RAF Fighter Command, under Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding with Air Commodore A D John Cunningham as his Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) and Air Commodore N J Gill as Air Officer Administration (AOA), consisted of 76 officers, 71 airmen and 84 civilians (including the 70 Observer Corps personnel).

The units administered directly by HQ Fighter Command were No 11 (Fighter) Group, No 77 (Air Co-operation) Group and the Royal Observer Corps (from April 1941).
In November 1938, No 3 Balloon Centre RAuxAF under command of Group Captain A. E. Bald was formed at RAF Stanmore Park and came under the operational umbrella of Dowding.
The location details for the 'barrages' were planned at Bentley Priory.

Prior to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Priory underwent many changes.
Chief among these was the hurried adaptation of the two largest rooms (now the anteroom and the Ladies room) into the Operations Room and the Filter Room - moved from its original location in the Crypt bar; the classrooms in the east Wing were converted into accommodation.
Externally, brown and green paint were sprayed over the outside of the building including the clock face, and many of the windows were blacked out.

Dug-outs were built and sandbags deployed to protect the more important officers.
In 1939, the magnificent conservatory was pulled down and replaced by the Operations staff wooden offices.
The scene was now set for the wartime era, which is in a national context considered to be the most interesting and significant part of the Priory's history, and that of the RAF.

In January 1939, work started on the underground Operations Block which was occupied and commenced operations on 9 March 1940.
The average depth of the excavations was 42 feet (13 m).

In the Spring of 1940 Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, by then a widower, lived a very quiet domestic life with his sister Hilda at a house called Montrose (no longer standing) in Stanmore.
He rarely went out socially and with an immense work load was happy to forgo all but duty functions.
Every morning he would walk through the grounds to his office in the Priory.
Dowding would often meet General Frederick Alfred Pile, who was the General Officer Commanding Anti-Aircraft Command, who was walking from his home, Glenthorn.
The pair, who were firm friends, would use the time to talk about the war and other subjects.
Dowding left visits to other stations in Fighter Command to his Staff Officers as he was much occupied with the work in his Priory office.
However, he did pay regular night-time visits to research establishments and the air defences around London when The Blitz started in earnest in September 1940.
These visits often followed periods of up to 48 hours at his desk leaving Dowding exhausted.
Lord Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill made Dowding unwillingly relinquish command of Fighter Command on 24 November 1940 after he only approved some recommendations in a report to improve night air defences created by a committee of enquiry chaired by Sir John Salmond.

Dowding's time leading Fighter Command left a lasting legacy on the organisation.
His creation of the Operations and Filter Rooms, the essential elements of the Command, Control and Communications system, became the cornerstone of the Air Defence System.
The system he developed gave air controllers the best chance of scrambling fighter squadrons to intercept Luftwaffe raids before they reached their targets.
This rapid, flexible approach was essential because there were insufficient aircraft and crews to keep fighter patrols continuously airborne in 1940.

He also played a significant part in encouraging research into night-fighter equipment and tactics.
Historian and Dowding biographer, Robert Wright, who served as Dowding's personal assistance during the Battle of Britain, wrote in his book, Dowding and the Battle of Britain, that even when faced with threats of retirement and constant rebuttal, Dowding continued to give his all to those under him and the RAF service.
Dowding noted in a le
RAF Fighter Command, under Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding with Air Commodore A D John Cunningham as his Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) and Air Commodore N J Gill as Air Officer Administration (AOA), consisted of 76 officers, 71 airmen and 84 civilians (including the 70 Observer Corps personnel).
The units administered directly by HQ Fighter Command were No 11 (Fighter) Group, No 77 (Air Co-operation) Group and the Royal Observer Corps (from April 1941). In November 1938, No 3 Balloon Centre RAuxAF under command of Group Captain A. E. Bald was formed at RAF Stanmore Park and came under the operational umbrella of Dowding. The location details for the 'barrages' were planned at Bentley Priory.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Priory underwent many changes. Chief among these was the hurried adaptation of the two largest rooms (now the anteroom and the Ladies room) into the Operations Room and the Filter Room - moved from its original location in the Crypt bar; the classrooms in the east Wing were converted into accommodation. Externally, brown and green paint were sprayed over the outside of the building including the clock face, and many of the windows were blacked out.
Dug-outs were built and sandbags deployed to protect the more important officers. In 1939, the magnificent conservatory was pulled down and replaced by the Operations staff wooden offices. The scene was now set for the wartime era, which is in a national context considered to be the most interesting and significant part of the Priory's history, and that of the RAF.
In January 1939, work started on the underground Operations Block which was occupied and commenced operations on 9 March 1940. The average depth of the excavations was 42 feet (13 m).
In the Spring of 1940 Air Officer Commanding RAF Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, by then a widower, lived a very quiet domestic life with his sister Hilda at a house called Montrose (no longer standing) in Stanmore. He rarely went out socially and with an immense work load was happy to forgo all but duty functions. Every morning he would walk through the grounds to his office in the Priory. Dowding would often meet General Frederick Alfred Pile, who was the General Officer Commanding Anti-Aircraft Command, who was walking from his home, Glenthorn. The pair, who were firm friends, would use the time to talk about the war and other subjects. Dowding left visits to other stations in Fighter Command to his Staff Officers as he was much occupied with the work in his Priory office. However, he did pay regular night-time visits to research establishments and the air defences around London when The Blitz started in earnest in September 1940. These visits often followed periods of up to 48 hours at his desk leaving Dowding exhausted. Lord Beaverbrook and Winston Churchill made Dowding unwillingly relinquish command of Fighter Command on 24 November 1940 after he only approved some recommendations in a report to improve night air defences created by a committee of enquiry chaired by Sir John Salmond.
Dowding's time leading Fighter Command left a lasting legacy on the organisation. His creation of the Operations and Filter Rooms, the essential elements of the Command, Control and Communications system, became the cornerstone of the Air Defence System. The system he developed gave air controllers the best chance of scrambling fighter squadrons to intercept Luftwaffe raids before they reached their targets. This rapid, flexible approach was essential because there were insufficient aircraft and crews to keep fighter patrols continuously airborne in 1940.
He also played a significant part in encouraging research into night-fighter equipment and tactics. Historian and Dowding biographer, Robert Wright, who served as Dowding's personal assistance during the Battle of Britain, wrote in his book, Dowding and the Battle of Britain, that even when faced with threats of retirement and constant rebuttal, Dowding continued to give his all to those under him and the RAF service. Dowding noted in a le
RAF Bentley Priory