Ian Dougald McLachlan | |
|---|---|
 Group Captain Ian McLachlan as Officer Commanding No. 73 Wing at Goodenough Island, New Guinea, preparing to vote in the Australian federal election, c. August 1943 | |
| Born | (1911-07-23)23 July 1911 |
| Died | 14 July 1991(1991-07-14) (aged 79) |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Service years | 1930–68 |
| Rank | Air Vice-Marshal |
| Unit | No. 9 Operational Group (1943–44) BCAIR (1946–48) |
| Commands | No. 3 Squadron (1939–41) RAAF Canberra (1942) RAAF Station Laverton (1942) No. 71 Wing (1943) No. 73 Wing (1943) Southern Area Command (1944–45) No. 81 Wing (1945) North-Eastern Area Command (1951–53) Training Command (1957–59) Supply & Equipment Branch (1964–68) |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches |
| Other work | Consultant,Northrop |
Air Vice MarshalIan Dougald McLachlan,CB,CBE,DFC (23 July 1911 – 14 July 1991) was a senior commander in theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born inMelbourne, he was a cadet at theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, before joining the Air Force in December 1930. After serving ininstructional and general flying roles, he took command ofNo. 3 Squadron in December 1939, leading it into action in theMiddle East less than a year later. Awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross, he returned to Australia in 1942 to command air bases inCanberra and Melbourne. The following year he was posted to theSouth West Pacific, where he led successivelyNos. 71 and73 Wings. Having been promoted togroup captain, he took charge ofSouthern Area Command in 1944, andNo. 81 Wing in theDutch East Indies the following year.
Raised to actingair commodore in 1946, McLachlan served as senior air staff officer for theBritish Commonwealth Air Group in Japan until 1948. After leadingNorth-Eastern Area Command in 1951–53, he was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire and posted to Britain, where he attended theImperial Defence College. Promoted air vice marshal, he returned to Australia in 1957 as Air Officer CommandingTraining Command; in this role he carried out two major reviews focussing on the RAAF's educational and command systems. He wasDeputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1959 to 1961, and then Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff inWashington, D.C., until 1963. Appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in 1966, McLachlan's final post before retiring in 1968 was as Air Member for Supply and Equipment. He was a consultant toNorthrop after leaving the RAAF, and lived inDarling Point, Sydney, until his death in 1991.
The son of Dugald and Bertha McLachlan, Ian McLachlan was born in theMelbourne suburb ofSouth Yarra, Victoria, on 23 July 1911.[1][2] Following education atMelbourne High School, he entered theRoyal Military College, Duntroon, in 1928.[3] He was one of four cadets sponsored that year by theRoyal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which did not at that stage have its own officer training college. Budgetary constraints imposed by theGreat Depression necessitated the transfer of these cadets out of Duntroon midway through their four-year course.[4][5] Although offered positions in theAustralian Public Service or nominations for short-term commissions with theRoyal Air Force, all were determined to serve with the RAAF, apparently "delighted" at the prospect of entering their chosen service early.[4]
Enlisting in the Air Force on 10 December 1930, McLachlan completed his flight training the following year.[4][6] He was commissioned as a pilot in 1932, and undertook flight-instruction and general duties roles over the next five years.[3] In 1937, he was a member of the RAAF contingent posted to Britain to celebrate the coronation of KingGeorge VI.[3][7] Rankedflight lieutenant, he was given command ofNo. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, operatingHawker Demon fighters out ofRAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, on 4 December 1939.[7][8] He was promoted tosquadron leader on 1 February 1940, and led his unit to the Middle East on 15 July.[7][8]
Sailing viaBombay, India, No. 3 Squadron arrived atSuez, Egypt, in late August 1940.[9][10] In its original army cooperation role supporting the Australian6th Division in theNorth African Campaign, the squadron was equipped with obsolescentGloster Gladiator biplane fighters andWestland Lysander observation aircraft.[9] As part of his unit's work-up for operations, McLachlan organised training exercises with the 6th Division, as well as written exams to test his men's knowledge of army jargon and air-to-ground communications.[11]
