Peter Harding (RAF officer, born 1933)

Marshal of the Royal Air Force (1933–2021)
the air vice marshal

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Peter Robin Harding, (2 December 1933 – 19 August 2021) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in the 1950s, a helicopter squadron commander in the 1960s and a station commander in the 1970s. He became Chief of the Air Staff in 1988 and served in that role during the Gulf War in 1991. He became Chief of the Defence Staff in December 1992 but resigned after his affair with Lady (Bienvenida) Buck, the wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck, became public.

Harding was born on 2 December 1933 in Lambeth, London, to Elizabeth (née Clear) and Peter Harding. He was educated at Chingford High School.

Harding was commissioned into the Royal Air Force as an acting pilot officer on national service on 3 September 1952 and given a permanent commission in the same rank on 15 October 1952. He was promoted to the substantive rank of pilot officer on 12 August 1953 and posted to No. 12 Squadron flying Canberra bombers in 1954. Harding became a qualified flying instructor and flight commander at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1957, In 1960, he was sent to Australia to serve as a pilot with No. 1 Squadron RAAF flying Canberra bombers again. In 1964, he started a tour in the Air Secretary's department at the Ministry of Defence. and then, having been promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1968, he joined the Defence Policy Staff at the Ministry of Defence in 1970. he became Station Commander at RAF Bruggen in July 1974. Promoted to air commodore on 1 January 1976, he was then made Director of Defence Policy at the Ministry of Defence in 1976 and Assistant Chief of Staff (Plans and Policy) at SHAPE on 18 July 1978. He was promoted to air vice marshal on 1 January 1979 and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1980 Birthday Honours. Harding became Air Officer Commanding No.11 Group on 7 January 1981, and Vice Chief of the Air Staff with the acting rank of air marshal on 28 August 1982. He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1983 New Year Honours. Promoted to air chief marshal on 1 January 1985, he became Vice Chief of the Defence Staff early that year. he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1988 New Year Honours. He was made Air Aide de Camp to The Queen on 14 November 1988 and became Chief of the Air Staff on the same day. As Chief of the Air Staff he advised the British Government on the deployment of air power during the Gulf War. Promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 6 November 1992, Harding became Chief of Defence Staff on 31 December 1992 but he resigned in March 1994 after it was revealed by Max Clifford and the News of the World that, aged 58, he had had an affair with the 32 year old Bienvenida Pérez, the Spanish wife of Conservative MP Antony Buck. In addition to security concerns, and although Harding was a serving officer rather than a politician, the story was embarrassing to the government as it coincided with a string of "Back to Basics" scandals. Unlike other Marshals of the Royal Air Force who only relinquished their appointments, Harding resigned his commission on 14 June 1994 and consequently ceased to be listed in the Air Force List; however, he was subsequently returned to the list.

After leaving the RAF, Harding was deputy chairman of GEC Marconi from 1995 to 1998. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Cranfield University in 1990.

In 1955, Harding married Sheila Rosemary May; they had three sons and one daughter. Harding died on 19 August 2021.