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Biography Born May 21, 1893 in Hungerford, England, Charles Portal was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. At the beginning of WWI, he joined the British Army and served as a dispatch rider in the motorcycle section of Royal Engineers on the western front. In 1914 he was given command of all riders in the 1st Corps Headquarters Signals Company. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In 1918 he became an officer in the new Royal Air Force. In January of 1935 he was promoted to Air Commodore and in 1937 to Air Vice-Marshal. By 1939, Portal was a member of the air council and Director of Organization in the Air Ministry. Just before the start of WWII, Portal was ordered to establish 30 new air bases in Britain. At the start of the war in September he was made Acting Air Marshal and in 1940 he was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command. Portal advocated strategic area bombing against German industrial areas instead of bombing specific factories or plants. He gave the first order to bomb Berlin on Aug.20, 1940. The result was that Hermann Goering ordered the Luftwaffe to bomb London instead of British air fields. The Blitz had begun. Prime minister Winston Churchill was impressed with Portal's strategy and Portal was knighted in 1940. October of 1940 Portal was appointed Chief of Air Staff with the rank of Air Chief Marshal, and became involved with the controversy over the Big Wing that resulted in Hugh Dowding's removal as the head of Fighter Command. Portal concentrated on improving bombing navigational systems and increasing the power of the bombs themselves. Portal accompanied Churchill to all the conferences and made a good impression on the Americans. In 1943, at the Casablanca Conference, the Combined Chiefs of Staff selected Portal to coordinate the bomber forces of both the U.S. and Britain in a combined bomber offensive over Germany. The forces were transferred to General Eisenhower for the duration of Operation Overlord, but when their control reverted to the Combined Chiefs, Portal still advocated area bombing of German cities instead of specific targets. Portal was promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force in January of 1944. That year his view of strategic bombing changed, he felt that bombers should play a more auxiliary role in Allied offensive. In 1945, after the war was over, Portal retired from the RAF and in August he was created Baron Portal of Hungerford. A year later he was named Viscount Portal of Hungerford. He was the controller of Atomic Energy from 1946-1951, in 1960 he was elected Chairman of the British Aircraft Corporation. Lord Portal of Hungerford died on April 22, 1971. His Viscountcy became extinct, but his Barony, which had been created with a special remainder, passed to his daughter Rosemary.
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