Frank Bladin | |
|---|---|
 Air Commodore Bladin in 1943 | |
| Nickname(s) | Dad |
| Born | (1898-08-26)26 August 1898 Korumburra, Victoria |
| Died | 2 February 1978(1978-02-02) (aged 79) Melbourne |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Service years | 1920–1953 |
| Rank | Air Vice-Marshal |
| Unit |
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| Commands |
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| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
| Other work | |
Air Vice-MarshalFrancis Masson Bladin,CB, CBE (26 August 1898 – 2 February 1978) was a senior commander in theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in ruralVictoria, he graduated from theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, in 1920. Bladin transferred from theArmy to the Air Force in 1923, and learned to fly atRAAF Point Cook, Victoria. He held training appointments before taking command ofNo. 1 Squadron in 1934. Quiet but authoritative, he was nicknamed "Dad" in tribute to the concern he displayed for the welfare of his personnel.[1]
Rankedwing commander at the outbreak of World War II, by September 1941 Bladin had been raised to temporaryair commodore. He becameAir Officer CommandingNorth-Western Area in March 1942, following the firstJapanese air raids onDarwin, Northern Territory. Personally leadingsorties against enemy territory, he earned the United StatesSilver Star for gallantry. In July 1943, Bladin was posted toNo. 38 Group RAF in Europe, where he wasmentioned in despatches. He was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire the same year.
Promoted to actingair vice-marshal in 1946, Bladin was among the coterie of senior officers who helped shape the post-war RAAF. His roles in the late 1940s and early 1950s included chief of staff of theBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, Air Officer CommandingEastern Area (laterRAAF Air Command), andAir Member for Personnel. Appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in 1950, he retired to his country property in 1953, but remained active in veterans' affairs.
Francis Masson Bladin was born on 26 August 1898 inKorumburra, Victoria, the youngest son of engineer Frederick Bladin and his wife Ellen.[2][3] Educated to junior public level atMelbourne High School, Frank sought to join theAustralian Imperial Force during World War I. His parents refused their permission, and he instead entered theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, in 1917.[4][5] Graduating in 1920, Bladin served for the next two years in theAustralian Army, including sixteen monthsseconded to theRoyal Field Artillery in Britain.[2][6]
In January 1923 Bladin transferred to the recently establishedRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as aflying officer.[4][5] He undertook pilot training atPoint Cook, Victoria, where he was among five former Armylieutenants on the inaugural RAAF flying course—all of whom had left their original service in part because of poor career prospects in the post-war army. One of Bladin's other classmates on the course was a 1919 graduate of theRoyal Australian Naval College, Sub-LieutenantJoe Hewitt.[7] During 1925–26, Bladin was in charge of running Citizens Air Force (reserve) pilots' courses atNo. 1 Flying Training School, Point Cook.[8] Having been promoted toflight lieutenant, he married Patricia Magennis atYass, New South Wales, on 20 December 1927; the couple had a son and two daughters.[3][9]
Bladin was posted to Britain in 1929 to attendRAF Staff College, Andover, and wrote an article on Empire air defence in 1931 forRoyal Air Force Quarterly, one of the few published pieces of work on air power produced by RAAF officers in the pre-war years.[10] Promoted tosquadron leader, he took over ascommanding officer ofNo. 1 Squadron from Squadron LeaderFrank Lukis in April 1934.[11] Bladin found that the unit, flyingWestland Wapitis andHawker Demons out ofRAAF Station Laverton in Victoria, "had not operated under field conditions away from its brick hangars and concrete tarmac since its inception some eight years previous". He proceeded to change this, deploying the squadron 300 miles away toCootamundra in ruralNew South Wales, where he "borrowed a portion of a sheep station from a friend so that the pilots could carry out their bombing practice" over a two-week period commencing in late November 1935.[12]
After completing his tenure with No. 1 Squadron in December 1935,[11] Bladin was appointedOfficer Commanding Cadet Squadron at No. 1 Flying Training School. He modelled the squadron's training course on that of Duntroon, foreshadowing instruction at the Air Force's own cadet institute,RAAF College,[13] which would be established in 1947.[14] On 12 March 1937, he was promoted towing commander.[2]
Bladin's first posting following the outbreak of World War II was as Director of Operations and Intelligence at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne, in March 1940. Promoted togroup captain in June, he becameAir Officer Commanding (AOC)Southern Area in August 1941 and was raised to actingair commodore the following month.[2][4] By 1 January 1942, Bladin was serving as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations), charged with readying air bases and putting into effect plans for theEmpire Air Training Scheme.[15][16] He took over as AOCNorth-Western Area (NWA) on 25 March that year.[17]
