Peter Walker (RAF officer)

The son of a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot, Peter Brett Walker was born on 29 September 1949 in the Staffordshire village of Rowley Regis.[1] He was initially educated at Pocklington School,[2] before joining Durham University to read for a General Arts degree at Hatfield College.[3] As a student he played rugby for the University 4th XV alongside Richard Paniguian, who would go on to a long career with British Petroleum and latterly the British government.[4]

Walker joined the Royal Air Force as a flight cadet in 1968 while at university and in 1971 entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell.[1][5] Selected for training as a fighter-pilot, his first posting was at No. 29 Squadron, based at RAF Coningsby.[1] Here, piloting the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, he had regular encounters with Soviet aircraft approaching UK Air Defence.[1] After three years of squadron service, Walker became an instructor on the Phantom operational conversion unit.[1] This was followed by a posting to RAF Germany, where he was weapon's leader of No. 92 Squadron, one of two RAF squadrons responsible for the air policing of Western Germany.[1]

In 1985 he went to RAF Leuchars, where he took command of No. 111 Squadron, also known as the "Tremblers", and flew numerous sorties over the North Sea.[6] In 1993 he went to the Falkland Islands to command RAF Mount Pleasant.[1] He became Director of Operational Capability in 1999,[7] Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Operations) in 2001,[7] and Assistant Chief of Staff (Policy & Requirements) at SHAPE in 2002.[8] He went on to be Commander of the Joint Warfare Centre in Norway in 2005,[9] and retired in 2007.[5]

In retirement he became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, appointed on 15 April 2011.[5] Walker died in that role on 6 September 2015.[10]

Walker was described as a 'charismatic fighter pilot' by one former colleague and also said to have a highly aggressive style of flying.[6][1] He was also known for his ability to mete out discipline, one former flier describing a 'monumental hats-on bollocking in his office' that he and five others received.[6]

Walker was married to Lynda: they had two sons and a daughter.[5] Before moving to Guernsey the couple lived in North Devon, where they were mentioned in the diaries of socialist politician Tony Benn.[6]

Walker died of a heart attack following a function at the Beau Sejour centre in Guernsey. An air display due to take place was dedicated to his memory, and the Red Arrows made a special fly-past.[6] His funeral was held in London on 22 September at St Clement Danes.[11]