George Mackinolty Air Vice Marshal George John William Mackinolty OBE ( 24 March 1895 – 24 February 1951 ) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) . Commencing his service in the Australian Flying Corps ( AFC ) as a mechanic during World War I , he rose to become the RAAF ' s chief logistics officer for more than twenty years . Mackinolty was born in Victoria and joined the AFC in 1914 . He first saw active duty the following year in the Middle East with No . 30 Squadron Royal Flying Corps ( formerly the Mesopotamian Half Flight ) . In 1916 he was mentioned in despatches and posted to No . 2 Squadron AFC . By the end of the war he had been commissioned a second lieutenant . Joining the newly formed RAAF in August 1921 , Mackinolty established himself as the service ' s senior logistician between the wars , first as Director of Transport and Equipment from 1929 to 1935 , and thereafter as Director of Equipment . He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1937 . Soon after the outbreak of World War II , he became Director of Supply and was promoted to group captain . In June 1942 he was raised to acting air commodore and appointed the Air Member for Supply and Equipment ( AMSE ) . Promoted to air vice marshal in 1948 , Mackinolty continued to serve as AMSE until his sudden death from cancer in February 1951 , aged fifty - five . Early life and World War I . Born on 24 March 1895 at Leongatha , Victoria , Mackinolty was the son of labourer James Mickleburg Mackinolty and his wife Mary . He went to public schools , obtaining his merit certificate before undertaking formal engineering and business courses in Melbourne . Commencing his working life as a coach and motor - body builder , he enlisted in the Australian Military Forces on 17 August 1914 , soon after the outbreak of World War I . His experience in motor transport resulted in a transfer as an air mechanic to Central Flying School ( CFS ) at Point Cook . Having gained a reputation for his skill with timber , he was promoted sergeant and given command of CFS ' s woodworking team . On 1 August 1915 , Mackinolty transferred to the Australian Imperial Force , to lead a team of thirteen other mechanics as reinforcements for an Australian Flying Corps contingent serving in the Mesopotamian campaign . He departed Melbourne nine days later aboard RMS " Persia " , and arrived at Basra on 1 September . Mackinolty ' s team immediately joined No . 30 Squadron Royal Flying Corps ( originally the Mesopotamian Half Flight AFC ) , which moved into the city of Kut after its capture by British Empire troops in the Battle of Es Sinn . The unit took part in the Battle of Ctesiphon in November , and organised supply drops to the British and Indian garrison in Kut during the siege that lasted from December 1915 until the following April . Promoted to flight sergeant , Mackinolty was mentioned in despatches on 19 October 1916 . When the Australian members of No . 30 Squadron were dispersed , he was posted to Kantara , Egypt , where he joined the newly established No . 2 Squadron AFC ( also numbered No . 68 Squadron RFC by the British ) . Commanded by Major Oswald Watt , the unit relocated to England in January 1917 . Following his service with No . 2 Squadron , Mackinolty was assigned to No . 5 ( Training ) Squadron AFC , which formed at Shawbury , Shropshire , in June 1917 . Praised for his organisational and leadership abilities , he was commissioned as an equipment officer in March 1918 , with the rank of second lieutenant . The following month he was given command of an aircraft repair unit in Minchinhampton , Gloucestershire , home of two squadrons of the AFC ' s 1st Training Wing . Between the wars . Mackinolty remained in England following the end of hostilities , serving as " officer in charge of Australian packing " at RAF Hendon , near London , from December 1919 to September 1920 . In this role he was responsible for crating and shipping to Point Cook the 128 aircraft and associated spares , weaponry , vehicles , hangars and other equipment that made up Britain ' s post - war Imperial Gift of Royal Air Force surplus to Australia , which eventually filled 19 , 000 cases . Mackinolty also completed formal training in aeronautical engineering before returning to Melbourne in October 1920 . Discharged from the AIF in January 1921 , he worked in the automotive industry and took a correspondence course on internal combustion engines . On 8 August 1921 , Mackinolty was commissioned as a flying officer in the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) . A member of the Stores and Accounting Branch , he commenced service with No . 1 Aircraft Depot at Point Cook in December . He was assigned to the staff of RAAF Headquarters , Melbourne , in 1924 . On 20 November that year , he married Eileen Moore at Christ Church , South Yarra ; the couple had a son and a daughter . In 1925 , Mackinolty was posted as Equipment Officer to No . 