What key details about valston hancock can be extracted from the following bio? Bio: air marshal sir valston eldridge -lrb- val -rrb- hancock , kbe , cb , dfc -lrb- 31 may 1907 -- 29 september 1998 -rrb- was a senior commander in the royal australian air force -lrb- raaf -rrb- . he served as chief of the air staff from 1961 to 1965 . a graduate of the royal military college , duntroon , hancock transferred to the raaf in 1929 and qualified as a pilot . his administrative training at duntroon saw him primarily occupy staff posts , including deputy director of operations and intelligence at raaf headquarters from 1931 to 1935 , and director of works and buildings from 1937 to 1939 . during the early years of world war ii , he commanded no. 1 bombing and gunnery school , and held senior planning and administrative positions . he eventually saw combat in the aitape -- wewak campaign of the pacific war during 1945 . flying bristol beaufort light bombers , he led first no. 100 squadron , and later no. 71 wing . his actions earned him the distinguished flying cross . after the war , hancock became the inaugural commandant of raaf college . his subsequent positions included deputy chief of the air staff from 1951 to 1953 , air member for personnel from 1953 to 1955 , and air officer commanding -lrb- aoc -rrb- no. 224 group raf in malaya , responsible for all commonwealth air forces in the region , from 1957 to 1959 . appointed a companion of the order of the bath in 1958 , he served as aoc raaf operational command from 1959 to 1961 , before being promoted to air marshal and commencing his term as chief of the air staff . he was knighted in 1962 . in his role as the air force 's senior officer , hancock initiated redevelopment of raaf base learmonth in north western australia , as part of a chain of forward airfields for the defence of the continent . he also evaluated potential replacements for the raaf 's english electric canberra bomber , selecting the american '' tfx '' -lrb- later the general dynamics f-111 -rrb- as the most suitable for australia 's needs , though he did not recommend its...
- commands is no. 100 squadron -lrb- 1945 -rrb- no. 71 wing -lrb- 1945 1 -rrb- raaf college -lrb- 1947 -- 49 -rrb- no. 224 bags group raf -lrb- 1957 -- 59 -rrb- operational command -lrb- -lrb- 1959 -- 61 -rrb- chief of the air staff -lrb- 1940 1961 -- 65 -rrb- -- 41 -rrb- no.- birth date is 31 may 1907- branch is royal australian air force- relations is lang hancock -lrb- cousin -rrb-- alt is informal uniform , seated at a desk half portrait of moustachioed man in dark military- caption is group captain val hancock , 1942- death date is 29 september 1998- awards is knight companion of the order of the bath distinguished flying cross commander of the order of the british empire- serviceyears is 1925 -- 65- unit is raaf command -lrb- 1943 -- 44 -rrb- command -lrb- 1942 -- 43 -rrb- western area- name is valston eldridge -lrb- val -rrb- hancock- laterwork is co-founder , australia defence association- death place is perth , western australia- birth place is perth , western australia- battles is world war ii- allegiance is australia- image is 012252hancock.jpg- rank is air marshal