Allegiance United Kingdom Name John Steel Rank Air chief marshal | Years of service 1897–1945 Died December 2, 1965 | |
Commands held RNAS EastchurchNo. 58 WingNo. 8 GroupWessex Bombing AreaRAF IndiaAir Defence of Great BritainRAF Bomber CommandRAF Reserve Command Battles/wars Second Boer WarWorld War IWorld War II Awards Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the BathKnight Commander of the Order of the British EmpireCompanion of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeMentioned in Despatches (2) Education Britannia Royal Naval College Battles and wars Second Boer War, World War I, World War II | ||
Air Chief Marshal Sir John Miles Steel GCB, KBE, CMG (11 September 1877 – 2 December 1965) was a senior Royal Air Force commander.
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Military career
Steel attended Britannia Naval College in 1892 and subsequently served in the Royal Navy. He was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1897 and served in the Second Boer War as a member of the Naval Brigade. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1900, Commander in 1912 and Captain in 1916. In 1917 Steel was transferred from fleet duties to the Royal Naval Air Service and was appointed Officer Commanding RNAS Eastchurch. In early 1918 Steel was appointed Officer Commanding No. 58 Wing which was based at Eastchurch and in March, at the age of 40, Steel learned to fly. Meanwhile he became General Officer Commanding No. 8 Group. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force. Steel, like other RNAS personnel transferred to the RAF and was promoted to the temporary rank of Brigadier-General. Promoted to Group Captain and then Air Commodore in 1919 he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Director of Operations and Intelligence and, following his promotion to Air Vice-Marshal in 1925, he was made Air Officer Commanding the Wessex Bombing Area and then Air Officer Commanding RAF India. He was promoted to Air Marshal in 1932 and appointed Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Air Defence of Great Britain in August 1935. When Bomber Command was created from the Air Defence of Great Britain command in July 1936, Steel became its first Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the rank of Air Chief Marshal.
World War II
In August 1939 Steel came back from retirement to serve as Air Officer Commanding Reserve Command. In April 1940 he was succeeded as AOC by William Welsh and Steel returned to retirement. The following year in April once again returned to active service, this time as the Controller-General of Economy at the Air Ministry. He retired for the last time on 26 September 1945.