Robert Foster ( RAF officer ) Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Mordaunt Foster KCB , CBE , DFC , DL , RAF ( 3 September 1898 – 23 October 1973 ) was a Royal Flying Corps pilot in the First World War and a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and the immediate post - war years . Early life and First World War . Foster was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military College at Sandhurst . By June 1916 he was a 2nd Lieutenant trainee pilot in the RFC and once he had completed his course Foster was sent to France to join No . 54 Squadron flying the Sopwith Camel . While with 54 Squadron , Foster shot down at least one enemy machine . Later in the War Foster returned to Great Britain , carrying out home defence duties whilst serving with No . 44 Squadron . In April 1918 , Foster returned to France , this time as a flight commander with No . 209 Squadron where he claimed 3 shared enemy aircraft captured , 9 shared enemy aircraft destroyed , and 4 shared enemy aircraft ' out of control ' giving a total of 16 . Inter - war years . After the First World War , Foster remained in the RAF and in late 1919 he was posted to India where he joined No . 20 Squadron as a pilot . On one occasion during his nearly four years in India , after suffering an aircraft fire , Foster and his observer had to make a forced landing and they were subsequently captured and held for three weeks before being released . In May 1925 Foster attended the RAF Staff College and the following year he spent several months at the School of Oriental Studies in London . After this period of study , Foster spent the remainder of the 1920s carrying out intelligence duties at the headquarters of RAF Iraq Command . During the early 1930s , Foster once again served as a pilot , this time with No . 70 Squadron . After a promotion to squadron leader in late 1932 , Foster took up the post of Officer Commanding No . 15 Squadron the next year . In 1935 , Foster returned to Iraq , serving on the air staff at the British Forces headquarters where he received promotion to wing commander . His last tour before the outbreak of the Second World War was in the Deputy Directorate of Plans on the Air Staff . Second World War . Only days after war was declared , Foster was posted as the Senior Personnel Officer at the headquarters of No . 2 Group . Late 1939 saw Foster appointed Officer Commanding No . 110 Squadron and in 1940 he was the Station Commander of RAF Wyton . In January 1942 Foster took up command of No . 214 Group and in October that year he received an acting promotion to air commodore and was posted as Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) No . 213 Group . The following March , Foster was engaged in staff duties at Mediterranean Air Command before being appointed AOC RAF Malta and receiving acting promotion to air vice - marshal . Later in 1944 he served as Head of the Air Commission in Italy which effectively granted him command of the Italian Air Force . Foster did not spend long as Head of the Air Commission , being posted as AOC the Desert Air Force in North Africa . Following the defeat of the Germany , Foster served on the Allied Commission for Austria as the Chief of the Air Division . Only days later the post became AOC RAF Austria . Post - war years . In May 1946 Foster returned to Italy as the AOC at the air headquarters of RAF Italy . However , only two months later he was appointed AOC of No . 3 Group . From early 1947 to late 1949 Foster was Assistant Chief of the Air Staff ( Policy ) and he then held the post of Air Officer Commanding - in - Chief Reserve Command . In the summer of 1950 he was promoted to Air Marshal and then , following the renaming of his command , served as Air Officer Commander - in - Chief Home Command . In October 1951 , Foster became Commander - in - Chief of the RAF ' s Second Tactical Air Force in post - war Germany . He was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in January 1953 and he handed over command to Sir Harry Broadhurst in December that year . Foster retired from the RAF at his own request on 1 February 1954 . He became a Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk in 1968 , living in Great Glemham until his death on 23 October 1973 . References .