Page 67 - They Also Served

Requesting an interview with the RAF commander, Lord Trenchard, he was informed that there would be no inquiry into the tactics, so promptly resigned.
Throwing himself into civilian life, he appeared on the BBC as an air correspondent and wrote three books warning about the dangers posed by enemy bombers, predating the threat from the Luftwaffe by several years. The epiphany in Iraq turned him against not only warfare, but also hunting. He was chairman of the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports. A prolific author, he wrote on subjects as varied as the capture of Quebec in 1759, the Spanish Civil War, and ten aeroplane-themed books for children. Living for 23 years with a former RAF airman named Tom Wichelo, they were one of the few couples at the time to be open about their relationship and socialised with the London literary set, including the novelist E M Forster and the actor John Gielgud.
Air Commodore Lionel Charlton CB CMG DSO died on 18th April 1958. Today, Charlton’s name lives on, not only as an icon to the LGBT+ community but also by opponents of the recent war in Iraq as an example to modern military leaders. The Guardian newspaper even suggested that Charlton was more deserving of a statue than fellow RAF commander Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris.
61