Robert Clark-Hall

Air Marshal Sir Robert Hamilton Clark-Hall KBE CMG DSO RAF (21 June 1883 – 8 March 1964) was a squadron and wing commander in the Royal Naval Air Service during World War I and a senior Royal Air Force commander in the 1920s and early 1930s. Clark-Hall returned to service during World War II after volunteering to serve with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

World War I
Commanded the first sea-place carrier HMS Ark Royal at Gallipoli. He then commanded No. 1 Wing Royal Naval Air Service conducting surveillance and attacks on enemy shipping from St Pol-sur-Mer, Dunkirk between September 1916 and November 1918, and was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) for his services to the War in February 1919.

World War II
At the start of World War II, Clark-Hall was in his late-50s, retired and living in New Zealand. He volunteered to serve with the Royal New Zealand Air Force who granted him a commission as a wing commander. In May 1940 Clark-Hall was appointed the Officer Commanding RNZAF Harewood. After receiving a promotion to group captain, in 1943 Clark-Hall was promoted again to air commodore and appointed Air Officer Commanding Southern (Training) Group. In October 1944, he became Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Islands Group in the Pacific Ocean. He retired from the Royal New Zealand Air Force on 12 September 1945.