A Family of Aviators at War

Anthony Inglis Howard-Williams’s family boasts an extraordinary lineage of nine Royal Air Force pilots, spanning from the First World War to the present day. Beginning with the Royal Flying Corps, the family has produced high-ranking officers and notable figures in aviation history. The author’s great uncle, an Air Marshal, conceived the idea of sending the ‘Little Ships’ to Dunkirk and later became Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He also had an interest in the paranormal, inspiring the film The Night My Number Came Up. The author’s grandparents were both of flag rank: Air Commodore Ernest Howard-Williams briefly served as deputy to Fighter Command’s Hugh Dowding, while Air Vice-Marshal Frank Inglis, head of RAF intelligence, was instrumental in convincing President Roosevelt of the ‘Germany First’ policy.