William Lloyd Hely | |
|---|---|
 Group Captain Bill Hely on Bougainville, January 1945 | |
| Born | 24 August 1909 Wellington, New South Wales |
| Died | 20 May 1970(1970-05-20) (aged 60) |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Branch | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Service years | 1927–66 |
| Rank | Air Vice Marshal |
| Unit | No. 3 Squadron (1936–37) RAAF Station Laverton (1938) North-Western Area Command (1942–43) |
| Commands | North Australia Survey Flight (1936) No. 72 Wing (1944) No. 84 Wing (1944–45) Western Area Command (1951–53) Training Command (1956–57) Personnel Branch (1960–66) |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Air Force Cross |
Air Vice MarshalWilliam Lloyd Hely,CB,CBE,AFC (24 August 1909 – 20 May 1970) was a senior commander in theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He graduated from theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, in 1930 before transferring to the RAAF as a cadet pilot. Hely came to public attention in 1936–37, first when he crashed on a survey flight in the Northern Territory, and later when he undertook two successful missions to locate missing aircraft in the same vicinity. His rescue efforts earned him theAir Force Cross. After occupying staff positions during the early years ofWorld War II, Hely was appointed Officer CommandingNo. 72 Wing inDutch New Guinea in May 1944. Later that year he formedNo. 84 (Army Cooperation) Wing, commanding it during theBougainville campaign until the end of the Pacific War.
Hely spent the immediate post-war period on the staff of RAAF Headquarters,Melbourne. From 1951 to 1953 he served asAir Officer Commanding (AOC)Western Area Command inPerth, after which he was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire. He wasDeputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1953 to 1956, AOCTraining Command from 1956 to 1957, and Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff in Washington, D.C. from 1957 to 1960. He then served as Air Member for Personnel (AMP) for six years, his tenure coinciding with a significant increase in manpower to meet commitments in South East Asia and the demands of a major re-equipment program. Having been promoted actingair vice marshal in 1953 (substantive in 1956), he was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in 1964 for his service as AMP. He retired from the Air Force in 1966 and made his home inCanberra, where he died in 1970 at the age of sixty.
The third child of Prosper Frederick Hely, a storekeeper, and his wife Alice (née Lloyd), William Lloyd (Bill) Hely was born on 24 August 1909 atWellington, New South Wales. He was educated toIntermediate Certificate level atMudgee,Wollongong andRozelle Public Schools, and atFort Street High School, Petersham.[1][2] Leaving school in 1926, he worked as aclerk and studied accountancy in his spare time. On 16 February 1927, Hely entered theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, as one of four cadets sponsored that year by theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which did not yet have its own officer training college.[1][3] He graduated as alieutenant on 9 December 1930, and the following day enlisted in the RAAF.[4][5]
As well as the four graduates the Air Force had enrolled in 1927, budgetary constraints imposed during theGreat Depression necessitated the transfer from Duntroon to Point Cook of eight other RAAF-sponsored cadets midway through their four-year course, includingAlister Murdoch,Bill Garing andDouglas Candy.[3] Initially rankedpilot officer, Hely commenced his flying training course atRAAF Point Cook, Victoria, on 15 January 1931, graduating on 10 December.[4][6] His early postings as a pilot in 1932 and 1933 were toRAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, andRAAF Station Laverton, Victoria. Qualifying in aerial photography, he served at Point Cook from 1933 to 1936.[1][2] He was then transferred toNo. 3 Squadron at Richmond, receiving promotion toflight lieutenant.[1][7]
.jpg)
In April 1936, Hely took command of No. 3 Squadron's North Australia Survey Flight, one of two suchflights formed by the Air Force that month to carry out photographic surveys. Flying a twin-enginedde Havilland Dragon Rapide (serial number A3-2), Hely departed Richmond on 11 April forPort Hedland, which was to be the flight's base for its initial survey work in Western Australia. Over the Northern Territory, betweenNewcastle Waters andWave Hill, he became lost, ran out of fuel, and had to crash land. He and his crew of two were found by RAAF search aircraft ten days later, on 22 April.[8]The Argus had reported that "grave fears" were held for their safety, but they were largely uninjured, Hely having suffered cuts and abrasions to his head and leg.[7][9] The aircraft was badly damaged and had to be transported back to Richmond in pieces.[8] In February 1937, Hely took part in the search for amissingStinson airliner that was eventually found in theMcPherson Range, Queensland, five of its seven passengers and crew dead.[10][11]
