Hugh Montague Trenchard was educated at Sandhurst Military Academy, commissioned in the British Army in 1893, and served with distinction throughout the Empire. A courageous leader and dynamic personality, his stentorian voice on parade earned for him the life long much respected nickname of "Boom" Trenchard. Fascinated with flying, he applied for flight training. After objections because of his age, then 39, and his size (6 feet 3 inches), he enrolled in a private flying school in 1912 and earned his pilot's certificate in four days. Thus began the career of one of history's most illustrious airmen. The guns of 1914 summoned Hugh Trenchard to his destiny: command of the Royal Flying Corps in France. His demand for high excellence in training, equipment, and performance, and his personal leadership, marked him as a historic figure in air history. A proponent of strategic air power, he lobbied for an independent Air Force and for long range bombers, thus establishing air power as an instrument of national resource and the role model for air forces throughout the world. His perception of air power, and the forces he organized and led, played a major role in the allied victory of World War II. The foundations he established gave victory to the wings of Britain and the United States in 1939 though 1945 when "Boom" Trenchard came out of retirement to again serve his country.
Inducted in 1977.
Portrait Location: Not Currently on Floor