Background
Joubert de la Ferté was born in Darjeeling, India to Colonel Charles Henry Joubert de la Ferté and Eliza Jane née Meville.
Joubert de la Ferté was born in Darjeeling, India to Colonel Charles Henry Joubert de la Ferté and Eliza Jane née Meville.
He was sent to England as a child where he attended Elstree School and later Harrow School. In 1913 he attended the Central Flying School and went on to serve in the Royal Flying Corps.
Joubert de la Ferté joined the British Army attending the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and gaining his commission in 1907. From 1907 to 1913 he served in the Royal Field Artillery, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he joined the British Expeditionary Force flying one of the first two operational sorties of the war.
In 1915 Joubert de la Ferté was appointed Officer Commanding, Number.
15 Squadron Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Later that year he took up command of Number. 1 Squadron. As the war progressed, Joubert de la Ferté commanded Number.
33 Squadron and then several different wings. On 1 April 1918 Joubert de la Ferté transferred to the Royal Air Force in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and by the end of hostilities in 1918 he had command of the Royal Air Force in Italy.
During the inter-war years, Joubert de la Ferté occupied several staff and command posts, rising through the ranks.
Notably, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding Number. 23 Group in 1929, Commandant of the Royal Air Force Staff College, Andover, in 1930 and Air Officer Commanding Number. 11 Group in July 1936 before becoming Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command in September 1936.
At the start of the Second World War, Joubert de la Ferté was Air Officer Commanding Air Forces in India.
On his return to Great Britain he occupied a number of senior staff appointments and returned to his former post as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Coastal Command. lieutenant was there that he pioneered several innovations.
These included Planned Flying and Maintenance and the introduction of a torpedo version of the Beaufighter. In February 1943 he became an Inspector-General of the Royal Air Force. Two years later on 14 November 1945, Joubert de la Ferté retired from the Royal Air Force.
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath - 9 June 1938 (Central Bank - 23 June 1936) Companion of the Order of Street Michael and Street George - 1 January 1919 Distinguished Service Order - 1 January 1917 Mention in Despatches -19 October 1914 (9 December 1914), 1 December 1916, 30 May 1918, 6 January 1919, 5 June 1919 Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, Cavliere (Italy) - 2 November 1918 Croce di Guerra (Italy) - 2 November 1918 Legion of Merit (Commander) (United States of America) - 25 April 1947 Order of Orange Nassau, Knight Grand Cross with Swords (Netherlands) - 18 November 1947.
