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Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh William Lumsden Saunders (August 24, 1894 – May 8, 1987) was a South African aviator who rose through the ranks to become a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War. He served in the First World War with the South African Rifles later becoming a pilot in No. 84 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps (the forerunners of the Royal Air Force). During which time he became a triple ace, with 15 victories credited to him. His citation for the Distinguished Flying Cross read: “An officer of exceptional courage, who, since he was awarded the Military Cross, has destroyed five enemy aircraft and shot down two balloons in flames. While on patrol he observed a formation of seven hostile scouts below him. Diving to attack he engaged the leader and firing shoot bursts at close range shot him down nose foremost; the remainder of the formation scattered in all directions.” After the war he was promoted to squadron leader, eventually taking command of No. 45 Squadron. When the Second World War broke out he was Chief of Staff for the Royal New Zealand Air Force before becoming Air Officer Administration at Headquarters Fighter Command in February 1942 and then Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in November of that year. He was made Director-General of Personnel at the Air Ministry in November 1944. At the end of the war, he was made Air Officer Commanding RAF Burma before becoming Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Bomber Command in January 1947. In retirement he went to work for the newly established Royal Danish Air Force. This is one of a cluster of streets built near the site of the former RAF Uxbridge, all are named after air marshals in the Second World War. See also Dowding Road, Gossage Road, Tedder Road, Keith Park Road, and Portal Close.