Described by historian Alan Stephens as "acerbic but capable", McLachlan led No. 3 Squadron through theBattle of Sidi Barrani in December 1940, followed by theBattle of Bardia and thecapture of Tobruk in January 1941.[9] Prior to converting toHawker Hurricanes that month, the unit was credited with destroying twelve Italian aircraft for the loss of five Gladiators and two pilots; McLachlan shot down aFiat CR.42 on 10 December 1940, the same action in which fellow squadron member and futureaceGordon Steege claimed his first "kill".[12] Air Officer Commanding-in-ChiefRAF Middle East, Air Marshal SirArthur Longmore, praised McLachlan and his squadron for their "high morale and adaptability to desert conditions".[13]
McLachlan was awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his "fine qualities as a fighter pilot" and "determined leadership" in the face of often "overwhelming numbers of enemy aircraft"; the citation was promulgated in theLondon Gazette on 11 February 1941 under the name "Ian Duncan MacLachlan".[14][15] He was the first RAAF fighter pilot to be decorated in World War II.[16][17] Promoted towing commander, he took charge of the newly establishedRAF Benina,Benghazi, on 13 February, handing over No. 3 Squadron to Squadron LeaderPeter Jeffrey.[18] By May 1941, McLachlan was acting as RAAF Liaison Officer for the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East, Air MarshalArthur Tedder. TheAir Board in Melbourne, chaired by theChief of the Air Staff, Air Chief MarshalSir Charles Burnett, was not consulted over this change of role and took exception to the RAF's "unilateral action" in appointing McLachlan, but eventually acquiesced and permitted him to remain at the post to coordinate facilities for RAAF personnel in the region until July, when he was recalled to Australia.[19][20]
In 1942 McLachlan took command ofRAAF Station Canberra, and, later in the year,RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria.[7] Posted for action inNew Guinea, he became the inaugural commander ofNo. 71 Wing atMilne Bay in February 1943.[21][22] The wing consisted ofNo. 6 Squadron (flyingLockheed Hudsons),No. 75 Squadron (P-40 Kittyhawks),No. 77 Squadron (Kittyhawks), andNo. 100 Squadron (Bristol Beauforts). It came under the control ofNo. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's "premier fighting unit" in theSouth West Pacific Area (SWPA), whose purpose was to act as a mobile strike force in support of advancing Allied troops.[22][23] In March the Beauforts took part in theBattle of the Bismarck Sea, "the decisive aerial engagement" in the SWPA according to GeneralDouglas MacArthur, though they were unable to score any hits against Japanese ships.[24][25]
By June 1943, McLachlan had been promotedgroup captain and given command ofNo. 73 Wing. He established his headquarters atGoodenough Island, where he was responsible for organising the wing into a fighter formation consisting ofNo. 76 Squadron (Kittyhawks), No. 77 Squadron (Kittyhawks) andNo. 79 Squadron (Spitfires). As well as providing local air defence, and fighter escort for Australian bombers, the Kittyhawks were armed withincendiary and general-purpose bombs so that they could engage inground attack missions, a practice that had already been employed by Commonwealth forces in the Middle Eastern theatre.[26] In August, the wing transferred toKiriwina, and No. 9 Group's other combat formation, No. 71 Wing, took over responsibility for Goodenough.[27][28] Appointed senior air staff officer (SASO) at No. 9 Group, McLachlan handed over command of No. 73 Wing to Wing Commander Gordon Steege in October 1943.[3][29] Towards the end of his posting to No. 9 Group, McLachlan told its former commander, Air CommodoreJoe Hewitt, that theUSAAF was "leaping ahead" of the RAAF, which was being left to "clean up the remnants" of Japanese resistance. He feared that Australian fighter pilots especially would be "increasingly restless if the Americans took all the fighting plums". Barely a year later, morale among senior RAAF fighter pilots had dropped to such an extent that eight of them tried to resign their commissions in the so-called "Morotai Mutiny".[30]
In March 1944, McLachlan took charge ofSouthern Area Command, Melbourne, with responsibility formaritime patrol,convoy escort andanti-submarine warfare in southern Australian waters; he handed over to Group CaptainCharles Eaton the following January.[31][32]Mentioned in despatches on 9 March 1945 for his "gallant and distinguished service",[33][34] McLachlan returned to action in the South-West Pacific as commander ofNo. 81 Wing, which comprised Nos. 76, 77 and82 Squadrons, operating Kittyhawks.[7][35] As part of theAustralian First Tactical Air Force in theDutch East Indies, the wing was slated to take part in Operation Oboe One, theBattle of Tarakan, in May but was unable to relocate fromNoemfoor to its new base onMorotai in time. It fought in Operation Oboe Six, theinvasion of Labuan, from June and was based on the island when the Pacific War ended in August 1945.[36][37]