For its 1937 aerial survey program, the RAAF formed the Communications and Survey Flight underNo. 1 Aircraft Depot's Recruit Training Squadron at Laverton on 3 May. The flight was divided into Western and Eastern Air Detachments, the former under Hely. Flying aTugan Gannet, Hely's first task became searching for survey director Sir Herbert Gepp, whose Rapide (A3-2, the same one Hely crash landed the previous year) had gone missing on an inspection flight in the Northern Territory betweenTennant Creek andTanimi. Hely located the downed Rapide on 23 May, guiding in a ground party that was able to clear a makeshift runway and allow Gepp and his team to take off and resume their journey.[12] On 25 September, Hely was again diverted from survey work to search for a lost plane, this time thede Havilland Gipsy Moth offlying doctorClyde Fenton, who had gone missing north-east of Newcastle Waters. Hely, once more piloting Rapide A3-2, found the Moth three days later and landed to rescue the lost doctor. Fenton was subsequently quoted as saying "I have only the highest praise for the efficient manner in which Hely conducted a difficult search and the skilful way in which he located me and picked me up."[13] The rescue efforts made Hely one of the RAAF's best-known public figures.[14] Completing his posting to the survey flight, he served asadjutant at Laverton in 1938.[2] He was awarded theAir Force Cross on 9 June for "zeal and initiative in searching for Sir Herbert Gepp's party and later for Dr. Fenton when lost in Central Australia".[15][16] On 29 November 1938, he married secretary Jean McDonald at St Aidan's Anglican Church inLaunceston, Tasmania; the couple had two daughters. Hely spent the following year in Britain, attending theRoyal Air Force Staff College, Andover, and was promoted tosquadron leader in September.[1]
At the outbreak of World War II, Hely was attached to the operations room atRAF Coastal Command.[2] On his return to Australia in January 1940, he was appointed Staff Officer Plans at RAAF Headquarters,Melbourne.[1] In October, he joined theDeputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice MarshalBill Bostock, as a delegate to a defence conference in Singapore. The Australian contingent found the local forces ill-prepared for an attack by the Japanese and recommended significant increases in air capability, both in Australia and in the Pacific Islands, to meet the threat.[17] Hely was promoted to temporarywing commander the following January, and was the ranking Air Force delegate at a series of staff talks inBatavia and Singapore regarding the defence of theDutch East Indies.[1][18] He became Director of Operations at RAAF Headquarters in August.[1] His promotion to actinggroup captain was announced on 17 February 1942.[19] Two days later, theJapanese bombedDarwin, Northern Territory; Hely circulated a memo early the next month to all commands on the lessons learnt from the raid.[20] He was posted to Darwin in May to joinNorth-Western Area headquarters as senior air staff officer, and was granted the temporary rank of group captain in January 1943.[1][21] Hely returned to RAAF Headquarters in March to become Director of Air Staff Plans.[1][2]
In May 1944, Hely assumed command ofNo. 72 Wing atMerauke, Dutch New Guinea, succeeding Group CaptainAllan Walters.[1][22] Comprising fighter and dive-bomber squadrons, the wing had been established to undertake air defence and patrol tasks in and aroundwestern New Guinea.[23] Hely departed Merauke in September 1944 to establish an army cooperation formation,No. 84 Wing, inCairns, Queensland.[1] It was one of two such wings formed by the RAAF in theSouth West Pacific Theatre late in World War II.[24][25] They were, as described by theofficial history of the RAAF in the Pacific, "essentially non-offensive in character", responsible for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, supply drops to ground forces, sprayingDDT to combatmalaria, and guidingclose support aircraft to their objectives. The wing could also carry out its own strikes on "targets of opportunity".[26] No. 84 Wing comprisedNo. 5 (Tactical Reconnaissance) Squadron,No. 17 Air Observation Post Flight, No. 10 Communication Unit (subsequently renamedNo. 10 Local Air Supply Unit), and No. 39 Operational Base Unit.[24] It deployed toTorokina in October to support Australian troops during theBougainville campaign. No. 5 Squadron, equipped withCAC Boomerangs andWirraways, was assigned to mark targets forF4U Corsairs of theRoyal New Zealand Air Force.[27] Between December 1944 and January 1945, the wing lost one Auster, one Wirraway, and one Boomerang on operations.[27] Despite shortages of pilots and equipment, Hely's formation was generally able to keep pace with the army's requirements. By the end of June 1945, it had flown over 4,000sorties.[24]
Hely relinquished command of No. 84 Wing on 12 August 1945 and returned to RAAF Headquarters in October.[1][28] He was by this time among a coterie of officers at group captain level, includingVal Hancock, Alister Murdoch and Bill Garing, earmarked by theAustralian Air Board for leadership roles in the post-war RAAF, which was to shrink rapidly with demobilisation.[29][30] At RAAF Headquarters, Hely was appointed deputy director of Operations, in which capacity he served on a committee to investigate proposals for an officer training college, later established asRAAF College, Point Cook. Along with Hely, all officers associated with the proposal's examination were former Duntroon students, including the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Air CommodoreFrank Bladin, the Director of Postings, Group Captain Murdoch, and the Director of Training, Group Captain Paddy Heffernan. Another Duntroon graduate, Air Commodore Hancock, became the college's first commandant.[31] Hely was appointed Director of Organisation and Staff Duties in 1946. That November, he became Director of Postings.[2][32] The following year, he took up the position of Director of Personal Services, before departing for Britain in December 1948 to study at theImperial Defence College, London.[1][2]
