Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding

Hugh Dowding was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Fighter Command from 1936 to 1940. Before the Second World War he oversaw the development of the integrated air-defence system that combined radar, observer reporting, sector control rooms and fighter squadrons. That organisation gave Fighter Command a major operational advantage when Germany began sustained attacks against Britain in 1940.

During the Battle of Britain Dowding resisted pressure to commit fighter strength recklessly and concentrated on preserving an effective defence of British airspace. He was removed from Fighter Command later in 1940 after internal disputes over tactics and command. Phil Craig and Tim Clayton’s Finest Hour places the Battle of Britain within the wider political and personal experience of 1940, for which Dowding’s command system provides a central military framework.