Australian Air Marshal. He rose in rank from a private soldier in World War I to air marshal in World War II. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and the following year saw service as a medical orderly during the Gallipoli Campaign. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and became a fighter ace in the Middle Eastern theatre, where he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order and Bar. Transferring to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) on its formation in 1918, he remained in the British armed forces for the rest of his life. Between the wars, he saw action in the Sudan, earning appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and was posted to Australia on a temporary assignment to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Director of Operations and Intelligence. In England he commanded RAF stations Tangmere and Northolt. Ranked air commodore at the outbreak of World War II, he was Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder's Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Middle East from 1941 to 1943. He was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1941 for his services in the Middle East, and knighted in the same order two years later. He was twice offered command of the RAAF during the war but the RAF was unwilling to release him to take up the position. On March 27, 1945, he was enroute to Canada with other dignitaries to attend a ceremony marking the closure of the Empire Air Training Scheme. His plane, a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "Commando" (formerly the personal aircraft of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill) disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores and all aboard were presumed killed. His body was never recovered.
Australian Air Marshal. He rose in rank from a private soldier in World War I to air marshal in World War II. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1914 and the following year saw service as a medical orderly during the Gallipoli Campaign. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1916 and became a fighter ace in the Middle Eastern theatre, where he was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order and Bar. Transferring to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) on its formation in 1918, he remained in the British armed forces for the rest of his life. Between the wars, he saw action in the Sudan, earning appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and was posted to Australia on a temporary assignment to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as Director of Operations and Intelligence. In England he commanded RAF stations Tangmere and Northolt. Ranked air commodore at the outbreak of World War II, he was Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder's Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Middle East from 1941 to 1943. He was awarded a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1941 for his services in the Middle East, and knighted in the same order two years later. He was twice offered command of the RAAF during the war but the RAF was unwilling to release him to take up the position. On March 27, 1945, he was enroute to Canada with other dignitaries to attend a ceremony marking the closure of the Empire Air Training Scheme. His plane, a B-24 Liberator nicknamed "Commando" (formerly the personal aircraft of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill) disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores and all aboard were presumed killed. His body was never recovered.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
Inscription
Royal Air Force K.C.B., D.S.O. and Bar, O.B.E., M.C.
Gravesite Details
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