Edward Leonard Ellington Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward Leonard Ellington , GCB , CMG , CBE ( 30 December 1877 – 13 June 1967 ) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force . He served in World War I as a staff officer and then as Director - General of Military Aeronautics and subsequently as Controller - General of Equipment . In the inter - war years he held command positions in the Middle East , in India and then in Iraq . He served as Chief of the Air Staff in the mid - 1930s and in that role he implemented a plan , known as ' Scheme F ' , to increase the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons ( five bomber squadrons for every two fighter squadrons reflecting the dominance of the bomber strategy at the time ) within three years to counter the threat from Hitler ' s Germany . He also broke up the command known as " Air Defence of Great Britain " to create RAF Fighter Command , RAF Bomber Command , RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command . He then served as Inspector - General of the RAF until his retirement in 1940 . Early career . Born the son of Edward Bayzand Ellington and Marion Florence ( née Leonard ) , Ellington was educated at Clifton College . After attending the Royal Military Academy Woolwich , Ellington was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery on 1 September 1897 . He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1900 and to captain on 27 April 1904 . After attending the Royal Naval War College , Portsmouth in 1908 , he was posted to the War Office on 24 August 1909 and became a staff officer there on 9 August 1910 . He learned to fly in 1912 and was awarded Royal Aero Club certificate No . 305 on 1 October 1912 . He went on to be Secretary to the Air Committee in November 1912 and a staff officer in the Directorate of Military Aeronautics in May 1913 and was then transferred to the Reserve of the Royal Flying Corps on 17 December 1913 . World War I . When the First World War started , Ellington was under training at the Central Flying School . On 5 October 1914 , he was sent , not to a flying post but to be the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster - General at the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in France . On 6 March 1915 he was granted a brevet promotion to lieutenant - colonel and posted as the Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster - General of the 2nd Cavalry Division . Ellington then served as a staff officer , from 22 July 1915 with the 2nd Army , then , from 5 February 1916 with the Department of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff , and finally from 14 January 1917 with the General Staff of the VIII Corps . On 20 November 1917 he was made the Deputy Director - General of Military Aeronautics under John Salmond at the War Office . Ellington succeeded John Salmond as Director - General on 18 January 1918 . Ellington was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George on 3 June 1916 and awarded the Russian Order of Saint Stanislaus , 2nd Class on 1 June 1917 . He was promoted to the temporary rank of major - general and appointed Acting Controller - General of Equipment in April 1918 , becoming substantive in that post in August 1918 , before being appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath for services during the War on 1 January 1919 . Inter - war years . Ellington ' s role was re - designated as Director - General of Supply and Research in April 1919 and , having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 3 June 1919 , he was awarded a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force as a major - general in August 1919 ( shortly afterwards redesignated as an air vice marshal ) . Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1920 Birthday Honours he became Air Officer Commanding RAF Middle East in March 1922 . He went on to be Air Officer Commanding RAF India in November 1923 and put down a rebellion by Mahsud s on the North West Frontier in what became known as Pink ' s War . He became Air Officer Commanding RAF Iraq in November 1926 , in which role he undertook peace keeping operations following a revolt led by Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji in 1927 , and then became Air Officer Commanding - in - Chief Air Defence of Great Britain in February 1929 with promotion to air marshal on 1 July 1929 . He was appointed Principal Air Aide - de - Camp to the King on 27 February 1930 and became Air Member for Personnel on 26 September 1931 , receiving promotion to air chief marshal on 1 January 1933 . Ellington was appointed Chief of the Air Staff on 22 May 1933 . He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir John Salmond , who was acting in the role following the sudden death of his brother Air Chief Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond , who had only become Chief of the Air Staff in April . In that role he implemented a plan , known as ' Scheme F ' , to increase the size of the Royal Air Force to 187 squadrons ( five bomber squadrons for every two fighter squadrons reflecting the dominance of the bomber strategy at the time ) within three years to counter the threat from Hitler ' s Germany . He also broke up the command known as " Air Defence of Great Britain " to create RAF Fighter Command , RAF Bomber Command , RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command . He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1935 Birthday Honours . He attended the funeral of King George V in January 1936 and , having been promoted to marshal of the Royal Air Force on 1 January 1937 , he attended the coronation on King George VI in May 1937 . Following completion of his term as Chief of the Air Staff , Ellington became Inspector - General of the RAF on 1 September 1937 . It was in his capacity as Inspector - General that in 1938 Ellington visited Australia to investigate standards in the Royal Australian Air Force . His report strongly criticised the RAAF ' s operational capability and safety standards . Following the publication of the report in July 1938 , the Australian Government dismissed Air Vice Marshal Richard Williams from his post as RAAF Chief of the Air Staff . In July 1939 Ellington was augmented in his post as Inspector - General by Air Marshal Sir Charles Burnett , who would become the RAAF ' s Chief of the Air Staff in 1940 . Ellington retired on 4 April 1940 , shortly after the start of World War II . He attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953 and died on 13 June 1967 from coronary thrombosis at Scio House Hospital in London .