Royal Naval Air Service on December 28, 1915. During World War I he served on the Western Front as a fighter pilot in the Number. 3 (Naval) Squadron. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant (Royal Naval Air Service) on 31 December 1916.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on May 23, 1917.
The citation read:
Foreign conspicuous gallantry and skill in leading his patrol against hostile formations. He has himself brought down three hostile machines and forced several others to land.
On the 6th April, 1917, he drove down a hostile machine which was wrecked while attempting to land in a ploughed field On the morning of the 11th April, 1917, he destroyed a hostile machine which fell in flames, brought down another in a spinning nose dive with one wing folded up, and forced a third to land.
He was released from the Royal Air Force with the rank of major in March 1919.
He was commissioned promoted to Squadron Leader in 1920 and transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (Royal Canadian Air Force) on its formation in 1924. He became Controller of Civil Aviation in 1922, and later commanded Camp Borden from January 15, 1924 to September 23, 1925. He was promoted to Wing er on April 1, 1924.
After attending Royal Air Force Staff College, he was the Director of the Royal Canadian Air Force from February 15, 1928 to April 29, 1932.
From 1932 until 1935 he commanded Trenton and then attended the Imperial Defence College. He was promoted to Group Captain on February 1, 1936 and to Air Commodore on August 4, 1938.
He became Chief of Air Staff on May 29, 1940 and having been promoted to Air Marshal on November 19, 1941, became Air Officer ing-in-Chief Royal Canadian Air Force Overseas in January 1944. Breadner was promoted on his retirement on November 25, 1945 to Air Chief Marshal, the first Canadian to hold this rank.
They also had three daughters.
