Frederick Hards | |
Birth Date: | 17 March 1889 |
Birth Place: | Cookham, Berkshire |
Death Place: | Ipswich, Suffolk |
Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
Branch: | Royal Navy (1914–18) Royal Air Force (1918–43) |
Serviceyears: | 1914–1943 |
Rank: | Air Vice-Marshal |
Commands: | British Forces Aden (1941–43) RAF Malta (1930–31) No. 230 Squadron (1920–21) |
Battles: | First World War Second World War |
Awards: | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches |
Air Vice-Marshal Frederick George Darby Hards, (17 April 1889 – 10 July 1963) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden from 1941 until his retirement in 1943.
Hards joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1914 and then served in the First World War as a pilot with the Royal Naval Air Service.[1] He received his aviator's certificate in 1915.[2] After the war he became Officer Commanding No. 230 Squadron and then, after various staff positions, he was appointed Officer Commanding RAF Malta in 1930.[1] He went on to be Fleet Aviation Officer to Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet in 1933 and Senior Engineering Staff Officer at Fighter Command in 1936.[1]
Hards served in the Second World War as Senior Air Staff Officer and then Air Officer Administration at Coastal Command before becoming Air Officer Administration and then Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden; he retired in 1943.[1]