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| Arthur Barratt | |
|---|---|
| Name | Arthur Barratt |
| Birth date | 22 February 1891 |
| Death date | 25 March 1966 |
| Birth place | Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Flying Corps / Royal Air Force |
| Serviceyears | 1914–1946 |
| Rank | Air Vice-Marshal |
| Battles | First World War, Second World War, Battle of Britain, North African Campaign |
Arthur Barratt was a senior officer of the Royal Air Force whose career spanned the First World War and the Second World War. He served in frontline commands and high-level staff appointments, participating in key campaigns and working alongside figures from Hugh Trenchard to Arthur Tedder. Barratt's service encompassed operational command, training, and strategic planning during periods that included the Battle of Britain and the North African Campaign.
Arthur Barratt was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He received his early education in Yorkshire before attending institutions that prepared him for service in imperial-era armed forces, aligning him with contemporaries who later served under leaders such as Douglas Haig and John Jellicoe. His formative years overlapped with wider national debates involving figures like David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill about defence and imperial policy. Barratt's entry into military service followed patterns established by peers who joined the Territorial Force and the Officer Training Corps prior to the outbreak of the First World War.
Barratt's military career began with commissioning into units that mobilised in 1914 alongside formations like the British Expeditionary Force and the Indian Army contingents. He transferred into aviation branches as the Royal Flying Corps expanded, working with commanders influenced by doctrines promoted by Hugh Trenchard and collaborating with staff linked to the Air Ministry and wartime ministries under Herbert Kitchener. Through staff colleges and professional courses comparable to those attended by officers such as Alan Brooke and Charles Portal, Barratt acquired the operational and strategic expertise that shaped later appointments.
During the First World War, Barratt saw service in aerial operations that supported armies engaged on the Western Front and in other theatres where the Royal Flying Corps operated alongside units from the Royal Navy and the British Army. He served in squadrons comparable to those commanded by officers like Albert Ball and coordinated missions related to battles such as the Battle of the Somme and the Third Battle of Ypres. His wartime experience brought him into contact with contemporary airmen and staff including Hugh Trenchard and staff officers who later influenced interwar RAF policy, and he participated in reconnaissance, artillery observation, and early combined-arms air operations alongside formations influenced by the Imperial War Cabinet.
In the interwar years Barratt held a range of staff and command posts within the Royal Air Force and institutions linked to the Air Ministry under ministers such as Lord Trenchard and Samuel Hoare. He served at stations and training establishments that produced cadres alongside officers like Arthur Harris and Keith Park, and he contributed to doctrine development during debates involving the Ten-Year Rule and expansion plans that responded to the rise of airpower theorists such as Giulio Douhet and contemporaries in the United States Army Air Corps. His appointments included staff college positions akin to those occupied by future senior commanders including Charles Portal and exchanges with colonial air units associated with Egypt and the Iraq Levies.
At the outbreak of the Second World War Barratt held senior RAF appointments that saw him involved in coordinating air operations across European and Mediterranean theatres, working with commanders such as Arthur Tedder and linking with Allied staff including representatives from the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Navy. He was engaged in planning and directing operations during the Battle of Britain period and subsequent campaigns, contributing to combined operations in the North African Campaign and cooperating with ground commanders from formations such as the Eighth Army. His wartime roles bridged operational command, staff liaison with the Imperial War Cabinet and strategic planning with chiefs like Charles Portal and political leaders including Winston Churchill.
Across his career Barratt received honours and mentions reflecting service in both world wars and interwar contributions, similar to decorations awarded to contemporaries such as Hugh Trenchard and Arthur Tedder. His recognitions were in line with those bestowed by the Crown and by allied governments upon senior officers who directed complex air operations and staff coordination. He held ranks and formal appointments within the RAF hierarchy comparable to positions occupied by other senior air officers decorated during and after the Second World War.
Barratt's personal life intersected with social circles frequented by senior officers and public servants of his era, including links to figures in defence administration such as Lord Swinton and to veterans' organisations formed after the First World War. His legacy is reflected in institutional practices within the Royal Air Force and in doctrinal continuities adopted by subsequent commanders like Arthur Harris and Keith Park. Barratt's career exemplifies the professional trajectories of officers who bridged the early Royal Flying Corps and the mature Royal Air Force during two global conflicts, leaving an imprint on staff procedures, training frameworks and combined-arms liaison that influenced postwar RAF developments under leaders such as John Slessor and William Sholto Douglas.
Category:Royal Air Force air vice-marshals Category:1891 births Category:1966 deaths