Charles Laverock Lambe

Sir Charles Laverock Lambe
Sir Charles Laverock Lambe
	Air Vice Marshal Lambe
Born	10 May 1875
Died	25 April 1953 (aged 77)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy (1891–1918); Royal Air Force (1918–31)
Years of service	1891–1931
Rank	Air Vice Marshal
Commands held	Coastal Area (1928–31); RAF Halton (1924–28); No. 1 School of Technical Training (1924–28); (1919); No. 5 Group (1918–19); VII Brigade RAF (1918); (1916–18); No. 5 Squadron RNAS (1915); HMS Hermes (1914–15)
Battles/wars	Benin Expedition of 1897; First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath; Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George; Distinguished Service Order; Mentioned in Despatches; Officer of the Legion of Honour (France); Croix de guerre (France); Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium); Knight of the Order of the Crown (Belgium); Croix de guerre (Belgium); Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States)

Air Vice Marshal Sir Charles Laverock Lambe, KCB, CMG, DSO (10 May 1875 – 25 April 1953) was a distinguished officer in the Royal Navy and a foundational commander in the Royal Air Force (RAF) on its creation in 1918. Lambe was one of the most senior officers with naval experience to serve in the 1920s RAF.

Biography[]

Joining the Royal Navy in or before 1891, Lambe attended the Britannia Naval College. In 1897 he was promoted to lieutenant and served aboard , taking part in Rear Admiral Rawson's punitive expedition to Benin. Lambe later served at the Naval Ordnance Department. He gained a promotion to commander in 1908 and was appointed assistant director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes in 1913.

In August 1914, Lambe was appointed as captain of the seaplane carrier HMS Hermes, which sank after being torpedoed in October of the same year. At the start of August 1916, having just been promoted to wing captain, Lambe took up appointment as the officer commanding the Royal Naval Air Service's Dover Command which included RNAS units at Dunkirk. During his time at the Dover Command, Lambe's aircraft carried out bombing raids on the German submarine harbours at Bruges.^[2] On 1 April 1918, Lambe was appointed General Officer Commanding the VII Brigade of the RAF. On 23 April, Lambe's VII Brigade carried out air attacks as part of the blocking of Zeebrugge and Ostend.^[3] On 9 May, Lambe was once again the air commander in a naval action, this time for the Second Ostend Raid.^[4]

In 1919 Lambe was selected by Sir Hugh Trenchard to sit on the Air Council and in 1924 he was appointed commandant of the RAF's No. 1 School of Technical Training. In 1928 Lambe was appointed Air Officer Commanding Coastal Area (the forerunner of Coastal Command) from where he retired in the rank of air vice marshal in 1931. Lambe died on 25 April 1953.

References[]

^ "No. 31691". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 1919. p. 15614.
^ Jellicoe, John, Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl Jellicoe (1920). The crisis of the naval war. pp. 72, 73.
^ "AIRCRAFT in the ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND BATTLES". Flight. The Royal Aero Club of the U.K. 27 February 1919. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
^ "No. 30870". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 August 1918. p. 10088.

External links[]

Military offices
Preceded by Unknown	Officer Commanding 1916–1918	Command disbanded Responsibilities transferred to VII Brigade
Vacant Title last held by Tom Webb-Bowen On 26 March 1918 (Italian operations)	General Officer Commanding (Dover and Dunkirk operations) April – May 1918	Brigade disbanded Responsibilities transferred to No. 5 (Operations) Group
Preceded by Frederick Halahan As Officer Commanding	General Officer Commanding No. 5 (Operations) Group 1918–1919	Vacant Title next held by In 1937 As Air Officer Commanding
Preceded by John Higgins	General Officer Commanding January – February 1919	Succeeded by
Preceded by Unknown or none	Director of Equipment 1919–1922	Succeeded by Duncan Pitcher
Preceded by Francis Scarlett	Commandant, No. 1 School of Technical Training 1924–1928	Succeeded by Ian Bonham-Carter
Preceded by Francis Scarlett	Air Officer Commanding Coastal Area 1928–1931	Succeeded by Robert Clark-Hall

[1] "No. 31691". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 December 1919. p. 15614.

[2] Jellicoe, John, Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl Jellicoe (1920). The crisis of the naval war. pp. 72, 73.

[3] "AIRCRAFT in the ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND BATTLES". Flight. The Royal Aero Club of the U.K. 27 February 1919. Retrieved 4 July 2011.

[4] "No. 30870". The London Gazette (Supplement). 27 August 1918. p. 10088.

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v t Royal Air Force generals
RAF generals between 1 April 1918 and 31 July 1919
Brigadier-Generals	Charles Burnett Percy Robert Clifford Groves Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt John Miles Steel
Major-Generals	Edward Ashmore Sefton Brancker George Cayley Edward Ellington Philip Game Frederick Gordon Frederick Heath-Caldwell John Higgins Mark Kerr Charles Lambe Charles Longcroft Godfrey Paine Geoffrey Salmond John Salmond Frederick Sykes Hugh Trenchard Tom Webb-Bowen
Lieutenant-Generals	David Henderson John de Mestre Hutchison

Sir Charles Laverock Lambe
Air Vice Marshal Lambe
Born	(1875-05-10)10 May 1875
Died	25 April 1953(1953-04-25) (aged 77)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy (1891–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–31)
Years of service	1891–1931
Rank	Air Vice Marshal
Commands held	Coastal Area (1928–31) RAF Halton (1924–28) No. 1 School of Technical Training (1924–28) (1919) No. 5 Group (1918–19) VII Brigade RAF (1918) (1916–18) No. 5 Squadron RNAS (1915) HMS Hermes (1914–15)
Battles/wars	Benin Expedition of 1897 First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Mentioned in Despatches Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) Croix de guerre (France) Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) Knight of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Croix de guerre (Belgium) Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States)^[1]