Frank Headlam Air Vice Marshal Frank Headlam CB , CBE ( 15 July 1914 – 23 December 1976 ) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) . Born and educated in Tasmania , he joined the RAAF as an air cadet in January 1934 . He specialised in flying instruction and navigation prior to the outbreak of World War II . In April 1941 , he became commanding officer of No . 2 Squadron , which operated Lockheed Hudson s . The squadron deployed to Dutch Timor in December , and saw action against Japanese forces in the South West Pacific . After returning to Australia in February 1942 , Headlam held staff appointments and training commands , finishing the war a group captain . Headlam served as Officer Commanding North - Western Area in 1946 , and as Director of Training from 1947 to 1950 . In 1950 – 51 , during the Malayan Emergency , he was stationed at Singapore as commander of No . 90 ( Composite ) Wing and , later , RAF Tengah . He twice served as acting Air Member for Personnel , in 1957 and 1959 – 60 , receiving appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1958 . Promoted air vice marshal , he successively held the positions of Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) Operational Command in 1961 – 62 , AOC No . 224 Group RAF from 1962 to 1965 during the Indonesia – Malaysia " Konfrontasi " , Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1965 – 66 , and AOC Support Command in 1966 – 67 . He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1965 . Following a posting to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff from 1968 to 1971 , he retired from the Air Force and died in Melbourne five years later . Early career . The son of farmers Malcolm and Hilda Headlam , Frank Headlam was born on 15 July 1914 in Launceston , Tasmania . He was schooled at Clemes College , Hobart , and matriculated in 1932 . Against the wishes of his parents he joined the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) as an air cadet on 16 January 1934 . He underwent flying instruction with No . 1 Flying Training School ( FTS ) at RAAF Point Cook , Victoria , and was commissioned as a pilot officer on 1 January 1935 . After completing a conversion course , Headlam was assigned to the Seaplane Squadron at Point Cook . No larger than a flight according to the official history of the pre - war RAAF , Seaplane Squadron was part of No . 1 FTS and operated Supermarine Southampton flying boats and de Havilland Gipsy Moth floatplanes , among other types . During this posting Headlam was promoted to flying officer , on 1 July , and wrote a paper on national defence in which he suggested that with " strong air forces , naval forces ( including submarines ) , and fixed defences , Australia may be made practically invulnerable " . According to Air Force historian Alan Stephens , this paper " in effect , defined the ' anti - lodgment ' concept which has been a persistent feature of RAAF strategic thinking " . Headlam completed a flying instructors course in July 1936 and joined the staff of No . 1 FTS . He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 1 March 1937 . Commencing in July 1938 , he was one of six students to take part in the RAAF ' s first Long Specialist Navigation Course , run by Flight Lieutenants Bill Garing and Alister Murdoch at Point Cook . The course involved several epic training flights that attracted considerable media attention , including a twelve - day , round - Australia trip by three Avro Anson s , one of which was piloted by Headlam , in November . The following month , Headlam led the three Ansons on a six - day journey back and forth over Central Australia . He subsequently passed the navigation course with a special distinction . On 27 January 1939 he was posted to RAAF Station Laverton , Victoria , as a flight commander . He served initially with No . 2 Squadron , before transferring to No . 1 Squadron on 29 August . Both units operated Ansons . World War II . Following the outbreak of World War II , No . 1 Squadron was engaged in convoy escort and maritime reconnaissance duties off south - eastern Australia . Headlam continued to serve with the squadron as a flight commander until 15 January 1940 , when he was assigned to Headquarters Laverton as the station navigation officer . On 27 March he was posted to the staff of RAAF Headquarters , Melbourne . He was promoted to squadron leader on 1 June 1940 . Two weeks later he married Katherine Bridge at St Paul ' s Anglican Church in Frankston ; the couple would have a son and a daughter . Headlam was given command of No . 