Denis Richards

Who was Denis Richards?

Denis Richards OBE was a British historian. He is famous for his work on the history of the Royal Air Force, including the three-volume official history of the service during World War II, which was co-written with Hilary St. George Saunders.

Richards came from London and was educated at Owen's School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 1931 he graduated from Cambridge University with a double first in history. For the next eight years he was a master at Manchester Grammar School, teaching both history and English. From 1939 to 1941 he taught the same subjects at Bradfield College, near Reading, as a senior tutor.

War service then called him and he joined the RAF. Within a very short time he was ordered to report to the historical section of the Air Ministry. His staff eventually came to number 40, and he held the position of senior narrator from 1943 to 1947. He began to write the official history of the RAF during World War II when he was the senior narrator. It was eventually published in three volumes in 1953 and 1954. In 1947 he was promoted within the Air Ministry to a principal, a post in which he remained until 1950.