text: john mccauley air marshal sir john patrick joseph mccauley , kbe , cb ( 18 march 1899 – 3 february 1989 ) was a senior commander in the royal australian air force ( raaf ) . he served as chief of the air staff from 1954 to 1957 . a duntroon graduate , mccauley spent four years in the australian military forces before transferring to the raaf in 1924 . he was director of training from 1936 to 1938 , and commanded engineering and flying training schools for the first eighteen months of world war ii . having been promoted to group captain in 1940 , he was posted to singapore in june 1941 to take charge of all raaf units defending the area . he earned praise for his efforts in attacking invading japanese forces before the fall of singapore , and for his dedication in evacuating his men . after serving as deputy chief of the air staff in 1942 – 44 , he was appointed to a senior operational role with the royal air force 's 2nd tactical air force in europe , where he saw out the rest of the war . following the end of hostilities , mccauley again became deputy chief of the air staff . in 1947 he was promoted to air vice marshal and appointed chief of staff at british commonwealth occupation force headquarters in japan . returning to australia in june 1949 , he served as the last air officer commanding ( aoc ) eastern area and the inaugural aoc home command ( now air command ) . raised to air marshal , he took up the position of chief of the air staff in january 1954 , and was knighted a year later . during his tenure in the raaf 's senior role , mccauley focused on potential deployments to southeast asia — particularly vietnam — and threats from the north , commencing redevelopment of raaf base darwin and recommending purchase of a light supersonic bomber to replace the air force 's english electric canberra . after retiring from military life in march 1957 , he chaired various community and welfare organisations , serving as federal president of the air force association for ten years . he died in sydney in 1989 , aged 89 . early career born in sydney on 18 march 1899 , mccauley went to school at st joseph 's college , hunters hill , before entering the royal military college , duntroon , in 1916 . he graduated as a lieutenant in 1919 , and spent the next four years in staff positions with the permanent military forces , including a posting to britain . in january 1924 , he transferred to the royal australian air force as a flying officer , undertaking the pilots ' course at raaf point cook , victoria . he was nicknamed " black jack " in tribute to his dark looks , but a " shaky reputation " as an aviator also earned him the epithet " crasher " . on 10 november 1925 , he married burke ; the couple had a son and two daughters . by 1926 , mccauley was back in britain , studying at the royal navy college , greenwich , and the raf armament and gunnery school . he returned to australia in 1928 , and was assigned to the staff of raaf headquarters , melbourne . promoted to squadron leader , mccauley was posted a third time to britain in 1933 , graduating from raf staff college , andover , and qualifying as a flight instructor at central flying school , wittering . the following year he was attached to the air ministry in london . returning to australia in 1935 , mccauley joined the raaf 's directorate of training . that september , he initiated a requirement for all air bases to draw up plans for local defence . he also inaugurated operational - level policy for the air force , ordering units to draft doctrine relevant to their combat roles , such as " striking " for no. 1 squadron and " army co - operation " for no. 3 squadron . described as " a great leader , with a great deal of force " , mccauley took over as director of training in 1936 . he gained his bachelor of commerce degree at melbourne university the same year , having studied part - time since 1929 . his tertiary qualification was unusual for a general duties officer in the pre - war air force , whose pilots generally " valued little beyond flying ability " . by 1939 he had been raised to wing commander and was commanding officer and chief flying instructor of the cadet wing at point cook . world war ii mccauley 's seniority and instructional experience kept him in australia on training assignments for the first eighteen months of world war ii . from march to october 1940 , he served as the inaugural commander of no. 1 engineering school at ascot vale , victoria . promoted to group captain , he then took over no. 1 service flying training school at point cook until july 1941 , when he handed over to wing commander elwyn king . during mccauley 's tenure , the number of aircraft operated by the school doubled from its initial complement of 52 , and monthly flying hours increased from fewer than 1 , 000 to more than 1 , 800 . during the malayan campaign in 1941 – 42 , mccauley was in charge of raaf units under britain 's far east air force ( feaf ) . as station commander at raf sembawang in north - east singapore from august 1941 , he personally supervised the training and operations of nos. 1 and 8 squadrons , flying lockheed hudson light bombers . he also warned air chief marshal sir robert brooke - popham , the feaf 's commander - in - chief , of the weaknesses of the allied air defences . deployed to forward bases on the malay peninsula , mccauley 's hudsons were the first allied aircraft to spot japanese troop transports converging off indochina on 6 december , and they attacked the fleet in the face of heavy defensive fire . by christmas , as the allies retreated from malaya , sembawang was " the busiest airfield on singapore island " , with two dutch glenn martin bomber squadrons in addition to the remnants of the hudson units , along with nos. 21 and 453 squadrons ( merged due to losses as no. 21 / 453 squadron ) , operating obsolescent brewster buffalos . on 29 january 1942 , mccauley took over airfield near palembang in sumatra , commanding all commonwealth air operations emanating from the base . with his available aircraft augmented by hawker hurricanes and bristol blenheims , he conducted attacks on enemy convoys before evacuating the area on 15 february 1942 , the day that singapore surrendered . after communications between himself and local raf group headquarters were cut , mccauley was left to his own devices to make final arrangements for the demolition of equipment and departure of staff . he had earlier intervened to prevent raf headquarters from dissolving no. 21 squadron and using its personnel as a labour force on sumatra , instead arranging their transport as a unit to batavia , where they subsequently embarked for australia . mccauley led the last party to depart palembang , and was praised for organising the safe passage back to australia of many commonwealth air force personnel . after his return to australia late in february 1942 , mccauley briefly served as senior air staff officer at north - western area headquarters in darwin , northern territory . he took up the position of deputy chief of the air staff ( dcas ) in may , and was appointed a commander of the order of the british empire ( cbe ) in the 1943 king 's birthday honours , promulgated on 2 june . the honour recognised the " courage , ability , and qualities of leadership " he displayed under " trying