Ranks Held | Air Marshal, Air Vice Marshal, Captain, Group Captain, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Temporary Lieutenant Colonel, Temporary Major |
---|---|
Birth Date | 03/08/1890 |
Birth Place | Australia: South Australia, Moonta Mines |
Death Date | 07/02/1980 |
Death Place | Australia: Victoria, Melbourne |
Final Rank | Air Marshal |
Service | Australian Imperial Force |
Units |
|
Places | |
Conflict/Operation | First World War, 1914-1918 |
Air Marshal Richard Williams
Regarded as the father of the Royal Australian Air Force, Richard Williams was born on 3 August 1890 at Moonta Mines, South Australia. He enlisted in the South Australian Infantry Regiment at the age of 19 and gained a commission in 1911.
On 17 August 1914 he attended a war flying course at Point Cook, Victoria; upon completion he resumed his post as a lieutenant on the Administrative and Instructional Staff. In July 1915 he returned to Point Cook for advanced aviation training and in August married Constance Griffiths.
On 5 January 1916 Williams was appointed captain and posted as a flight commander to No. 1 Squadron, AFC. The squadron began operations in December that year in support of ground forces advancing into Palestine. In May 1917 Williams took command of the squadron, having been awarded the Distinguished Service Order for rescuing a pilot shot down behind enemy lines. In June 1918 he was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and given command of a Royal Flying Corps wing comprising three British squadrons and his own.
Williams was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 in recognition of his war service. He spent much of 1919 as Staff Officer, Aviation, at AIF headquarters in London. On returning to Australia, Williams was heavily involved in establishing the RAAF, which came into being in March 1921. In 1922 Williams became Chief of Air Staff but faced many difficulties in establishing the new service. Williams was promoted to group captain in July 1925. In 1926 he flew a seaplane on a trip to the islands north of Australia to study the region as a possible theatre of operations and was made air commodore the following year.
In 1935 Williams was appointed air vice marshal and continued to represent the Air Force's interests against the competing demands of the other services. He was attached to Britain's Air Ministry and in early 1939 was given charge of administration in the RAF's Coastal Command before returning to Australia in 1940 as Air Member for Organisation and Equipment. Williams did not support the integration of Australian airmen into the RAF but was overruled by his superiors; in October 1941 he was sent to England to establish and command RAAF Overseas Headquarters to administer the thousands of RAAF personnel then arriving there.
Williams subsequently served as the RAAF representative in Washington from 1942 until the end of the war. In 1946 he became Director General of Civil Aviation and retired from the RAAF that September. He oversaw the expansion of domestic and international aviation and the creation of a network of airfields and associated infrastructure around Australia.
Williams died in Melbourne on 7 February 1980.
Rolls
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Temporary Major
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Temporary Lieutenant Colonel
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Lieutenant Colonel
-
Honours and Awards:
- Conflict
- Period 1919-1939
- Rank
- Group Captain
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Major
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Royal Australian Air Force
- Conflict
- Period 1919-1939
- Rank
- Air Vice Marshal
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Temporary Lieutenant Colonel
-
Honours and Awards:
- Unit
- No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Captain
-
Honours and Awards (Recommendation):
- Unit
- No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Captain
-
Honours and Awards (Recommendation):
- Unit
- No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Major
-
First World War Embarkation Roll:
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Captain
-
First World War Nominal Roll:
- Unit
- Australian Flying Corps
- Conflict
- First World War, 1914-1918
- Rank
- Lieutenant Colonel
Timeline
Date of birth | 03/08/1890 | Moonta Mines, SA. |
---|---|---|
Date and unit at enlistment (ORs) | 1909 | Enlisted in the South Australian Infantry Regiment. |
Date commissioned | 1911 | Appointed to a permanent commission in the Australian Army. |
Other | 11/1914 | Qualified for a pilot licence. |
Other | 1914 | Attended a war flying course at Point Cook, Victoria. |
Other | 07/1915 | Passed an Advanced Flying Course. |
Date of enlistment | 01/03/1916 | |
Date of embarkation | 16/03/1916 | |
Other units | 05/01/1916 | Appointed flight commander with No 1 Squadron, AFC, the first complete flying Corps to be formed in Australia. |
Other | 05/1917 | Williams took command of No. 1 Squadron with the rank of major. |
Date of recommendation honour or award | 1917 | |
Date of honour or award | 16/08/1917 | Distinguished Service Order (DSO), for rescuing a pilot shot down behind enemy lines. |
Date promoted | 06/1918 | Promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel and given command of 40 Wing, Royal Flying Corps. |
Date of recommendation honour or award | 1918 | |
Date returned to Australia | 10/1919 | Recalled to Australia for duty as Director of Air Services at Army Headquarters. |
Date of honour or award | 01/01/1919 | Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). |
Date returned to Australia | 30/10/1919 | |
Other | 1919 | Staff officer, aviation, at AIF Headquarters in London. |
Other | 11/1920 | Became senior member of the Air Board. |
Other | 1922 - 1939 | Became chief of air staff, RAAF. |
Other | 1923 | Graduated from the British Army Staff College in Camberley, England. |
Other | 1924 | Graduated from the RAF Staff College. |
Date promoted | 07/1925 | Promoted to captain. |
Date of honour or award | 03/06/1927 | Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). |
Other | 1933 | Graduated from the Imperial Defence College. |
Date of honour or award | 03/06/1935 | Companion of the Bath (CB). |
Date promoted | 1935 | Williams was appointed air vice marshal. |
Other | 02/1939 | Attached to Britain's Air Ministry as Air Officer in Charge of Administration of Coastal Command of the RAF. |
Date returned to Australia | 1940 | Returned to Australia with the rank of air marshal. |
Other | 12/1941 | He established Overseas Headquarters, RAAF, in London and became its commander. |
Other | 06/07/1942 | Went to Washington as the RAAF representative in with the Combined Chiefs of Staff. |
Other | 1946-06-11 - 1955-12-31 | Appointed Director-General of Civil Aviation. |
Other | 1946 | Transferred to the Retired List. |
Date of honour or award | 01/01/1954 | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). |
Date of death | 07/02/1980 | Melbourne, VIC |
Related information
Places
Subjects
Objects
Related Objects
- Portrait of Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE CB DSO, Royal Australian Air Force. Sir Richard ...
- Williams, Richard (Air Marshal, KBE, CB, DSO, RAAF)
- Portrait of Mr and Mrs Williams, the parents of Air Marshal Sir Richard (Dickie) Williams, ...
- Darge Photographic Company collection of negatives
- Point Cook RAAF Station
- "Father" [Sir Richard Williams] of RAAF revisits Point Cook
- Group portrait of an aircrew with Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams KBE CB DSO (second, left), ...
- Group portrait of early members Australian Flying Corps (AFC). They are standing in front of the ...
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- Sir Richard Williams KBE CB DSO stands by the CS.5 Deperdussin training aircraft on loan from the ...