page_title: George Jones (RAAF officer)
section_title: The "Interim Air Force"
hierarchical_section_title: George Jones (RAAF officer) / Post-war career / The "Interim Air Force"
caption_attribution_description: AWM Caption: Japan: Tokyo Bay. 2 September 1945. Australian delegates at the Japanese surrender ceremony on board USS Missouri. Left to right: (back row) Captain J. Balfour Lieutenant Colonel D. H. Dwyer Air Vice Marshal G. Jones Lieutenant General F. H. Berryman Commodore J. A. Collins Front row: Rear Admiral George Moore General Sir Thomas Blamey (who signed for Australia) Air Vice Marshal W. D. Bostock
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: Along with Bostock, Jones represented the RAAF at the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri in September 1945. With Jones' concurrence, Bostock and other senior commanders were summarily retired in 1946, in Bostock's case for "inability to work in harmony with certain other high ranking RAAF officers". The CAS oversaw planning for the demobilisation of thousands of RAAF personnel and the creation of a peacetime service, known as the "Interim Air Force". When he was eventually promoted air marshal in 1948 the RAAF was made up of approximately 8,000 staff, compared to 175,000—the world's fourth largest air force—he had commanded in 1945 as air vice-marshal. Believing that wastage was reaching a critical point, Jones proposed recruiting women into a new service to replace the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force that had been disbanded in September 1946.  Blocked initially by the Labor government of the day, it came into being in 1950 as the Women's Royal Australian Air Force, following the election of Robert Menzies' Liberal Party in December 1949.
  Concurrently with demobilisation, Jones shaped the RAAF's "Plan D", adopted in 1947. It outlined the service's post-war organisation and requirements, which included 16 squadrons flying technologically advanced aircraft. This basic structure remained in place for the next 20 years. In 1949, Jones visited the UK with a team of advisors and recommended the English Electric Canberra jet to replace the RAAF's Avro Lincoln piston-engined bombers. Entering service in 1953, the Canberras ultimately equipped three Squadrons, operating with distinction in the Vietnam War and continuing to fly until 1982. Other enduring types purchased under Jones' tenure as CAS included the CAC Sabre, P-2 Neptune and CAC Winjeel. He still enjoyed flying and made an effort to pilot each new type as it entered service, including the de Havilland Vampire jet, but his irregular turns in the cockpit meant that his skills were generally found wanting.
caption: Jones (back, middle) and Bostock (front, right) with General Sir Thomas Blamey (front, centre) and other Australian delegates at the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri, September 1945
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