Hugh Caswall Tremenheere Dowding

	HUGH CASWALL TREMENHEERE DOWDING Air Chief Marshal, Royal Air Force. Baron of Bently Priory Victor in the Battle of Britain
	Born 24 April 1882 in Scotland, trained at the Royal Military College. Began his aviation career by paying for flight instruction to earn his Royal Flying Corps pilot's rating. Served with distinction during World War I in France and advanced to grade of Brigadier at war's end responsible for all flight training in England. Transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force in 1918 and served in various staff and command appointments prior to nomination to the Air Council in 1930. In this key billet he made many of the vital decisions which prepared Britain for the approaching air war. In 1936, commanding Fighter Command, he welded the sword and shield of radars, command and control facilities and the Hurricane and Spitfire fighters into the superb weapons system which stood ready in 1939. In the epic Battle of Britain in 1940, Lord Dowding orchestrated the commitment of his limited resources earning Churchill's eloquence: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few". Died 1970.
	Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 1985