Robert Brooke-Popham was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a wing commander and senior staff officer. Remaining in the new Royal Air Force (RAF) after the war, Brooke-Popham was the first commandant of its Staff College at Andover and later held high command in the Middle E.
Background
Brooke-Popham was born in England in the Suffolk village of Mendlesham on 18 September 1878.[3] His parents were Henry Brooke, a country gentleman of Wetheringsett Manor in Suffolk, and his wife Dulcibella who was the daughter of Robert Moore, a clergyman.
Education
Brooke-Popham ("Brookham" to friends) graduated from Sandhurst in 1898, fought in the Boer War, and became one of the first British military aviators in 1911.
Career
He was certified as a pilot in 1911. The next year he joined the Air Bn of the Royal Engrs shortly before the battalion became the RFC.
In 1914 Brookham was a staff officer at Bed Hq in France with responsibility for logistical support of air squadrons. Seeing that the full potential of the infantry arm was not yet appreciated, he formed and directed an air wing in the battle of Neuve-Chapelle in 1915. For this he was appointed to the DSO. Having risen to be deputy adjutant and QMG, Bef, in Mar 16, with the brevet rank of brigadier, he saw the RFC through its earliest struggles. (DNB.) In Apr 18 Brooke-Popham was assigned to the new air ministry in London. Between the wars he was director of research in the Air Ministry from 1919 and was commandant of the Raf Staff College at Cranwell, 1921-26. Knighted (KCB) in 1927, and holding increasingly high posts. Sir Robert was the first Raf officer to head the Imperial Defense College (1931-33). He then served two years as CinC of Air Defense of Great Britain. In 1935 he was promoted to air chief marshal and made 1G. During the Abyssinian crisis, when the Italian air force was a threat to Egypt. Brooke-Popham was sent to Cairo as GOC Middle Eastern AF. Returning to London, and retiring, he went to Kenya as Governor and CinC (1937-39).
Brooke-Popham returned to active duty after Britain declared war on 3 Sep 1939 and visited Canada and South Africa to lay the foundations of the Commonwealth Air Training Scheme for aircrew (DNB). He then directed a program for developing Raf tactical doctrine. In Oct 1940 Air Chief Marshal Brooke-Popham became CinC Far East with headquarters at Singapore. His directive was “to consult and cooperate with the Navy in Far Eastern waters” and to maintain contact with CinC India (Auchinleck) and the governments of Australia and New Zealand. He also was responsible for operations in Burma. Although somewhat long in the tooth and inclined to nod off during conferences, the airman was lean, hard, and methodical. He fought vigorously for resources he considered necessary, but priority went to Wavell in the Middle East. Crippling command problems in the Far East were exacerbated by Duff Cooper, who reached Singapore with Cabinet status and developed a dislike for Brooke-Popham.
Like Percivai. and other local commanders, Brooke-Popham considered it essential to make a forward deployment in Siam (now Thailand). But authority was denied on political grounds (Siam was a neutral country) until it was too late. The Japanese, with no moral compunctions, began landing in Siam on 8 Dec 1941. A few days later, Wavf.ll established Abdacom Hq in Java, making previous command arrangements in the Far East even more irrevelant. Duff Cooper had intrigued for months to have Brooke-Popham recalled, but authorities in London procrastinated. On 27 Dec 1941 the veteran airman was replaced by Lt Gen Henry R. Pownall. Unjustly criticized for his performance, he went back on the retired list in May 1942 and thereafter held insignificant posts president of the NAAFI and IG of the Air Training Corps. He retired again in 1945 and died 20 Oct 1953 in Halton Hospital. The perceptive sketch in DNB is by Sir Peter Wykeham.