Air Vice-Marshal Leslie William Cannon, CB, CBE (9 April 1904 – 27 January 1986) was a senior Royal Air Force officer. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force from 1951 to 1955.

Leslie William Cannon
Nickname(s)"Bull"
Born(1904-04-09)9 April 1904
Died27 January 1986(1986-01-27) (aged 81)
Princess Mary Hospital, RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire
Buried
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Air Force
Years of service1920–58
RankAir Vice-Marshal
Commands heldCommander-in-Chief Royal Pakistan Air Force (1951–55)
RAF Staff College, Andover (1948–49)
No. 85 Group (1946–47)
No. 2 Group (1946)
No. 138 Wing (1943)
RAF Watton (1942–43)
No. 5 Squadron (1937–38)
Battles/warsNorth-West Frontier
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in dispatches (4)
Silver Star (United States)
Spouse(s)Beryl Heyworth

Military career edit

Cannon enlisted in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the second entry of aircraft apprentices in 1920, and was commissioned as a pilot in 1925.

From 1948 until late 1949, Cannon was Assistant Commandant and then Commandant of the RAF Staff College, Andover.

He served as a Flight Commander in No. 60 Squadron RAF and then Officer Commanding No. 5 Squadron RAF on the North-West Frontier of India in the 1930s. Eventually attaining the rank of air vice-marshal (the first apprentice to achieve air rank), he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Air Force from 7 May 1951 to 19 June 1955.

References edit

Military offices
Preceded by Air Officer Commanding No. 2 Group
1946–1946
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Royal Pakistan Air Force
1951–1955
Succeeded by