Frank Headlam

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Frank Headlam
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

outbreak of World War II. In April 1941, he became commanding officer of No. 2 Squadron, which operated Lockheed Hudsons. The squadron was deployed to Dutch Timor in December, and saw action against Japanese forces in the South West Pacific. After returning to Australia in February 1942, Headlam held staff appointments and training commands, finishing the war a group captain
.

Headlam served as Officer Commanding

Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1965. Following a posting to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff from 1968 to 1971, he retired from the Air Force and died in Melbourne
five years later.

Early career

Three twin-engined military monoplanes in flight
RAAF Avro Ansons in 1938; Flight Lieutenant Headlam flew a similar model around Australia on a long-distance navigation exercise in November that year.

The son of farmers Malcolm and Hilda Headlam, Frank Headlam was born on 15 July 1914 in Launceston, Tasmania. He was schooled at Clemes College, Hobart, and matriculated in 1932. Against the wishes of his parents he joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as an air cadet on 16 January 1934.[1][2] He underwent flying instruction with No. 1 Flying Training School (FTS) at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria, and was commissioned as a pilot officer on 1 January 1935.[3]

After completing a conversion course, Headlam was assigned to the Seaplane Squadron at Point Cook.[3][4] No larger than a flight according to the official history of the pre-war RAAF, Seaplane Squadron was part of No. 1 FTS and operated Supermarine Southampton flying boats and de Havilland Gipsy Moth floatplanes, among other types.[5] During this posting Headlam was promoted to flying officer, on 1 July 1935, and wrote a paper on national defence in which he suggested that with "strong air forces, naval forces (including submarines), and fixed defences, Australia may be made practically invulnerable". According to Air Force historian Alan Stephens, this paper "in effect, defined the 'anti-lodgment' concept which has been a persistent feature of RAAF strategic thinking".[4][6]

Headlam completed a flying instructors course in July 1936 and joined the staff of No. 1 FTS.[3] He was promoted to flight lieutenant on 1 March 1937.[6] Commencing in July 1938, he was one of six students to take part in the RAAF's first Long Specialist Navigation Course, run by Flight Lieutenants Bill Garing and Alister Murdoch at Point Cook. The course involved several epic training flights that attracted considerable media attention, including a twelve-day, 10,800-kilometre (6,700 mi) round-Australia trip by three Avro Ansons, one of which was piloted by Headlam, in November. The following month, Headlam led the three Ansons on a six-day journey back and forth over Central Australia. He subsequently passed the navigation course with a special distinction.[7] On 27 January 1939 he was posted to RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, as a flight commander.[1][6] He served initially with No. 2 Squadron, before transferring to No. 1 Squadron on 29 August.[6] Both units operated Ansons.[8][9]

World War II

Two men in military uniforms, one wearing a forage cap and filling out a form
Headlam (right) at Laverton in February 1940

Following the outbreak of World War II, No. 1 Squadron undertook convoy escort and maritime reconnaissance duties off south-eastern Australia.[9] Headlam continued to serve with the squadron as a flight commander until 15 January 1940, when he was assigned to Headquarters Laverton as the station navigation officer. On 27 March he was posted to the staff of RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. He was promoted to squadron leader on 1 June 1940.[3][6] Two weeks later he married Katherine Bridge at St Paul's Anglican Church in Frankston; the couple had a son and a daughter.[1]

Headlam was given command of No. 2 Squadron at Laverton on 15 April 1941, and raised to

Penfui, near Koepang in Dutch Timor; No. 2 Squadron's eight remaining Hudsons were stationed at Darwin on standby.[11][12] The following day, aware that Australia was now at war in the Pacific, one of the Penfui-based Hudsons attacked the Japanese pearler Nanyo Maru, which was suspected of being a radio ship, and forced it aground.[8][11] By 12 December, Headlam had transferred to Penfui as commanding officer of the base and No. 2 Squadron.[11]

During January 1942, No. 2 Squadron's aircraft were dispersed at Penfui,

raid by the Japanese.[6][16] Four of No. 2 Squadron's Hudsons were destroyed in the attack; the remainder were relocated to Daly Waters, where they continued to carry out reconnaissance and bombing missions against Japanese targets in Timor.[8][10]

Headlam remained in Darwin as Controller of Operations at Headquarters

Mount Martha, Victoria, on 2 October 1944. He was appointed senior administrative staff officer at North-Western Area Command on 12 January 1945.[1][6]

Post-war career

Ten men in military uniforms and fatigues talking in a room
Group Captain Headlam (second from right) and Air Vice-Marshal Alan Charlesworth (standing centre), of North-Western Area Command, welcome repatriated prisoners of war to Darwin in September 1945.

Headlam became Officer Commanding North-Western Area in January 1946.

area bombing missions over communist-held territory, as well as strikes against pinpoint targets. The Dakotas were tasked with courier flights, VIP transport and medical evacuations across South East Asia, and in Malaya with airlifting troops and cargo, dropping supplies to friendly forces and despatching propaganda leaflets.[21] Headlam was slightly injured on 20 December, when a No. 38 Squadron Dakota he was co-piloting on a supply drop crash-landed at Kampong Aur in Pahang, following engine failure.[22] In August 1951 he was named commander of RAF Tengah, Singapore, while retaining his post as commanding officer of No. 90 Wing.[23] Headlam handed over command of No. 90 Wing in December 1951.[24]

On 19 February 1952, Headlam became senior air staff officer (SASO) at

Queen Elizabeth II was announced on 7 October 1954.[29]

Headlam was promoted to

Queen's Birthday Honours, gazetted on 3 June.[34] In May 1960 he became acting Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.[1]

Military helicopter with main door open, over jungle
Bell UH-1 Iroquois of No. 9 Squadron in Vietnam; Headlam planned the RAAF's initial helicopter deployment to the region while Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1966.

