Nickname(s) Chacks Name Bernard Chacksfield Allegiance United Kingdom Battles and wars World War II | Years of service 1927–1968 Service/branch Royal Air Force Battles/wars Second World War Rank Air vice-marshal | |
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Born 13 April 1913
Ilford, Essex ( 1913-04-13 ) Commands held RAF Regiment (1963–68)
No. 22 Group (1960–62)
RAF Waterbeach (1952–53)
No. 910 Wing (1944–45) Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Mentioned in Despatches (3)
Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Rosette (China) Died December 27, 1999, Bourne End, United Kingdom | ||
Air Vice Marshal Sir Bernard Albert Chacksfield, (13 April 1913 – 27 December 1999) was a senior Royal Air Force officer in the 1950s and 1960s and later a chief commissioner of The Scout Association and chairman of the Burma Star Association.
Chacksfield joined the Royal Air Force in 1927 as an apprentice aircraft engineer at RAF Halton and later at RAF Cranwell. He was selected for flying training and gaining a commission as a Pilot Officer in 1933. He served on the North West Frontier in 1933 as a Westland Wapiti pilot. By 1944 Chacksfield was in command of No. 910 Wing in Burma operating the Republic Thunderbolt fighter-bomber. By the end of the war he had been mentioned in despatches four times. From 1945 he became an air officer and served in the Air Ministry and later with NATO. He served in a number of senior positions until finally becoming Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment in 1963. Chacksfield retired in 1968 as an air vice marshal.
With a longtime interest in the Scout movement he was appointed in 1970 as chief commissioner for the Scout Association later being awarded the movements highest award, the Silver Wolf in 1975. Chacksfield was awarded the Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.
In retirement he became chairman on the Burma Star Association until his death from cancer in 1999.