and difficult conditions during a period of service in the far east " . the following month , he was promoted to temporary air commodore . during an inspection of no. 10 group at nadzab in march 1944 , mccauley learned that unless the australian formation was able to increase its operational rate of effort , its units would be withdrawn from their forward airfields . as a result , raaf headquarters increased the supply of pilots and equipment to the group , which was then able to meet , and later exceed , the rate of effort achieved by comparable us fifth air force units . at around this time , he also instigated a research program to determine a suitable formula for rotating and relieving ground staff , as well as aircrew , in the tropics . completing his term as dcas , mccauley was posted to the european theatre in november 1944 , serving for the remainder of the war as air commodore ( operations ) , 2nd tactical air force raf ( 2nd taf ) . the british had actively sought him for this particular appointment , which he commenced in december at the formation 's brussels headquarters . the role involved him in the direction of over 70 commonwealth and european squadrons in operations against germany , and was " unique " for an raaf officer during the war . he left 2nd taf in july 1945 and returned to australia later that year . post - war career among a small coterie of wartime raaf commanders earmarked for further senior roles , mccauley retained his rank of air commodore following the cessation of hostilities . he served again as deputy chief of the air staff in 1946 – 47 . promoted to air vice marshal , he was chief of staff to lieutenant general horace robertson at british commonwealth occupation force headquarters in japan from june 1947 to june 1949 . in this post he was preceded and succeeded by two other duntroon graduates , air vice marshals frank bladin and alan charlesworth respectively . upon his return to australia , mccauley was made air officer commanding eastern area . during the malayan emergency , he formed raaf aircraft assigned for deployment into no. 90 ( composite ) wing , as directed by chief of the air staff air marshal george jones , to ensure that they would operate with a degree of autonomy rather than be dispersed throughout other allied groups . he was appointed a companion of the order of the bath ( cb ) in the 1951 birthday honours . in january 1952 , air marshal jones was succeeded by air marshal sir donald hardman of the royal air force . the decision by prime minister robert menzies to appoint a british officer as cas caused controversy in australia , compounded by his stated reason that there was " no raaf officer of sufficient age , or operational experience , to take the post of chief of the air staff " , which ignored the wartime records of figures like mccauley . hardman changed the structure of the air force from one based on geographical area to one based on function , hence mccauley 's eastern area command evolved into home command ( now air command ) in 1953 . promoted to air marshal , mccauley took over from hardman as chief of the air staff when the latter 's two - year appointment ended in january 1954 . according to official raaf historian alan stephens , mccauley was " just as ready to become cas in 1952 as he was in 1954 " , while a contemporary observer declared that " seldom has a better - equipped officer led a branch of the australian services " . he was the first of four former duntroon cadets to successively head up the air force between 1954 and 1969 , followed by air marshals frederick scherger , valston hancock , and alister murdoch . mccauley was raised to knight commander of the order of the british empire ( kbe ) in the 1955 new year honours . in october 1956 , he gave a presentation on air power concepts that was attended by prime minister menzies , as well as the other australian service chiefs . mccauley identified malaya and indochina , particularly vietnam , as likely areas for future raaf deployments , advocating a continued presence in singapore in view of its strategic importance to the defence of australia , as he had witnessed first - hand during world war ii . he also recommended that a supersonic light bomber replace the straight - winged and obsolescent english electric canberra , primarily for interdiction in southeast asia . mccauley 's tenure as cas saw the beginning of a trend for the raaf to equip with us aircraft types in preference to british types , with recommendations being put forward for the f - 104 starfighter ( though in the event the french dassault mirage iii was purchased ) and c - 130 hercules . this stemmed partly from his inspection of allied air force units during the korean war , when he observed that those employing american hardware were far better served with spare parts and replacement aircraft than those with british equipment . some of his senior commanders had urged replacing the canberra with avro vulcan heavy bombers , but mccauley did not pursue this option , preferring to concentrate in the short term on new fighter technology . he also made a point of supporting the australian aircraft industry wherever feasible . mccauley instigated the redevelopment of raaf base darwin in the northern territory as the first stage of a forward defence strategy . he aimed to make darwin the " main australian base for war " and a launching point for deployments to southeast asia , rather than simply a transit station . over the next ten years , no. 5 airfield construction squadron transformed the base 's runways , buildings and other infrastructure into a modern facility capable of handling major operations . this concept was taken another step by mccauley 's successor as cas , air marshal scherger , who conceived a series of front - line " bare bases " across northern australia , beginning with plans for raaf base tindal in 1959 . alan stephens later described mccauley and scherger as " among the raaf 's better chiefs " . later life after his retirement from the raaf on 18 march 1957 , mccauley became active in community welfare organisations , chairing campaigns for the national heart foundation , freedom from hunger , the royal humane society , and the cancer council in the late 1950s and early 1960s . from 1964 until 1974 , he served as federal president of the air force association . in this role he endorsed the initial proposal , featuring monumental statues of airmen and ground crew , for the royal australian air force memorial to be located on anzac parade , canberra . the design ultimately approved by the final selection panel , however , was an abstract sculpture that was subsequently described as reflecting a " comprehensive failure to understand the nature of air force service " . mccauley visited raaf units in vietnam in october 1966 . in 1970 , he played a leading role in organising the australian services council ( later the australian veterans and defence services council ) to co - ordinate lobbying efforts for various veterans ' groups , and became its first chairman . he was also president of the good neighbour council of new south wales from 1966 to 1975 . aged 89 , mccauley died in sydney 's st vincent 's hospital on 3 february 1989 , following a stroke . he was survived by his three children ; his wife had died two years earlier .