Background
John Frederick Willis was born in London and educated at Dulwich College and the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
John Frederick Willis was born in London and educated at Dulwich College and the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
Dulwich College; Royal Air Force College Cranwell.
Willis gained his Royal Air Force commission in 1958 and went on to fly Vulcan bombers. He went on to be Commanding Officer of Number 27 Squadron at Royal Air Force Scampton. He was appointed Deputy Director of Air Staff Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1979, Station Commander at Royal Air Force Akrotiri on Cyprus in 1982 and Director of Air Staff Briefing & Company-ordination at the Ministry of Defence in 1985.
Later that year he was made Chief of the Special Weapons Branch at Headquarters Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe. In 1989 he was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy & Nuclear).
He went on to be one of the Royal Air Force"s most senior commanders, becoming Director-General of Training in 1991, Air Officer Commanding-in Chief of Support Command in 1992 and the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence in 1995. He retired from the Royal Air Force in 1997.
He was also actively involved in his local Royal Air Forces Association.
In retirement he was a member of the Council of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and a patron of the Second World War Experience Centre.