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Patrick Playfair

Sir Patrick Playfair
Air Vice Marshal Patrick Playfair, commander of the Advanced Air Striking Force
Nickname(s)Pip
Born(1889-11-22)22 November 1889
Died23 November 1974(1974-11-23) (aged 85)
Newmarket, Suffolk, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchBritish Army (1910–18)
Royal Air Force (1918–42)
Years of service1910–1942
RankAir Marshal
CommandsAir Forces in India (1940–42)
Advanced Air Striking Force (1939–40)
No. 1 Group RAF (1938–39)
No. 3 Group RAF (1936–38)
Western Area (1933–36)
No. 23 Group RAF (1932–33)
RAF Transjordan and Palestine (1928–29)
RAF Leuchars (1922–25)
No. 1 Flying Training School RAF (1919–22)
Central Flying School (1919)
No. 13 Wing RFC (1916–18)
No. 8 Squadron RFC (1916)
Battles / warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Military Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd Class with Swords (Russia)
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)

Air Marshal Sir Patrick Henry Lyon Playfair, KBE, CB, CVO, MC (22 November 1889 – 23 November 1974) was a commander in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force until his retirement during the Second World War.

Lieutenant Playfair (back row, 3rd from left) with other officers of the RFC in 1913

In 1945 Playfair published Warfare Today: How Modern Battles Are Planned and Fought on Land, at Sea, and in the Air,[1] co-written by Major General J. F. C. Fuller and Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon.


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