2 Squadron at Laverton on 15 April 1941 , and raised to wing commander on 1 July . Equipped with Lockheed Hudson s , the squadron mainly conducted maritime patrols in southern waters until 5 December , when four of its aircraft were ordered to Darwin , Northern Territory , in response to fears of Japanese aggression in the Pacific . On 7 December , this detachment established itself at Penfui , near Koepang in Dutch Timor , while No . 2 Squadron ' s eight remaining Hudsons were stationed at Darwin on standby . The following day , aware that Australia was now at war in the Pacific , one of the Penfui - based Hudsons attacked the Japanese pearler " Nanyo Maru " , which was suspected of being a radio ship , and forced it aground . By 12 December , Headlam had transferred to Penfui as commanding officer of the base , as well as No . 2 Squadron . During January 1942 , No . 2 Squadron ' s aircraft were dispersed at Penfui , Boeroe Island , and Darwin . The Penfui detachment attacked Japanese shipping taking part in the invasion of Celebes . Two Hudsons shot down or damaged three Japanese floatplanes that attacked them as they were bombing a transport ship on 11 January ; the next day both Hudsons were themselves shot down by Mitsubishi Zeros . Penfui was bombed by the Japanese for the first time on 26 January 1942 , and attacked regularly thereafter , damaging some aircraft . The intact Hudsons were withdrawn to Darwin but Headlam and his staff remained at Penfui to enable the base to be used by aircraft during reconnaissance missions from Australia . On 18 February , Headlam was ordered to evacuate all his personnel except a small party to demolish the airfield with assistance from Sparrow Force . He returned to Darwin the following day , just as the city experienced its first raid by the Japanese . Four of No . 2 Squadron ' s Hudsons were destroyed in the attack ; the remainder were relocated to Daly Waters , where they continued to carry out reconnaissance and bombing missions against Japanese targets in Timor . Headlam remained in Darwin as Controller of Operations at Headquarters North - Western Area until 12 May 1942 , when he was posted to Nhill , Victoria , as commanding officer of No . 2 Air Navigation School , operating Ansons . No . 97 ( Reserve ) Squadron was formed from the school ' s personnel in June . On 20 July 1943 , Headlam took command of No . 2 Air Observer School ( AOS ) , also operating Ansons , at Mount Gambier , South Australia . He was promoted to group captain on 1 December 1943 , and was appointed commanding officer of No . 3 AOS at Port Pirie on 9 December . After handing over command of No . 3 AOS , he commenced studies at RAAF Staff School in Mount Martha , Victoria , on 2 October 1944 . He was appointed senior administrative staff officer at North - Western Area Command on 12 January 1945 . Post - war career . Headlam became Officer Commanding North - Western Area in January 1946 . Posted to Britain at the end of the year , he attended the Royal Air Force Staff College , Andover , and served with RAAF Overseas Headquarters , London . On his return to Australia , in November 1947 , he became Director of Training at RAAF Headquarters . In November 1950 , Headlam was appointed to take over command of No . 90 ( Composite ) Wing from Group Captain Paddy Heffernan . Headquartered at RAF Changi , Singapore , No . 90 Wing controlled RAAF units operating during the Malayan Emergency : No . 1 ( Bomber ) Squadron , flying Avro Lincoln s , and No . 38 ( Transport ) Squadron , flying Douglas C - 47 Dakotas . The Lincolns conducted area bombing missions over communist - held territory , as well as strikes against pinpoint targets . The Dakotas were tasked with airlifting cargo , VIPs , troops and casualties , as well as supply drops to friendly forces and despatch of propaganda leaflets . Headlam was slightly injured on 20 December , when a No . 38 Squadron Dakota he was co - piloting on a supply drop crash - landed at Kampong Aur in Pahang , following engine failure . In August 1951 he was named commander of RAF Tengah , Singapore , in addition to his post as commanding officer of No . 90 Wing . Headlam handed over command of No . 