Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Beetham Presentation Trophy

Few in the RAF have had a more illustrious career! Born in 1923 he enlisted in the RAFVR in 1942 as a Senior Aircraftsman and rose through the ranks to end up as Marshal of the Royal Air Force. In War II he was a Lancaster pilot carrying out a full tour with 50 squadron. As Chief of the Air Staff during the Falklands War he was involved in the decision to send the Task Force to the South Atlantic and and Operation Black Buck, which was to become the longest bombing raids in history, was his idea. This trophy was presented to Beetham when he was on a goodwill visit to India in 1960. He is recorded as meeting with the AOC I.A.F Air Marshall B.W.Chauhan on 26 January 1960 in Bangalore when clearly this gift was presented to him. The crest is marked Training Command Indian Air Force and the presentation plaque is fully engraved and named to Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael James Beetham, GCB, CBE, DFC, AFC, ADC when he was Chief of the Air Staff. The plaque and crest are mounted on a polished hardwood base and forms a unique item once owned by the top man in the RAF! Measures 6.5" long at base and stands the same high. (16 cm at base and the same height.)