Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall

Cyril Norton Newall, 1st Baron Newall, Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force, is remembered in the RAF chapel in Westminster Abbey. His name, with other wartime leaders, was painted in 1989 below the Battle of Britain memorial window.

He was born on 15th February 1886 in India, son of Captain William Newall of the Indian Army, and his wife Edith (Norton). Educated at Sandhurst military academy he served in India with his regiment. After learning to fly he joined the Royal Flying Corps and was a skilled administrator in France during the 1914-1918 war and commanded a training wing. In 1930 he became Air Vice Marshal and served in Cairo, leading RAF Middle East. In 1935 he was knighted and later became Chief of the Air Staff and Air Chief Marshal. He was replaced in 1940 by Lord Portal and served as Governor General of New Zealand from 1941-1946. He was created a Baron in 1946. He married May Weddell and secondly Olive Foster and had a son Francis and two daughters. He died on 30th November 1963.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004