Adrian Cole (RAAF officer)
Adrian Lindley Trevor Cole | |
---|---|
North-Western Area Command (1943–44) | |
Battles/wars | World War I
World War II
|
Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross |
Other work | Company director |
"King" Cole rose to the position of Air Member for Supply in 1933 and gained promotion to
Early life and World War I
Adrian Cole was born in
Middle East
Posted to
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. With another officer he attacked and disorganised six enemy machines that were about to attack our cavalry with bombs. The engagement was continued until all six machines were forced to return to their lines. His skill and courage on all occasions have been worthy of the greatest praise.
The day after the action that earned him the Military Cross, Cole was flying a Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant" over Tel el Sheria when he was hit by ground fire and forced to crash land behind enemy lines; after setting his aircraft alight he was picked up and rescued by Captain Richard Williams. On 26 June, following an eight-plane raid on Turkish Fourth Army headquarters in Jerusalem, Cole and another pilot suffered engine seizures while undertaking a similar rescue of a downed comrade; all three airmen were forced to walk through no man's land before being picked up by an Australian Light Horse patrol.[13]
Western Front
Promoted to captain in August 1917,
Cole was awarded the
On 7th October this officer carried out a most successful flying raid on enemy railway lines and stations. The success of the attack was largely owing to his cool and determined leadership, and our freedom from casualties was mainly due to the methodical manner in which he collected and reorganised the machines after the raid. He himself displayed marked initiative and courage in attacking troops and other objectives. Since May Capt. Cole has destroyed four hostile machines.
Between the wars
Returning to Australia in February 1919,
Cole held command of
World War II
As part of the RAAF's reorganisation following the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, No. 2 Group was formed in Sydney on 20 November, with Cole in command. The group controlled Air Force units in
In May 1943, Cole returned to Australia, taking over as AOC
Cole handed over North-Western Area to Air Commodore Alan Charlesworth in September 1944.[46] He took up an appointment as Air Member for Personnel (AMP) in October,[5] but was removed soon afterwards following an incident at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, received an anonymous letter alleging that Cole had become drunk and lost control at a mess meeting on 8 November. Investigating the matter, Jones was unable to establish whether or not Cole had been drunk but was satisfied that he had not behaved appropriately, and issued him a warning without charging or otherwise disciplining him.[47] Under pressure from the Federal government, Jones dismissed Cole from the position of AMP and posted him to Ceylon in January 1945 as RAAF Liaison Officer to South East Asia Command.[5][47] Cole served in this role until the end of the war, taking part in negotiations for the Japanese capitulation and acting as Australia's senior representative at the formal surrender ceremony in Singapore on 12 September 1945.[2]
Retirement and legacy
Cole was summarily retired from the RAAF in 1946, along with several other senior commanders and veterans of World War I, primarily to make way for the advancement of younger and equally capable officers. In an earlier minute to the Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford, regarding post-war command prospects, Air Vice Marshal Jones had assessed Cole as having failed to display "certain of those qualities expected to be possessed by senior officers of such rank". In any case, his role overseas was redundant.[48][49] Cole, for his part, later wrote to the Melbourne Herald that he considered the RAAF's administration during World War II to be "weak", and that as a consequence he felt "a lot happier to serve most of the War with the Royal Air Force".[50]
Ranked substantive air commodore and honorary air vice marshal,
Cole Street and the Cole Street Conservation Precinct at Point Cook Base, RAAF Williams, are named for Adrian Cole.[53] His decorations were held by the Naval and Military Club, Melbourne, where he had been a long-standing member.[3][54] In July 2009, following the club's dissolution, the medals were to be auctioned along with other memorabilia. This action was challenged by Cole's family, who argued that his decorations were only on loan to the club, and should be donated to the Australian War Memorial (AWM).[54] As the Supreme Court of Victoria deliberated on the case, the parties involved negotiated a settlement whereby Cole's medals were transferred to the AWM.[55]
Notes
- ^ a b c Newton, Australian Air Aces, p. 29
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Eaton, Australian Dictionary of Biography, pp. 459–460
- ^ a b c d e Knox, Who's Who in Australia 1935, p. 123
- ^ Malvern, a neighbouring suburb of Glen Iris, has also been given as Cole's birthplace, for example in Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, p. 466 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h Dennis et al., The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 136
- ^ a b c Adrian Trevor Cole Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine at The AIF Project. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ^ a b Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 9
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 52–54 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Australian Naval Aviation – Part 1 Archived 13 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Naval Historical Society of Australia Archived 15 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, p. 56 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Recommendation for Adrian Trevor Cole to be awarded a Military Cross Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ "No. 30234". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 August 1917. p. 8389.
