Notable Australians ww2 - Air Force

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Air Vice-Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett CB CBE DSO RAF (September 14 1910–September 15 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the history of the Royal Air Force and led the Pathfinder Force (No. 8 Group) from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. He has been described as "one of the most brilliant technical airmen of his generation: an outstanding pilot, a superb navigator who was also capable of stripping a wireless set or overhauling an engine".
Donald Bennett was born the youngest son of a grazier in Toowoomba, Queensland. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1930 and was seconded to the RAF a year later, starting with the flying boats of 20 Squadron. Bennett developed a passion for accurate flying and precise navigation that would never leave him. After a period as an instructor at RAF Calshot, he left the service in 1935 (retaining a reserve commission) to join Imperial Airways. Over the next five years, Bennett specialised in long distance flights, breaking a number of records and pioneering techniques which would later become commonplace, notably air-to-air refueling. In July 1938 he flew the Atlantic in the experimental Mercury-Maia composite flying boat.
During 1940 Bennett's long-distance expertise was set to work setting up the Atlantic Ferry, the organisation tasked with the wartime delivery of thousands of aircraft manufactured in the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom. At that time, a transatlantic flight was a significant event, but the Atlantic Ferry project proved remarkably successful and demonstrated that with suitable training even inexperienced pilots could safely deliver new aircraft across the North Atlantic.
Bennett was recommissioned in 1941, promoted to Wing Commander in December of that year, and appointed to the command of 77 Squadron, based at RAF Leeming flying Whitleys for Coastal Command.
In April 1942 Bennett was given command of 10 Squadron (Halifaxes) and shortly afterwards led a raid on the Tirpitz. Shot down during that raid, he evaded capture and escaped to Sweden, from where he was able to return to Britain.
In July 1942, Bennett was appointed to command the new Pathfinder Force, an elite unit tasked with improving Bomber Command's navigation. At this stage of the war, Bomber Command had begun to make raids deep into Germany, but had not yet been able to cause significant damage, largely because only about a quarter of the bomb loads were delivered "on target" — and this at a time when "on target" was defined as within three miles of the aim point.
Pathfinder Force was set up to lead the bomber stream to the target areas and drop markers for the remainder of the force to aim at. Later in the war, the Pathfinder Force would be equipped with a range of newly developed and often highly effective electronic aids, but the initial object was to simply take picked crews with standard equipment and hone their navigation skills.
Having already demonstrated that he could pass on his meticulous navigational ability to others, Bennett was an obvious choice for the role, yet nevertheless a surprising one. The Air Ministry's Directorate of Bomber Operations had for some time been pushing to establish an elite precision bombing force, but Bomber Command chief Air-Vice Marshal Arthur Harris was implacably opposed to the idea, on the grounds that an elite force would "lower the morale" of the other squadrons. When Harris learned that Vice-Chief of the Air Staff Sir Wilfred Freeman planned to order the change, and that the strong-willed Basil Embry would probably be given command of the new force, Harris bowed to the inevitable, but took the opportunity to appoint a younger and more malleable officer of his own choice: Wing Commander Don Bennett. Over the following years, Harris would discover that malleability was not one of Bennett's virtues.
During 1943, Bennett was awarded the DSO and promoted twice, to Air Commodore and then Air Vice-Marshal — the youngest officer to ever hold that rank. He remained in command of the Pathfinder Force until the end of the war, overseeing its growth to an eventual 19 squadrons, working relentlessly to improve its standards, and tirelessly campaigning for better equipment, in particular for more Mosquitos and Lancasters to replace the diverse assortment of often obsolete aircraft the force started with.
Bennett was not a popular leader: a personally difficult and naturally aloof man, he earned a great deal of respect from his crews but little affection. As Harris wrote, he could not suffer fools gladly, and by his own high standards there were many fools. Nor did Bennett get on well with the other RAF Group Commanders: not only was he 20 years younger, he was an Australian in an era when colonials were not to be considered for high command. Indeed, Bennett saw his own appointment in those terms: it was, he believed, a victory for the "players" over the "gentleman".
Despite the unquestioned achievements of No. 8 Group, at the end of the war Bennett was the only bomber Group Commander not to be knighted. He returned to private life and pursued a variety of activities. He became a Director of British South American Airways, Liberal Member of Parliament for Middlesbrough West for a time (having lost the 1948 Croydon North by-election), and designed and built both cars (Fairthorpes) and light aircraft.
Don Bennett died at the age of 76 on Battle of Britain Day: September 15 1986.

