R.A. Saville-Sneath was born in 1895 and served in the First World War as R.E. "Signals" motor-cyclist dispatch rider. He later became chairman of companies concerned with aircraft equipment and international patent development, keeping him in close touch with the trend of aircraft design after the war. In July 1938 he was appointed Head Observer at a local post of the Observer Corps. He gave many lectures on aircraft recognition and contributed articles on the subject to various newspapers and journals. He is also the author of British Aircraft (two volumes), Aircraft of the United States (two volumes) and Britain's Airpower. He died in 1989.