Returning to Melbourne, Hely served as deputy to the Air Member for Personnel from January 1950.[1] He became anaide-de-camp toKing George VI in June 1951.[33] In September, he was appointedOfficer CommandingWestern Area,Perth, taking up his new post in mid-October.[34][35] He was promoted to actingair commodore in July 1952, becomingAir Officer Commanding (AOC) Western Area.[36] His rank was made permanent in September, and the same month he was appointed aide-de-camp toQueen Elizabeth II.[37][38] Among Hely's duties as AOC Western Area was coordinating air support for theBritish atomic test onMontebello in October 1952, including supply and observation flights byDakotas ofNo. 86 (Transport) Wing.[39] He was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in theQueen's Coronation Honours promulgated on 1 June 1953, for his war service and his work during the Montebello test.[40][41] In August, he was named Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS), with the acting rank ofair vice marshal, effective from October; he replaced Air Vice Marshal Hancock.[2][42]
Between October 1953 and February 1954, the RAAF underwent major organisational change, as it transitioned from ageographically based command-and-control system to one based on function, resulting in the establishment ofHome (operational),Training, andMaintenance Commands. At the same time, RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne was absorbed by theDepartment of Air in Canberra.[43] Hely was acting Air Member for Personnel from 3 January to 7 March 1955, between the terms of Air Vice Marshals Val Hancock andFred Scherger.[2][44] On 24 January 1956, he became AOC Training Command, taking over from Air Vice Marshal Murdoch.[2][45] He was succeeded as DCAS by Air Vice Marshal Douglas Candy.[46] Hely's rank of air vice marshal becamesubstantive on 5 September.[1] In January 1957, Point Cook retired its lastde Havilland Tiger Moth trainers, signalling the end of the biplane era in the RAAF.[47] That May, Hely was seconded to theDepartment of Defence and posted to Washington, D.C., to head up the Australian Joint Services Staff.[1][41] He was succeeded as AOC Training Command by Air Vice MarshalIan McLachlan.[48]
Hely became Air Member for Personnel (AMP) on 28 March 1960, taking over from the acting AMP, Air CommodoreFrank Headlam.[2][44] Responsible for the Personnel Branch of the RAAF, the position of AMP occupied a seat on the Air Board, the service's controlling body that comprised its senior officers and was chaired by theChief of the Air Staff (CAS).[49][50] The Air Force expanded greatly during Hely's term as AMP, owing to Australia's increasing commitment to the security of South East Asia, and the most significant rearmament program the RAAF had undertaken outside of World War II. Its permanent establishment increased from a steady 15,000 or so in the 1950s to over 18,000 by 1966.[49][51] Hely himself initiated a scheme to attract staff from theRoyal Air Force, which was suffering cutbacks, by opening a recruitment office in London and taking advantage of the Australian government'sassisted passage scheme to import trained personnel and their families.[49] He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1964New Year Honours for his "tactful and careful handling of personnel matters", and for having "done much to improve the manning level of the Air Force".[52][53] As AMP, Hely put forward proposals to increase the number ofdiploma-qualified engineering and equipment officers in the Air Force.[54] He was also closely involved in deliberations concerning the balance of academic and military studies at the RAAF Academy (previously RAAF College), the outcome of which is considered to have left the course biased towards pure science, rather than its applications to air power.[55][56]
Hely retired on 24 August 1966, after almost forty years in the military.[5][57] He was succeeded the following day as AMP by Air Vice Marshal Candy.[44] In retirement, Hely was active in the Canberra branch of the Air Force Association. He died of cancer in Canberra on 20 May 1970. Survived by his wife and children, he was accorded an Air Force funeral atSt John the Baptist Church and cremated at Norwood Park Crematorium,Gungahlin.[1][58] The official mourning party includedChairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC) GeneralSir John Wilton, former CCOSC Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger,Secretary of DefenceSir Arthur Tange, CAS Air MarshalColin Hannah, former CAS Air Marshal Sir Alister Murdoch, Vice AdmiralSir Victor Smith, Air Vice MarshalBrian Eaton, and Group CaptainJohn Waddy. The guns at Duntroon were fired in salute as the cortege left the church.[58]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Air Vice MarshalValston Hancock | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff 1953–1955 | Succeeded by Air Vice MarshalDouglas Candy |
| Preceded by Air Vice Marshal Valston Hancock | Air Member for Personnel (Acting) 1955 | Succeeded by Air Vice MarshalFrederick Scherger |
| Preceded by Air Vice MarshalAlister Murdoch | Air Officer Commanding Training Command 1956–1957 | Succeeded by Air Vice MarshalIan McLachlan |
| Preceded by Air CommodoreFrank Headlam | Air Member for Personnel 1960–1966 | Succeeded by Air Vice Marshal Douglas Candy |