Reference

• Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - AVM Bennett

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Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO (1890–1980) is widely considered to be the "father" of the Royal Australian Air Force. He was the first military pilot to be trained in Australia, and became the first Chief of Air Staff of the RAAF in 1921.

Sir Richard was born at Moonta, South Australia, on 1890-08-03 and his career included Commanding Officer 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), 1917-1918; 40 Wing, RAF, 1918; Chief of the Air Staff, RAAF, 1921-1938; Air Officer Administration Coastal Command, RAF, 1939; Air Member for Organisation and Equipment, RAAF, 1941-1942; RAAF Representative Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, 1942-1946; Director General Australian Civil Aviation, 1946-1955.

Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO

Richard Williams is the most significant figure in the history of the Royal Australian Air Force. On a calm morning at Point Cook, Victoria in November 1914, he completed three brief flying tests in a Bristol Boxkite, thus qualifying as the first military pilot trained in Australia. Eight years later he became the first Chief of the Air Staff, a post he held for most of the difficult inter-war years when the Air Force's continuing existence as an independent service was frequently under threat from the Army and Navy.
A thin, intense man whose high forehead and penetrating gaze accurately indicated his probing intellect, Williams was born in Moonta, South Australia in 1890, the eldest child of a copper miner who laboured underground. Educated to junior certificate level in the State school system, Williams worked in a bank and served in the militia before joining the Permanent Forces in 1912. He was selected for pilot training in the nascent Australian Flying Corps in 1914.
Strong minded and confident, Williams rapidly established himself as a leader in the new art of air warfare. After deploying to the Middle East in 1916, he Richard Williams was appointed firstly to command the AFC's No 1 Squadron, and then a wing of the Royal Air Force, a considerable achievement for a 'colonial' in those days. A brave and capable pilot, he was decorated with the DSO and OBE for his valour and leadership in combat and was twice mentioned in dispatches.
The Royal Australian Air Force was formed in 1921 against the express wishes of Australia's generals and admirals, who lacked the vision to foresee the dominant role air power would soon come to play in the defence of Australia. As Chief of the Air Staff, Williams needed all of his considerable political skills to keep his fledgling service from being dismembered by the Army and Navy. Sharp, even waspish in his manner, Williams worked shrewdly to preserve and promote his service. He established a personal correspondence with the British Empire's greatest and most influential airman. Marshal of the RAF Sir Hugh Trenchard; developed a brilliant plan to defend Australia against the emerging threat of Japan by employing air power in the sea and air approaches which constitute the nation's natural defensive barrier; and fought tirelessly in the political battle against the Air Force's enemies.
Despite his somewhat puritanical, stiff-necked manner and legendary pedantic attention to detail - the latter characteristic which made his frequent inspection of Royal Australian Air Force units a severe trial for those on the receiving end - Williams' devotion to his service and his manifest intellect made him an admired leader.
Notwithstanding his great responsibilities and demanding administrative workload, Williams found time to burnish his operational reputation with a pioneering flight into the Pacific islands in 1926. He had also become the first Australian Air Force officer to complete staff college training when he graduated from the British Army and RAF courses in 1924; while ten years later he added attendance at the Imperial Defence College to his impressive qualifications.
By the early 1930s all threats to the Royal australian Air Force's independent existence had been averted. Shortly afterwards the government approved a dramatic expansion of the Air Force, a decision which not only recognised the likelihood of war in the near future but also amounted to a tacit acknowledgment that Williams had been right.
That may have been cold comfort to Williams who in February 1939 was removed from office, ostensibly because of the allegedly high accident rate. A more likely reason for the dismissal was that, after almost 20 years of political in-fighting on behalf of his service, Dicky Williams had simply made too many enemies.
Air Vice-Marshal Williams spent most of World War II overseas, firstly in the United Kingdom and then as the Royal Australian Air Force's senior representative in Washington. He was retired against his wishes in 1946 by the Chifley Government, extraordinarily shabby treatment of a man who had contributed so much to his country. On leaving the Air Force he became Director-General of Civil Aviation. He published immensely interesting and invaluable (if understandably idiosyncratic) memoirs, These Are Facts, in 1977.
Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO, died in 1980. He is properly remembered and honoured as the 'Father' of the Royal Australian Air Force.
This informationcan be found in the 'Fundementals of Australian Aerospace Power'. Click here for an electronic copy.

Further reading

Williams, Sir Richard. These are Facts, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1977.