Based inDarwin, Bladin's role as AOC NWA was to conduct the air defence ofTorres Strait, theNorthern Territory, and northWestern Australia.[1] He also had to restore morale following thebombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 and deal with the threat of imminent invasion, tasks complicated by the poor state of local communications, transport and early warning systems.[1][17] Initiating combat training for all RAAF ground crew, Bladin constructed secondary airfields so he could disperse his forces. He became, in the words of historian Alan Stephens, "the RAAF's outstanding area commander of the war", and earned distinction as the first Australian decorated by the United States in thePacific theatre of operations when he was awarded theSilver Star for gallantry.[1] The cited action took place in June when Bladin personally led a raid by USB-17 Flying Fortresses onCelebes in theDutch East Indies. As well as destroying machines on the ground and damaging infrastructure, the Allied bombers managed to evade an attack by nine Japanese fighters during their return to base.[2] Bladin's award was recommended in September, and promulgated in theAustralian Gazette on 23 November 1944.[18][19]
By December 1942, Bladin's strength in NWA consisted of seven RAAF squadrons operating mainlyBristol Beaufighter andP-40 Kittyhawk fighters,Lockheed Hudson light bombers, andA-31 Vengeance dive bombers. These were soon augmented by one squadron each of Dutch East IndiesB-25 Mitchell medium bombers and USB-24 Liberator heavy bombers.[20] As Japanese air raids continued into 1943, Bladin placed his bombers inland, and his fighters close to the coast where they could intercept the raiders.[21] Appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1943,[22] he stepped up offensive strikes against island bases and shipping in theTimor andArafura Seas as the Allies took the fight to the Japanese.[1] He often employed his own judgement in the selection of targets, as detailed directives from superior headquarters were not always forthcoming.[16] On 27 February, acting on intercepted radio transmissions, he launched a pre-emptive raid on Penfui airfield, nearKoepang onTimor, which destroyed or damaged twenty-two Japanese bombers that had been destined to make a major raid on Darwin.[20]
To help protect northern Australia from ongoing air attack, three squadrons ofSpitfire fighters were transferred from the United Kingdom in late 1942, becoming operational in March 1943 asNo. 1 Fighter Wing.[20] Amajor engagement over Darwin on 2 May resulted in eight Spitfires crashing and several others making forced landings, for the destruction of one Japanese bomber and five fighters. An adverse communiqué concerning the action was issued from GeneralDouglas MacArthur's headquarters and was picked up by Australian newspapers, which reported the Spitfires' "heavy losses" and caused resentment in NWA. Bladin complained to his superior, Air Vice-MarshalBill Bostock, that the "alarmist tendency of the press and radio references was having a bad effect on the combat pilots". He also ordered an immediate Beaufighter strike led by Wing CommanderCharles Read against Penfui airfield, on the assumption that this was where the Japanese raiders were based; four aircraft were destroyed on the ground.[23]
On 17 June 1943, under the command of Group CaptainClive Caldwell, No. 1 Fighter Wing recorded NWA's most successful interception to date, claiming fourteen Japanese raiders destroyed and ten damaged, for the loss of two Spitfires.[24] The380th Bombardment Group USAAF, consisting of four squadrons of Liberators, came under Bladin's control the same month, enhancing NWA's strategic strike capability.[25] When Bladin handed over North-Western Area to Air Vice-MarshalAdrian Cole in July 1943, the latter reported that his new command was "well organised, keen and in good shape".[26]
Posted to England as senior air staff officer (SASO) ofNo. 38 Group RAF, Bladin was closely involved in training aircrew and planning airborne operations forOperation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France.[27] He flew a mission on D-Day, 6 June 1944, to deliver glider-borne troops toNormandy, and wasmentioned in despatches two days later.[4][28] Completing his RAF service on the staff of theSecond Tactical Air Force in France, Bladin returned to Australia to becomeDeputy Chief of the Air Staff in October 1944.[2][4] On two occasions in June 1945, he was considered for the position of AOCRAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational formation in the South West Pacific. Bladin would have replaced Bostock, who was facing disciplinary action for refusing to comply with directives from theAir Board, the RAAF's controlling body, but in the end the Australian government made no change to command arrangements.[29]
