David Craig came to Radley during WW2 on a War Memorial Fund Scholarship. A career in RAF set him on the path to become the Chief of Defence Staff. He was awarded his Life Peerage in the Gulf War Honours List. At 95, he reflects on his life, sparked by the generosity he received as a schoolboy.
I was born in Dublin in September 1929. My mother’s much-loved brother Bertie, A W Lane-Joynt (1909, B), was killed in action at Givenchy, France, on 26 February 1916, aged 20. My mother set her heart on her only son attending Radley.
Lt Albert Lane-Joynt (1909, B)
WW2 was still far from won in 1943, but that May, I set off unaccompanied on the mailboat to Holyhead. I was to meet a Radley boy at Chester for the remainder of the journey but, as I was late off the boat, I missed my rendezvous and had to continue alone through an unfamiliar, blacked-out country. At Oxford, the station master called the Warden out to rescue me. After a few hours’ sleep, my Tutor, Vyvyan Hope, woke me with a peremptory ‘get up boy’, but I felt no distress at the inauspicious start to my Radley career.
My father died during my second term and, knowing that my mother could not afford my fees, Hope arranged that I benefit from the War Memorial Fund (albeit as a nephew rather than a son of an OR). It was an enormous gamble on my prospects, but I am eternally grateful for that decision. Apart from my father’s death, my time at Radley was extremely happy: I was part of the 1st XV and 1st VIII, Head of Rugger, Hon Sec of Boats, and became Senior Prefect.
As an Irishman, I was not liable for national service and went straight to Lincoln College, Oxford on a sizeable bursary. I was fortunate to row in the Isis boat in 1949 and was spare man for the Blue boat the following year. After dedicating so much time to sporting pursuits, I had to knuckle down in my final year, and thankfully left with a 2.1.
Soon after arriving at Oxford, I read a leaflet about the University Air Squadron, offering the opportunity to learn to fly; I joined and was soon sent solo in a Tiger Moth. It was a whole new world of adventure and excitement. Much to my mother’s horror I joined the RAF as soon as I had finished at university.
David Craig as a student at Oxford, 1949.
A year later, I met my future wife, June. My first proposal was turned down – we were still in our early twenties, and she went away to work in Rome. On her return we again met up and she accepted my second proposal. We were married in 1955 and celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary in 2015, just a year before she died. Her constant, loving support and endearing charm throughout my service career and beyond were the centre and heart of my own achievements and that of our family.
My military career worked out well, both on the ground and in the air, flying Hunter fighter jets and later Vulcans of Bomber Command. I flew that wonderful aircraft in every rank from squadron leader to Marshal of the RAF. I even flew in a newly-minted Typhoon as a 75-year-old pilot – an unusual Flying Logbook entry. Ministers had arranged a debate on this new fighter, and I was asked to speak. I was quick to suggest that doing so would be more convincing if I could draw on personal experience.
Cartoon of David Craig in his RAF uniform, 1950.
After three years as head of my service, I was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in 1988. I was a member of the War Cabinet for the first Gulf conflict in 1990/91. Drama in spades was added to this slice of my life when Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as Prime Minister. I attended the full cabinet meeting immediately after she told her colleagues of her decision. Sitting opposite her, noting her lack of composure, I felt any expression of the armed forces’ feelings about this dramatic announcement would have been unwelcome, indeed tearfully unwise at that moment. So, I stuck to seeking approval for a sizeable increase in the forces being deployed to the Gulf. When I was awarded my Life Peerage in the Gulf War Honours List, it seemed only right to reflect the origins of my good fortune by adding ‘of Radley’ to my title.
I have found a whole new world of experiences in the Lords, where I sit as a crossbencher. I was elected the crossbencher Convenor between 1999-2004 and I have chaired a number of Select Committee Inquiries. Work for RAF charities also continues to be important to me.
Lord Craig in his peerage robes.
I learnt a love for DIY from my father. A major project on retirement was to personally design and construct a ‘Monet’ style bridge over the river Wensum where it runs past the house. Finished in 1994, it has withstood even major winter floods and is still in regular use.
At 95, I am able to reflect on a happy and varied life, sparked by the miraculous generosity I received when a 14-year-old schoolboy. I went recently with my daughter, my grandson and a nephew (all blood relatives of Uncle Bertie) to visit his well-marked and beautifully maintained grave in the Guards Cemetery at Windy Corner, near Givenchy in France. It felt a special way of saying thank you for my own so much more fortunate life.
Marshal of the RAF The Lord Craig of Radley GCB OBE (1943, E)
Lord Craig at the grave of his uncle Lt Albert Lane-Joynt in the Guards Cemetery at Windy Corner, near Givenchy in France.