3 Squadron at the recently established RAAF Station Richmond , New South Wales . Promoted flight lieutenant , he was appointed Director of Transport and Equipment at RAAF Headquarters in 1929 , effectively making him the Air Force ' s senior supply officer , a role he would occupy for the next twenty - two years . His continuous tenure in essentially the one post was comparable to the RAAF ' s other chief logistician , Squadron Leader ( later Air Vice Marshal ) Ellis Wackett , who served as its senior engineer for twenty - four years , from 1935 to 1959 . Mackinolty ' s position became Director of Equipment in April 1935 . At around this time , he collaborated with Squadron Leader George Jones , then Director of Training , on an investigation into the state of aircraft production in Australia to highlight shortfalls in local defence in the face of possible future conflict with Japan . Though the report was reviewed enthusiastically by the Air Member for Personnel , Wing Commander Bill Anderson , it apparently went no further in the chain of command and thus was effectively ignored . Raised to squadron leader , Mackinolty was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the Coronation Honours on 11 May 1937 , in recognition of his achievements in stores and accounting . In February the following year he was promoted to wing commander . The punctilious Chief of the Air Staff , Air Vice Marshal Richard Williams , sometimes complained that Mackinolty did not pay enough attention to his personal appearance , but never failed to acknowledge his " professional excellence " . World War II and after . In April 1940 Mackinolty became Director of Supply , reporting to the Director - General of Supply and Production on the Air Board , the RAAF ' s controlling body . Responsible for all stores and equipment , Mackinolty also represented his service at the Federal Contract Board , Department of Supply , and Oil Board . He was promoted to temporary group captain in June that year . With the formation in 1942 of Allied Air Forces Headquarters , which assumed the operational functions of the Chief of the Air Staff , the Air Board was reorganised . The office of Air Member for Organisation and Equipment , once held by Air Marshal Richard Williams , was dissolved and replaced by that of the Air Member for Supply and Equipment ( AMSE ) . Promoted to acting air commodore , Mackinolty became the inaugural AMSE in June . Air Commodore Ellis Wackett became Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance at the same time . Norman Ashworth , in " How Not to Run an Air Force ! " , observed that splitting the logistical functions of the Air Board in this manner appeared to be a " uniquely Australian " experiment , and it was not inconceivable that the organisation had been " tailored " to suit these " two very capable officers " . Serving as AMSE for the remainder of the war , Mackinolty was credited with successfully managing the supply requirements of personnel and aircraft for an organisation that by 1945 had grown by a factor of fifty from its pre - war size , to become the world ' s fourth largest air force . Following the end of hostilities , Mackinolty was personally responsible for disposing of surplus equipment up to an original value of £500 , and jointly responsible ( with the Business and Finance Members of the Air Board ) for disposing of equipment valued between £500 and £10 , 000 . His duties as AMSE extended to setting the peacetime rations for RAAF personnel . In May 1946 , he joined the Australian Battlefields Memorial Committee , convened to advise the Federal government regarding commemoration of the armed forces for their wartime achievements . Later that year , Mackinolty visited British Commonwealth Occupation Force ( BCOF ) headquarters in Japan , and subsequently arranged for the RAAF to assume responsibility for the supply of spare parts to its air component , British Commonwealth Air Group ( BCAIR ) . He was raised to acting air vice marshal in January 1947 ( substantive in October 1948 ) . By this time , Mackinolty and the Chief of the Air Staff , No . 4 Squadron AFC veteran Air Vice Marshal George Jones , were the only remaining RAAF officers who had served in both world wars . Other senior commanders and veterans of the Australian Flying Corps had been summarily retired in 1946 , a " purge " that was ostensibly designed to make way for the advancement of younger and equally proficient officers . During 1947 , the RAAF prepared for the introduction of an apprentice engineering scheme . Against a harsh post - war economic climate , Mackinolty personally intervened to improve the planned accommodation for trainees , arguing that the youths could not be expected to live in the austere conditions to which other members of the Air Force were used . He further noted in his submission to the Minister for Air , Arthur Drakeford , that " the parents of apprentices will , from time to time , be permitted to visit their sons and it would be in the interest of both the Apprentice Scheme and the Service generally if all reasonable efforts were made to create a favourable impression in the minds of the parents " . Shortly after the first intake of engineer apprentices in January 1948 , Mackinolty formally proposed that a similar scheme be set up for apprenticeships in the supply and clerical trades . Although initially rejected by the Minister , after some refinements the plan eventually came to fruition three years later as the Junior Equipment and Administrative Training Scheme . In January 1951 , Mackinolty was struck down suddenly with cancer and admitted to hospital at RAAF Station Laverton , Victoria . He died there on 24 February , survived by his wife and children . At the time of his death , he had served for a decade as honorary treasurer of the Returned Sailors ' , Soldiers ' and Airmens ' Imperial League of Australia . He was succeeded as AMSE by Air Vice Marshal Joe Hewitt . Described by Air Force historian Alan Stephens as " the most significant logistics officer in the history of the RAAF " , Mackinolty was accorded an Air Force funeral with full honours at Bathurst Memorial Chapel , Elsternwick , and cremated at Springvale Crematorium .