On 30 January 1961, Headlam joined the staff of Operational Command (OPCOM), the successor organisation to Home Command, responsible for the direction of RAAF operational units.

Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia that officially began the following month.[1][37] Divorced from his first wife in 1956, he married widowed social worker Vernon Spence at the Sydney registry office on 20 January 1964.[1][38] He handed over No. 224 Group to Air Vice Marshal Christopher Foxley-Norris on 30 November.[39]

Returning to Australia, Headlam became Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) on 26 January 1965.

Saigon with the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sir John Wilton, in March 1966 to plan the deployment.[43][44] The year before, Wilton had recommended to Air Marshal Murdoch, the Chief of the Air Staff, that two Iroquois be sent to Vietnam for familiarisation purposes; Murdoch had rebuffed Wilton, and the RAAF helicopter squadron was considered underprepared for its army co-operation role when it finally did deploy.[45] Headlam succeeded Air Vice Marshal Douglas Candy as AOC Support Command, Melbourne, on 8 August 1966.[6][46] Support Command had been formed in 1959, by merging the RAAF's former Training and Maintenance Commands.[26] On 1 January 1968, Headlam was posted to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff.[1][6] He served as an Extra Gentleman Usher to the Queen from 17 November 1970 to 5 June 1971.[47][48]

Retirement

Returning to Australia in June 1971, Headlam took resettlement leave before retiring from the Air Force on 3 August.[2][3] He made his home in Melbourne, where he died aged 62 on 23 December 1976, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Survived by his children and his second wife, he was given a private funeral and cremated at Springvale Crematorium.[1][49]

Notes

  1. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Headlam, Frank". World War 2 Nominal Roll. Department of Veterans' Affairs. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Department of Defence (1932–1971). "Headlam, Frank – Personal". pp. 141–144. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b Stephens, Power Plus Attitude, pp. 41–42, 52
  5. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, pp. 127–128, 176, 420
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Department of Defence (1947–1988). "Headlam, Frank – History". pp. 3–4. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  7. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, pp. 207–210
  8. ^ a b c d e f RAAF Historical Section, Bomber Units, pp. 8–9
  9. ^ a b Eather, Flying Squadrons, p. 19
  10. ^ a b Eather, Flying Squadrons, p. 22
  11. ^ a b c Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 237–238, 242 Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 58
  13. ^ Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 113
  14. ^ Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 118–119
  15. ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 421–422 Archived 23 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 119, 130–131
  17. ^ a b c "Air Vice-Marshals (A–K)". Air Marshals of the RAAF. Air Power Development Centre. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  18. ^ a b RAAF Historical Section, Training Units, pp. 2–3
  19. ^ a b RAAF Historical Section, Training Units, pp. 6–8
  20. ^ "New RAAF CO in Malaya". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 10 November 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  21. ^ Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 246–250
  22. ^ RAAF Headquarters – Directorate of Flying Safety (1 February 1951). "Crash landing of Dakota A65-66". pp. 1, 5–6. Archived from the original on 29 December 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  23. ^ "RAAF officer to command RAF base". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 16 August 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  24. ^ "New head for RAAF wing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 4 December 1951. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Re-equipping bomber wing". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 20 May 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  26. ^ a b c Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 74–77
  27. ^ "No. 40054". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1954. p. 40.
  28. ^ "State has three of nation's eight new knights". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 1 January 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  29. ^ "RAAF aides to Queen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 8 October 1954. p. 5. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  30. ^ Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 499–500
  31. ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 52
  32. ^ Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 103–104
  33. ^ Department of Defence (1947–1988). "Headlam, Frank – History". p. 32. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  34. ^ "No. 41405". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1958. p. 3550.
  35. ^ a b Stephenson, Three Passions and a Lucky Penny, p. 92
  36. ^ "New air commander". The Straits Times. Singapore: National Library, Singapore. 23 July 1962. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  37. ^ Dennis; Grey, Emergency and Confrontation, pp. 172, 175
  38. ^ Legge, Who's Who in Australia 1971, p. 455
  39. ^ "Service aviation". Flight International. 13 August 1964. p. 268. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  40. ^ "No. 43690". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 June 1965. p. 3977.
  41. ^ Department of Defence (1932–1971). "Headlam, Frank – Personal". p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  42. ^ Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 88–89
  43. ^ "Copters for Vietnam". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 11 March 1966. p. 9. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  44. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The RAAF in Vietnam, p. 130
  45. ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 264–265
  46. ^ "Changes in RAAF posts". The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 4 February 1966. p. 12. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  47. ^ "No. 45233". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 November 1970. p. 12595.
  48. ^ "No. 45402". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 June 1971. p. 6551.
  49. ^ "Air Vice-Marshal dies, 62". The Age. Melbourne. 27 December 1976. p. 2.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Headlam (RAAF officer).
Military offices
Preceded by
Air Vice Marshal Frederick Scherger
 Air Member for Personnel
(Acting)
1957 		Succeeded by
Air Vice Marshal Allan Walters
Preceded by
Air Vice Marshal Allan Walters
 Air Member for Personnel
(Acting)
1959–1960 		Succeeded by
Air Vice Marshal William Hely
Preceded by
Air Vice Marshal Valston Hancock
 Air Officer Commanding Operational Command
1961–1962 		Succeeded by
Air Vice Marshal Alister Murdoch
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