90 Wing in December 1951 . On 19 February 1952 , Headlam became senior air staff officer ( SASO ) at Eastern Area Command in Penrith , New South Wales . During his term as SASO , the RAAF began re - equipping with English Electric Canberra jet bombers and CAC Sabre jet fighters . The Air Force also underwent a major organisational change , as it transitioned from a geographically based command - and - control system to one based on function , resulting in the establishment of Home ( operational ) , Training , and Maintenance Commands . Eastern Area Command , considered a " de facto " operational headquarters owing to the preponderance of combat units under its control , was reorganised as Home Command in October 1953 . Headlam was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) in the 1954 New Year Honours for his " exceptional ability and devotion to duty " . He was promoted to acting air commodore in May . His appointment as aide - de - camp to Queen Elizabeth II was announced on 7 October 1954 . Headlam was promoted to substantive air commodore on 1 January 1955 . In November he was posted to RAAF Overseas Headquarters , London , and the following year undertook studies at the Imperial Defence College . Returning to Australia , he served as acting Air Member for Personnel at the Department of Air , Canberra , from 19 March to 21 October 1957 , between the terms of Air Vice Marshals Fred Scherger and Allan Walters , and again from 24 August 1959 to 28 March 1960 , between the terms of Walters and Air Vice Marshal Bill Hely . In this role Headlam occupied a seat on the Air Board , the service ' s controlling body that comprised its senior officers and was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff . He was also one of two RAAF members to serve on a committee , chaired by businessman William John Allison , examining conditions of defence service ; the committee ' s recommendations led to a doubling of flight pay , among other improvements . Headlam ' s other positions at the Department of Air included Air Commodore Plans from October 1957 to January 1959 , and Director General Plans and Policy from January to August 1959 . The latter assignment put him in charge of the RAAF ' s Directorate of Intelligence . Headlam was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) in the 1958 Queen ' s Birthday Honours , gazetted on 3 June . In May 1960 he became acting Deputy Chief of the Air Staff . On 30 January 1961 , Headlam joined the staff of Operational Command ( OPCOM ) , the successor organisation to Home Command , responsible for the direction of RAAF operational units . He took over as Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) OPCOM from Air Vice Marshal Val Hancock in April . Headlam was promoted to air vice marshal on 29 May . On 17 July 1962 , he was posted to RAAF Base Butterworth , Malaya , and took up the appointment of AOC No . 224 Group RAF in Singapore one week later . He was succeeded as AOC OPCOM by Air Vice Marshal Alister Murdoch . As AOC No . 224 Group , Headlam had overall responsibility for regional air defence and offensive air operations during the Brunei Rebellion in December 1962 , and the subsequent " Konfrontasi " between Indonesia and Malaysia that officially began the following month . Divorced from his first wife in 1956 , he married widowed social worker Vernon Spence at the Sydney registry office on 20 January 1964 . He handed over No . 224 Group to Air Vice Marshal Christopher Foxley - Norris on 30 November . Returning to Australia , Headlam became Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ( DCAS ) on 26 January 1965 . He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) " in recognition of distinguished service in the Borneo Territories " on 22 June . His tenure as DCAS coincided with the most significant rearmament program the Air Force had undertaken since World War II , and manpower shortages stemming from Australia ' s increasing involvement in the security of South East Asia . The first RAAF helicopters were committed to the Vietnam War towards the end of his term , and he travelled to Saigon with the Chief of the General Staff , Lieutenant General Sir John Wilton , in March 1966 to plan the deployment . The year before , Wilton had recommended to Air Marshal Murdoch , the Chief of the Air Staff , that two Iroquois be sent to Vietnam for familiarisation purposes ; Murdoch had rebuffed Wilton , and the RAAF helicopter squadron was considered underprepared for its army co - operation role when it finally did deploy . Headlam succeeded Air Vice Marshal Douglas Candy as AOC Support Command , Melbourne , on 8 August 1966 . Support Command had been formed in 1959 , by merging the RAAF ' s former Training and Maintenance Commands . On 1 January 1968 , Headlam was posted to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff . He served as an Extra Gentleman Usher to the Queen from 17 November 1970 to 5 June 1971 . Retirement . Returning to Australia in June 1971 , Headlam took resettlement leave before retiring from the Air Force on 3 August . He made his home in Melbourne , where he died aged 62 on 23 December 1976 , after a lengthy battle with cancer . Survived by his children and his second wife , he was given a private funeral and cremated at Springvale Crematorium .