TheRAF Staff College atRAF Andover was the firstRoyal Air Forcestaff college to be established. Its role was the training of officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of air force matters.
Following the foundation of theRAF in April 1918 and the end of theFirst World War in November 1918, there was a determination to maintain the Air Force as an independent service rather than let the Army and Royal Navy control air operations again. Therefore, the creation of an RAF Staff College to parallel theArmy Staff College and theRoyal Naval Staff College was an important element in fully establishing the RAF.
On 14 November 1921,Air CommodoreRobert Brooke-Popham was tasked with setting up the RAF Staff College. On 1 April the following year, the new RAF Staff College came into being with Brooke-Popham as its first commandant. The Staff College was based atRAF Andover and was subordinate toInland Area.
The dog seen in the photograph onRobert Brooke-Popham's lap wasJane who was buried in the Staff College grounds.[1] The gravestone still exists[2] and was the only remaining memorial to the college in 2010.
From its foundation and through the 1920s and 1930s, the Staff College provided training to selected officers (usually promisingflight lieutenants orsquadron leaders) to prepare them for staff duties at theAir Ministry or atCommand orGroup headquarters.
Although the College was closed on 3 September 1939, the day the British declaration of war was made, it reopened the same November running shorter courses. However, the next year on 28 May 1940, the College closed again. The RAF reopened its staff college atBulstrode Park in December 1941. The College at Bulstrode Park was later reduced in size and only offered training to allied and foreign air force officers. When Bulstrode Park closed in 1948, this smaller College returned to Andover and its role in training overseas officers was continued. It was not until 1970 that the Staff College at Andover finally closed when it was absorbed into theRAF Staff College at Bracknell.
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