Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard

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Lore & Background

Trenchard was born at 6 Haines Hill in Taunton, England, on 3 February 1873, the third child and second son of Henry Montague Trenchard and Georgiana Louisa Catherine Tower Skene. His father was a former captain in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry working as an articled clerk; his mother was the daughter of Royal Navy captain John McDowall Skene. At age two, his family moved to Courtlands, a manor house in Norton Fitzwarren. He was educated at home by a resident tutor he did not respect, and did not excel academically. At 10, he was sent to Allens Preparatory School near Botley, Hampshire, where he struggled with the curriculum but did well at arithmetic. He failed the Navy's entrance papers, and at 13 was sent to Hill Lands crammer in Wargrave, Berkshire, where he preferred sports and practical joking. In 1889, his father was declared bankrupt; Trenchard was removed from Hill Lands but returned thanks to relatives' charity. He failed the Woolwich examinations twice, then applied for the Militia, failing its exams in 1891 and 1892. After training as a probationary subaltern with the Forfar and Kincardine Artillery, he achieved a bare pass in March 1893. At age 20, he was gazetted as a second-lieutenant in the Second Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and posted to India.

Reader's Guide

Trenchard arrived in India in late 1893, joining his regiment at Sialkot in the Punjab. At a mess dinner, as the youngest subaltern, he gave a speech: 'I am deeply proud to belong to this great regiment', followed by 'I hope one day I shall live to command it.' It was received with incredulous laughter. In early 1894 he won the All-India Rifle Championship. He established a battalion polo team, and during a polo match in 1896 first met Winston Churchill, clashing with him on the field. Nicknamed 'the camel' for not drinking or speaking much, he took up reading biographies of British heroes. With the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, he applied several times to rejoin his battalion in South Africa. After being rejected by his colonel and blocked by Viceroy Lord Curzon, he sent a priority signal to Sir Edmond Elles, who had promised help after Trenchard rescued a poorly planned rifle-shooting contest. Elles, now Military Secretary to Curzon, secured his orders. In South Africa, he rejoined the Royal Scots Fusiliers and in July 1900 was ordered to raise and train a mounted company. On 5 October 1900, the 6th Brigade departed Krugersdorp. At dawn on 9 October, Trenchard's company pursued Boers for 10 miles into an ambush. He was critically wounded, losing a lung and becoming partially paralysed. On medical advice, he travelled to Switzerland to recuperate; after a heavy bobsleigh crash, his paralysis disappeared and he could walk unaided. He returned to active service in South Africa. After the Boer War, he served in Nigeria, commanding the Southern Nigeria Regiment for several years. He learned to fly in summer 1912, gaining aviator's certificate No. 270 on 31 July flying a Henry Farman biplane at Brooklands. He was appointed second-in-command of the Central Flying School. During the First World War, he served as commander of the Royal Flying Corps in France from 1915 to 1917. In 1918, he briefly served as first Chief of the Air Staff before commanding the Independent Air Force in France. Returning as Chief of the Air Staff under Winston Churchill in 1919, he spent the following decade securing the future of the RAF. He was Metropolitan Police Commissioner in the 1930s and a defender of the RAF in his later years. He is recognised today as one of the early advocates of strategic bombing.

Did You Know?

• Trenchard failed the Navy's entrance papers and the Woolwich examinations twice before barely passing the Militia exam in March 1893.
• While recuperating in Switzerland from a critical wound that cost him a lung and left him partially paralysed, a heavy bobsleigh crash restored his ability to walk unaided.
• He won the All-India Rifle Championship in early 1894.
• He first met Winston Churchill during a polo match in 1896, clashing with him on the field.
• Trenchard gained his aviator's certificate (No. 270) on 31 July 1912, flying a Henry Farman biplane at Brooklands.