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 63, 66–67 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ AWM Collection Record: P01034.050 Archived 11 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, p. 69 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Shores et al., Above the Trenches, p. 112
- ^ Shores et al., Above the Trenches Supplement, p. 18
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 349–350 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 363–364 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 365–367 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Recommendation for Adrian Trevor Cole to be awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
- ^ "No. 31170". The London Gazette. 7 February 1919. p. 2037.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 23
- ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 16 Archived 7 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 90
- ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 712 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 467
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 37
- ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 238
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 54
- ^ a b Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 401
- ^ Roylance, Air Base Richmond, pp. 46, 113
- ^ "No. 34396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 May 1937. p. 3088.
- ^ RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 144–145
- ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 66–67 Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. 302–304
- ^ a b Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 237 Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 351 Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Recommendation for Adrian Trevor Cole to be awarded a Distinguished Service Order Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- ^ "No. 35729". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 October 1942. p. 4331.
- ^ Herington, Air Power Over Europe, p. 278 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 104–105 Archived 27 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 111–112,121 Archived 27 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 215–219 Archived 12 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 229 Archived 23 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 246 Archived 12 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Helson, Ten Years at the Top, pp. 187–190
- ^ Helson, Ten Years at the Top, pp. 234–237
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 179–181
- ^ Helson, Ten Years at the Top, p. 246
- ^ Cole, Adrian Lindley Trevor Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at World War 2 Nominal roll. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark, Soldiers in Politics, p. 132
- ^ Phillips, The Heritage Homes of the Australian Defence Force, p. 46] Archived 30 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Hornery, Andrew (11 July 2009). "Air Force Gongs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
- ^ Gregory, Peter (21 July 2009). "Truce in battle over flying ace's medals". The Age. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
References
- Ashworth, Norman (2000). How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One – Narrative. Canberra: RAAF Air Power Studies Centre. ISBN 0-642-26550-X. Archived from the originalon 6 October 2011.
- Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1991). The Third Brother. North Sydney: ISBN 0-04-442307-1.
- Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1996). Soldiers in Politics: The Impact of the Military on Australian Political Life and Institutions. St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-185-4.
- Cutlack, F. M. (1941) [1923]. The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918 (11th edition): Volume VIII – The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914–1918. Sydney: OCLC 220900299.
- Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin (2008) [1995]. The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. South Melbourne, Victoria: ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2.
- Eaton, Brian (1993). "Cole, Adrian Lindley Trevor (1895–1966)". In Ritchie, John (ed.). ISBN 0-522-84512-6.
- Gillison, Douglas (1962). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942. Canberra: OCLC 2000369.
- Helson, Peter (2006). Ten Years at the Top (PhD thesis). Sydney: OCLC 225531223.
- Herington, John (1963). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume IV – Air Power Over Europe 1944–1945. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3633419.
- Herington, John (1954). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume III – Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939–1943. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3633363.
- Knox, Errol G., ed. (1935). OCLC 220708478.
- Newton, Dennis (1996). Australian Air Aces. Fyshwyck, Australian Capital Territory: Aerospace Publications. OCLC 38456852.
- OCLC 246580191.
- Phillips, Peter, ed. (1996). The Heritage Homes of the Australian Defence Force. Barton, Australian Capital Territory: The Defence Housing Authority. ISBN 0-642-25993-3.
- RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 8: Training Units. Canberra: ISBN 0-644-42792-2.
- Roylance, Derek (1991). Air Base Richmond. RAAF Base Richmond: Royal Australian Air Force. ISBN 0-646-05212-8.
- Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1990). Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915–1920. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-19-4.
- Shores, Christopher; Franks, Norman; Guest, Russell (1996). Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915–1920 (Supplement). London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-898697-39-6.
- Stephens, Alan (2006) [2001]. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-555541-4.