Following the end of hostilities, McLachlan volunteered to serve with theAllied occupation forces in Japan.[38] He married Margaret Helen Chrystal on 5 January 1946; they had a son and a daughter.[1][39] Promoted to actingair commodore on 1 March, he was appointed SASO of theBritish Commonwealth Air Group (BCAIR), headquartered inKure and responsible for No. 81 Wing RAAF, as well as squadrons from theRoyal Air Force,Royal New Zealand Air Force, andIndian Air Force.[7][40] Returning to Australia in 1948, he served as Air Commodore Operations at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne, at which time theEnglish Electric Canberra was ordered as Australia's first jet bomber, partly for its ability to delivernuclear weapons.[41][42] He completed his term in September 1951 and took overNorth-Eastern Area Command, based atTownsville, Queensland.[43] Following his appointment as aCommander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954New Year's Honours,[44] McLachlan was posted to Britain for three years, first attending theImperial Defence College, London, and then serving as RAF Director of Flying Training at theAir Ministry during 1955–56. Raised to air vice-marshal, he returned to Australia in 1957 to become Air Officer Commanding (AOC)Training Command in Melbourne.[3]
As AOC Training Command, McLachlan undertook two reviews that would have, according to the official history of the post-war RAAF, "a significant effect on the Air Force of the 1960s".[45] In 1957, at the instigation of the Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice MarshalFrederick Scherger, McLachlan formed a committee to review the effectiveness of the syllabus atRAAF College for meeting the future needs of the Air Force in an age ofguided missiles and nuclear weaponry. This led to a policy of cadets undertaking academic degrees, in line with similar institutions in the other armed services; the college was subsequently renamed RAAF Academy. The official history of the RAAF considered the result to be only partially successful; although it turned out highly educated officers, they were educated solely in a rigid scientific discipline suited to an Air Force that never came into existence, one relying on missiles rather than manned aircraft.[46] In 1959, McLachlan chaired a committee to review the change in the RAAF's command structure that had taken place in 1953–54, from a geographically based"area" system to a functional system consisting ofHome,Maintenance Command, andTraining Commands. Concluding that this had reduced duplication and improved efficiency, he proposed further rationalisation by amalgamating Training and Maintenance Commands to form a new organisation,Support Command. His plan was duly implemented, as was his recommendation that Home Command, responsible for air operations, be renamedOperational Command.[45]
McLachlan was appointedDeputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1959, before being posted toWashington, D.C., asattaché heading up the Australian Joint Services Staff in 1961.[3] During his term in the US, Australia ordered theGeneral Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber as a replacement for the Canberra. Despite what was touted as a firm timetable and cost schedule for the order, McLachlan confided to a colleague that he had serious concerns about when and if the RAAF would actually get the F-111, and what the final cost would be. According to Air Force historian Alan Stephens, "even for such a shrewd and sardonic man as McLachlan, that was to prove a painfully prescient observation", as the new bomber was delivered six years late and massively over budget.[47] Following his return from Washington, McLachlan became Air Member for Supply and Equipment (AMSE) in February 1964.[48] As AMSE he sat on the Air Board, the service's controlling body that consisted of its most senior officers, chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff. In this position he worked to increase the proportion of tertiary educated supply officers, following similar achievements among engineering officers in the RAAF's Technical Branch.[49] He was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath in the 1966 New Year's Honours, the citation noting particularly his chairmanship of the two "historic" committees that reorganised RAAF College and the Air Force's command structure in the late 1950s.[50][51] The use ofelectronic data processing became more widespread during McLachlan's tenure as AMSE, and by 1968 the RAAF's supply system had been computerised.[52]
McLachlan completed his term as Air Member for Supply and Equipment on 23 July 1968 and retired from the RAAF; he was divorced from his wife the same year.[1][6] Upon leaving the military, he became an aeronautical consultant to theNorthrop Corporation, and chairman of Information Electronics Pty Ltd from 1983, serving in both positions until 1987.[1][3] He was also chairman ofPokolbin Winemakers from 1970 through 1975.[1] In retirement he continued to exercise his interest in Australia's defence, joining in 1975 a group ofpundits, including former Chief of the Air StaffSir Alister Murdoch, who promoted the addition of nuclear weapons to the country's arsenal.[53] A resident of Sydney'sDarling Point, Ian McLachlan died on 14 July 1991.[3][54]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
