Richard Williams, from Moonta in South Australia, Australia's first WWI fighter pilot and 'father' of the RAAF
Air Marshall Richard Williams, "father" of the Royal Australian Air Force, came from a South Australian working-class background in Moonta Mines.
Richard Williams, widely regarded as the “father” of the Royal Australian Air Force, was the first military pilot trained in Australia. He went on to command Australian and British air fighter units during World War I.
A proponent for air power independent of other branches of the armed services, Williams played a leading role in setting up the RAAF and became its first chief of air staff in 1922 and served for 13 years over three terms at that rank, longer than any other officer.
Williams came from a South Australian working-class background in Moonta Mines. He enlisted in the South Australian Infantry Regiment in 1909 at 19 before joining the regular army at the outbreak of World War I.
He was an army lieutenant when he learned to fly at Point Cook, Victoria, in 1914. As a pilot with the Australian Flying Corps in World War I, Williams rose to command No.1 Squadron AFC and later 40th Wing RAF. He finished the war as lieutenant colonel.
Afterwards, he campaigned successfully for an Australian air force to be run separately from the army and navy.
The fledgling RAAF from 1921 faced challenges to its continued existence in the 1920s and early 1930s, and Williams was given a lot of credit for maintaining its independence. But an adverse report on flying safety standards saw him dismissed as chief of air staff and seconded to the RAF prior to World War II.
Despite support for his reinstatement as air force chief, and promotion to air marshal in 1940, Williams never again commanded the RAAF. After the war, he was forcibly retired with other World War I veteran officers. He became director general of civil aviation in Australia.
In 2005, Williams' Australian Flying Corps wings, usually on display at the RAAF Museum in Point Cook, were carried into space and back on a shuttle flight by South Australian astronaut Dr Andy Thomas.