The RAF had planned to deploy an airborne formation, No. 238 (Airborne Assault) Group, to the Pacific theatre and requested Bladin be released from his duties as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff to assume its command, but this was cancelled with the end of hostilities in August 1945. His next posting was toKure, Japan, in January 1946, as chief of staff to Lieutenant GeneralJohn Northcott, commander of theBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). Northcott reportedly chose Bladin not only for his operational command and staff experience in the RAAF and the RAF during World War II, but for his pedigree as a Duntroon graduate rather than having a purely Air Force background.[30] Promoted actingair vice-marshal on 1 March 1946, Bladin handed over to another Duntroon graduate, Air Vice-MarshalJohn McCauley, in June 1947.[2][30] After returning to Australia, Bladin was to figure prominently, along with such figures as McCauley, Air Commodore Hewitt and Air CommodoreFrederick Scherger, in shaping the post-war Air Force.[31]
Bladin's next command wasEastern Area, which would evolve over the years into Home Command, Operational Command and, finally,Air Command.[2][32] His acting rank of air vice-marshal was made substantive on 1 October 1948.[2][33] As AOC Eastern Area, Bladin was instrumental in organising the acquisition of a new site for his then-headquarters atBradfield Park on Sydney'sNorth Shore, namely the former Lapstone Hotel atGlenbrook in theBlue Mountains. Subsequently known as Headquarters Operational Command, laterHeadquarters Air Command, the site was purchased in mid-1949, and became operational at the end of the year. As well as commanding a view of the surrounding countryside, the property was within five kilometres (three miles) of theCity of Penrith and thirty kilometres (twenty miles) ofRAAF Station Richmond, and incorporated a disused railway tunnel that offered, according to government correspondence, "complete protection fromAtom Bomb attack".[32]
Bladin became Air Member for Personnel (AMP) on 24 November 1948; this position gave him a seat on the Air Board, which consisted of the RAAF's most senior officers and was chaired by theChief of the Air Staff. He succeeded Hewitt, and worked to consolidate the innovations in Air Force education and training that the latter had initiated.[34][35]RAAF Staff College opened in June 1949 at Point Cook, providing an advanced defence course aimed at squadron leaders and wing commanders; international facilities were also utilised to further officers' education.[36] In October, Bladin became involved in the push for a training scheme to offer apprenticeships to clerical and supply staff, which was established two years later.[37] He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in theKing's Birthday Honours announced in June 1950.[38]
In 1951, inspired by a similar initiative in state education, Bladin sponsored a move to have RAAF education officers augment theirdegree qualifications with formalteaching credentials.[39] Over the following year, in response to increased demands for aircrew to meet Australia's commitments to theMalayan Emergency and theKorean War, pilot training was broken out from a single all-encompassing course at No. 1 Flying Training School (No. 1 FTS) in Point Cook, Victoria, into separate courses at the newly formedNo. 1 Initial Flying Training School atArcherfield, Queensland,No. 1 Basic Flying Training School atUranquinty, New South Wales, and No. 1 Applied Flying Training School (re-formed from No. 1 FTS) at Point Cook.[40]
Bladin retired from the Air Force on 15 October 1953, and was succeeded as AMP by Air Vice-MarshalVal Hancock.[41][42] Shortly after leaving the Air Force, Bladin donated an eponymous trophy for the service's best-performingAvro Lincoln unit in bombing and aerial gunnery competition.[43] He ran agrazing property, which henamedAdastra, at Yass, just north of theAustralian Capital Territory. Between 1951 and 1954, and again from 1956 to 1969, he also served as treasurer of the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia, which became theReturned Services League in 1965. In the early 1960s he helped raise funds for building theAnzac Memorial Chapel of St Paul at his old college, Duntroon. Bladin died in Melbourne on 2 February 1978, survived by his three children. His wife, who was involved in the support of veterans' families and other community work, had died earlier. Accorded an Air Force funeral at the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel inDeepdene, Bladin was buried atSpringvale, Victoria.[2]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Air CommodoreDouglas Wilson | Air Officer CommandingNorth-Western Area 1942–1943 | Succeeded by Air Vice-MarshalAdrian Cole |
| Preceded by Air CommodoreJohn McCauley | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1944–1946 | Succeeded by Air Commodore John McCauley |
| Preceded by Air CommodoreLeon Lachal | Air Officer CommandingEastern Area 1947–1948 | Succeeded by Air Vice-Marshal John McCauley |
| Preceded by Air Vice-MarshalJoe Hewitt | Air Member for Personnel 1948–1953 | Succeeded by Air Vice-MarshalValston Hancock |
