Portal, Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount

Portal, Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount

▪ British air marshal
born May 21, 1893, Hungerford, Berkshire, England
died April 23, 1971, Chichester, Sussex

      British air marshal and chief of the British Air Staff during World War II.

      Portal was educated at Winchester and Christ Church College, Oxford, and joined the Royal Engineers as a dispatch rider during World War I; in 1915 he was commissioned in the Royal Flying Corps. He distinguished himself as a fighter pilot by shooting down several enemy aircraft, and for this he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar and the Military Cross. Between the wars his posts in the Royal Air Force (Royal Air Force, The) (RAF) included those of commander of the British forces at Aden (now in Yemen), instructor at the Imperial Defence College, and director of organization and air member for personnel at the Air Ministry.

      For a short time in 1940 he held the appointment of air officer commander in chief at Bomber Command. Soon after, he became chief of the air staff, the highest post in the RAF, which he held with great distinction until 1945. In addition to his duties at the Air Ministry, directing the policy and operations of the RAF, he took a prominent part in all the important Allied conferences as a member of the Anglo-American Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee. He was created a baron in 1945, and in 1946 he became 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford. From 1946 to 1951 Lord Portal was responsible for administering the atomic research facilities at Harwell.

Additional Reading
Denis Richards, Portal of Hungerford (1977), is a biography.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford — The Viscount Portal of Hungerford Portrait photograph of Portal taken at the Air Ministry in London. Nickname …   Wikipedia

  • Charles Portal, 1. Viscount Portal of Hungerford — Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1. Viscount Portal of Hungerford KG, GCB, OM, DSO, MC (* 21. Mai 1893 in Hungerford; † 22. April 1971) war währe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Portal — biographical name Charles Frederick Algernon 1893 1971 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford British air marshal …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Charles II of England — Charles II Charles II in the robes of the Order of the Garter, c. 1675, as painted by Sir Peter Lely. King of Scotland …   Wikipedia

  • Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey — The Right Honourable The Earl Grey KG PC Prime Minister of the United Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Baron Portal of Hungerford — Baron Portal of Hungerford, of Hungerford in the County of Berkshire, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1945 for Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Portal upon his retirement as Chief of the Air Staff, with… …   Wikipedia

  • Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond — His Grace The Duke of Richmond KG, PC Pres …   Wikipedia

  • Klemens von Metternich — Metternich redirects here. For other uses, see Metternich (disambiguation). Klemens Wenzel von Metternich Portrait of Prince Metternich (c. 1825) by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Prince of Metternich …   Wikipedia

  • Albert Einstein — Einstein redirects here. For other uses, see Einstein (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”