Sir Jock Kennedy

Born: May 19, 1928; Died: November 18, 2013.

SIR Jock Kennedy, who has died aged 85, started as an RAF cadet from Hawick, became a transport pilot during the Berlin Airlift and a bomber pilot during the Suez crisis, and rose to become Air Chief Marshal, one of the RAF's most senior ranks - equivalent to admiral or general in the other services. He later became a major fundraiser for the RAF Benevolent Fund, raising millions of pounds, and was appointed by the Queen as Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Rutland, in central England, where he had retired.

In the late 1970s, still against the backdrop of the Cold War, Sir Jock commanded the RAF's Northern Maritime Region, where he was delighted to have his headquarters in Pitreavie Castle, Fife, chosen for its war-era underground bunkers and its proximity to Rosyth. His pilots and Nimrod aircraft held responsibility for monitoring all Soviet ships or submarines on exercise in the North Sea and, had the Cold War turned hot, Sir Jock would have controlled all Nato forces from the North Sea to all points north. During his career, he personally flew Hastings, Valiant, Canberra and Britannia aircraft.

Thomas Lawrie Kennedy, inevitably always known as Jock by his English RAF mates, was born in Hawick in 1928 and went to the historic Hawick High School, which had just been rebuilt after being left in ruins by a fire a few years earlier. For his national service, he enlisted at 18 in the RAF with the service number 4000831 and became a cadet at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, where he received an award as best all-round cadet before graduating as a pilot on April 8, 1949.

He was immediately posted to No. 297 Squadron, where he flew Handley Page Hastings transport planes during the last weeks of the Berlin Air Lift, carrying mainly coal to the city which had been blockaded by the Soviets.

In 1952, he flew a single Hastings to support four new RAF Canberra jet bombers on a goodwill tour of South America which covered 20 destinations in six weeks. Soon afterwards, he was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC), given for an act or acts of valour, courage or devolution to duty whilst flying, though not in active operations against the enemy. After an exchange tour of duty with the Royal Australian Air Force, during which he flew supplies to Korea, Sir Jock returned to the UK with No. 27 Squadron, himself converting to Canberra aircraft. Based in Cyprus, he flew bombing sorties over Egypt during the 1956 Suez crisis.

From 1957-60, he was a senior pilot at the Royal Radar Establishment, where he began flying the Vickers Valiant bomber, part of Britain's nuclear deterrent, to test its bombing radar and electronics. He was then awarded a bar to his ribbon as a second AFC.

In the mid-1960s, he took part in another airlift, this one into Zambia as commander of RAF No. 99 Squadron, personally flying a Bristol Britannia aircraft. Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith had made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1965, a move which cut off land-locked Zambia from vital supplies. Based at RAF Brize Norton at the time, Sir Jock found himself flying supplies into Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya where, in Nairobi, he commanded the RAF detachment.

He later served as deputy commandant of the RAF Staff College before his spell at Pitreavie Castle. He also became deputy commander-in-chief of Strike Command and, from 1981, commander of Nato's Second Allied Tactical Air Force, a key post while the Iron Curtain remained very much drawn.

His final role was Air Member for Personnel on the Air Force Board before retiring in 1986 and settling in the small county of Rutland in the East Midlands. Thereafter, he served for five years on the board of what was then the Dowty Group, a leading manufacturer of aircraft equipment later taken over. It was in 1988 that he became controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund, something extremely close to his heart.

For the first time, he put the fund on a solid financial footing, not least by launching a £20m appeal in 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The aptly-named Reach for the Sky appeal brought in more than the hoped-for £20m. At the same time, Sir Jock (he was knighted in 1978), spent much of his retirement helping the young and the disabled, as well as all the RAF bands. He served as Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire as well as Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, the latter from 1997-2003.

He remained president of the Old Cranwellian Association (of former RAF Cranwell cadets) until ill health forced him to stand down recently. He had served as president of the Rutland branch of the Royal British Legion and of the group Voluntary Action Rutland, which promotes volunteer activity in the county. From 1997, he was also Legacy Ambassador for his beloved Peterborough Cathedral, not far from his home.

Despite failing health, he continued to enjoy golf and had spent the morning of his death with some golfing friends.

He died at home in Rutland. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Margaret (née Parker), their son and two daughters.