page_title: George Jones (RAAF officer)
section_title: Rise to Chief of the Air Staff
hierarchical_section_title: George Jones (RAAF officer) / World War II / Rise to Chief of the Air Staff
caption_attribution_description: AWM Caption: "1942-05-12. AIR VICE-MARSHAL G. JONES, D.F.C. NEW CHIEF OF THE AUSTRALIAN AIR STAFF (LEFT) WITH AIR VICE-MARSHAL W.D. BOSTOCK RAAF, CHIEF OF STAFF TO LIEUT.-GENERAL GEORGE H. BRETT (CENTRE) AND AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SIR CHARLES BURNETT (RIGHT) FORMER CHIEF OF AUSTRALIAN AIR STAFF".
context_page_description: Air Marshal Sir George Jones, KBE, CB, DFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He rose from private soldier in World War I to air marshal in 1948, and served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief. Jones was a surprise appointee to the Air Force's top role, and his achievements in the position were coloured by a divisive relationship during World War II with his nominal subordinate, the head of RAAF Command, Air Vice-Marshal William Bostock.
  During World War I, Jones saw action as an infantryman in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915, before transferring to the Australian Flying Corps a year later. Originally a mechanic, he undertook flying training in 1917 and was posted to a fighter squadron in France. He achieved seven victories to become an ace, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a short spell in civilian life following World War I, he joined the newly formed RAAF in 1921, and rose steadily through training and personnel commands prior to World War II.
context_section_description: Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, on 1 December 1939, Jones was raised to temporary group captain. In March 1940, he returned to the position of Director of Training and assumed responsibility for Australia's part in the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), establishing many schools, acquiring hundreds of aircraft, and overseeing the training of thousands of airmen. The RAAF's Central Flying School was reformed in April 1940 to meet the vital requirement for additional flying instructors, whose numbers would grow from 16 in the first year of the war to 3,600 by 1945. His performance in this role led to Jones being promoted to acting air commodore on 21 February 1941, and appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1942 New Year Honours for "diligence, devotion to duty and perseverance of outstanding merit".
  On 5 May 1942, Jones was appointed Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), the RAAF's senior position. He was considered an unlikely choice, a contemporary newspaper describing him as "the darkest of dark horses". Jones was still only a substantive wing commander and acting air commodore when he succeeded to the role, leapfrogging several more senior officers including his friend Bill Bostock, now an air vice-marshal and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. Bostock, thought to be "among the Air Force's best brains" at the time, was believed by himself (and Jones) to be the leading candidate for the position. The suggestion even arose that Jones' selection was a mistake, based on the government's reading of an organisation chart that implied he was the RAAF's most senior officer after Bostock, when in fact he was ranked six places below.
  Other potential appointees had included Air Marshal Richard Williams and Air Vice-Marshal Peter Drummond. Williams, however, had been out of favour since his dismissal from the position of CAS in the wake of the Ellington Report criticising RAAF flying safety in 1939, while Drummond was not released from his position as Deputy Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Middle East. Bostock was first choice of the incumbent CAS, Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, but the latter's ill-concealed contempt for John Curtin's Federal Labor government helped ensure that his preference was ignored. Although he admitted to being "stunned" by the decision, Jones himself had the ambition and a reasonable expectation of becoming CAS at some point in his career; it simply happened "much sooner than I anticipated". Jones had proved his organisational abilities directing EATS, and believed that this was a significant factor in his appointment. His working class origin has also been cited as contributing to his suitability to a Labor government.
caption: Newly appointed Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Vice Marshal George Jones (left) with Air Vice-Marshal Bill Bostock (centre) and outgoing CAS Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, May 1942
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