Sidney Osborne Bufton

Sidney Osborne Bufton
Sidney Osborne Bufton
Born	12 January 1908
Died	29 March 1993 (aged 85)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1927–61
Rank	Air Vice Marshal
Commands held	British Forces Aden (1953–55); Central Bomber Establishment (1947–48); Bomber Command; RAF Pocklington (1941); No. 76 Squadron (1941); No. 10 Squadron (1940–41)
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath; Distinguished Flying Cross; Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States); Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
Other work	High Sheriff of Radnorshire; Managing Director of Radionic Ltd

Air Vice Marshal Sidney Osborne Bufton, CB, DFC (12 January 1908 – 29 March 1993) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the middle part of the 20th century. He played a major part in establishing the Pathfinder project, over the objections of Arthur Harris.

RAF career

Bufton joined the Royal Air Force in 1927.[1] As a young man he was a Welsh International Hockey player (1931–1937) as well as playing for the RAF and the Combined Services.[1] He served in World War II as Officer Commanding No. 10 Squadron and then as Officer Commanding No. 76 Squadron before becoming Station Commander at RAF Pocklington in 1941.[1] He continued his war service as Deputy Director and then as Director of Bomber Operations.[1] He argued for the formation of a Target Finding Force to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of Bomber Command. In this he was opposed by the group and squadron commanders, and Bomber Command's commanding officer, Arthur Harris. He was supported by the Air Ministry and Charles Portal. The force became the Pathfinder Force, which was critical in making the air campaign over Germany a success.[2] He headed the preparations for the ill-fated Operation Thunderclap and for the air warfare against cities and civilians in German-occupied Europe.

After the War he was appointed Commandant of the Central Bomber Establishment and then Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans) at Headquarters Air Forces Western Europe in 1948.[1] He was made Director of Weapons at the Air Ministry in 1951, Air Officer Administration at Headquarters Bomber Command in 1952 and Air Officer Commanding at British Forces Aden in 1953.[1] His last appointments were as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Bomber Command in 1955 and as Assistant Chief of Staff (Intelligence) at the Air Ministry in 1958 before retiring in 1961.[1]

After retiring from the RAF, he joined Radionic Ltd. as an inventor and later became Managing Director until 1970.[1]

gollark: It isn't a wording problem.

gollark: What? That's obviously impossible.

gollark: It's energy *per photon*. The power of each wavelength emitted varies according to that graph there.

gollark: Because when wavelength goes up energy goes *down*.

gollark: That would be "inversely proportional".

References

Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal S O Bufton
Forming the Pathfinders – The Career Of Air Vice-Marshal Sidney Bufton by Hugh Melinsky, September 2010 Archived 12 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 978-0-7524-5453-5

Military offices
Preceded by Douglas Macfadyen	Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden 1953–1955	Succeeded by Laurence Frank Sinclair
Preceded by William MacDonald	Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Intelligence) 1958–1961	Succeeded by Alick Foord-Kelcey

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[air-1] Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Vice Marshal S O Bufton

[2] Forming the Pathfinders – The Career Of Air Vice-Marshal Sidney Bufton by Hugh Melinsky, September 2010 Archived 12 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 978-0-7524-5453-5