Frank McNamara (RAAF officer)

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Frank McNamara
Air Vice Marshal
UnitNo. 1 Squadron AFC (1916–17)
Commands held
Battles/warsWorld War I

World War II

Awards
  • Victoria Cross
  • Companion of the Order of the Bath
  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Other workNational Coal Board, UK (1947–57)

CBE (4 April 1894 – 2 November 1961) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to a member of the British and Commonwealth forces. Serving with the Australian Flying Corps, he was honoured for his actions on 20 March 1917, when he rescued a fellow pilot who had been forced down behind enemy lines. McNamara was the first Australian aviator—and the only one in World War I—to receive the Victoria Cross. He later became a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF).

Born and educated in

Victoria, McNamara was a teacher when he joined the militia prior to World War I. In 1915, he was selected for pilot training at Central Flying School, Point Cook, and transferred to the Australian Flying Corps the following year. He was based in the Middle Eastern Theatre with No. 1 Squadron when he earned the Victoria Cross. In 1921, McNamara enlisted as a flying officer in the newly formed RAAF, rising to the rank of air vice marshal by 1942. He held senior posts in England and Aden
during World War II. Retiring from the Air Force in 1946, McNamara continued to live in Britain until his death from heart failure in 1961.

Early life

Born in Rushworth, Victoria, McNamara was the first of eight children to William Francis McNamara, a State Lands Department officer, and his wife Rosanna.[1][2] He began his schooling in Rushworth, and completed his secondary education at Shepparton Agricultural High School, which he had entered via a scholarship.[2][3] The family moved to Melbourne in 1910.[2]

McNamara joined the

militia unit, in July 1913.[4][5] He became a teacher after graduating from Melbourne Teachers' Training College in 1914, and taught at various schools in Victoria.[6] He also enrolled in the University of Melbourne, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I.[6][7]

World War I

Militia to Australian Flying Corps

Half-length outdoor portrait of young man in military uniform and peaked cap, with pilot's wings on left breast pocket
Lieutenant McNamara at Point Cook, Victoria, 1916

As a militia officer, McNamara was mobilised for service in Australia when war was declared in August 1914.

lieutenant in July, he immediately volunteered for a military aeronautics course at Central Flying School, Point Cook.[2]

Selected for flying training at Point Cook in August 1915, McNamara made his first solo flight in a

gazetted on 5 July 1916.[11]

Completing his course at Upavon, McNamara was posted back to Egypt in August, but was hospitalised on 8 September with

testes). Discharged on 6 October, he served briefly as a flying instructor with No. 22 Squadron RFC, before returning to No. 1 Squadron.[4][9] McNamara flew with C Flight, commanded by Captain (later Air Marshal Sir) Richard Williams.[9][12] On his first sortie, a reconnaissance mission over Sinai, McNamara was unaware that his plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire; he returned to base with his engine's oil supply almost exhausted. Flying B.E.2s and Martinsydes, he undertook further scouting and bombing missions in the ensuing months.[2]

Victoria Cross

On 20 March 1917, McNamara, flying a Martinsyde, was one of four No. 1 Squadron pilots taking part in a raid against a Turkish railway junction near Gaza. Owing to a shortage of bombs, the aircraft were each armed with six specially modified 4.5-inch howitzer shells.[13] McNamara had successfully dropped three of his shells when the fourth exploded prematurely, badly wounded him in the leg with shrapnel, an effect he likened to being "hit with a sledgehammer".[2][13] Having turned to head back to base, he spotted a fellow squadron member from the same mission, Captain Douglas Rutherford, on the ground beside his crashlanded B.E.2.[6][14] Allied airmen had been hacked to death by enemy troops in similar situations, and McNamara saw that a company of Turkish cavalry was fast approaching Rutherford's position.[14] Despite the rough terrain and the gash in his leg, McNamara landed near Rutherford in an attempt to rescue him.[9][13]

Full-length outdoor portrait of six men in military uniforms in front of a military biplane with a machine gun mounted on the upper wing
Three men in hospital pyjamas sitting with female nurse
Left: McNamara (far left) with other members of C Flight, No. 1 Squadron AFC, including Captain Williams (third from right), and Lieutenant Wackett (far right), with a Martinsyde near the Suez Canal, Egypt, 1917. Right: McNamara (right) in hospital, Cairo, 1917.

As there was no spare cockpit in the single-seat Martinsyde, the downed pilot jumped onto McNamara's wing and held the struts. McNamara crashed while attempting to take off because of the effects of his leg wound and Rutherford's weight overbalancing the aircraft. The two men, who had escaped further injury in the accident, set fire to the Martinsyde and dashed back to Rutherford's B.E.2. Rutherford repaired the engine while McNamara used his

Roy "Peter" Drummond and Lieutenant Alfred Ellis, also began strafing the enemy troops.[2][13] McNamara managed to start the B.E.2's engine and take off, with Rutherford in the observer's cockpit. In severe pain and close to blacking out from loss of blood, McNamara flew the damaged aircraft 70 miles (110 km) back to base at El Arish.[14][15]

Having effected what was described in the

London Gazette on 8 June 1917:[20]

Head-and-shoulders portrait of young man in military uniform with forage cap and pilot's wings above a single ribbon on left breast pocket
McNamara VC, c. 1917

Lt. Frank Hubert McNamara, Aus. Forces, R.F.C.

For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during an aerial bomb attack upon a hostile construction train, when one of our pilots was forced to land behind the enemy's lines.

Lt. McNamara, observing this pilot's predicament and the fact that hostile cavalry were approaching, descended to his rescue. He did this under heavy rifle fire and in spite of the fact that he himself had been severely wounded in the thigh.

He landed about 200 yards from the damaged machine, the pilot of which climbed onto Lt. McNamara's machine, and an attempt was made to rise. Owing, however, to his disabled leg, Lt. McNamara was unable to keep his machine straight, and it turned over. The two officers, having extricated themselves, immediately set fire to the machine and made their way across to the damaged machine, which they succeeded in starting.

Finally Lt. McNamara, although weak from loss of blood, flew this machine back to the aerodrome, a distance of seventy miles, and thus completed his comrade's rescue.

Promoted to

Wolf resulted in him being recalled to the AFC and put in charge of an aerial reconnaissance unit based in South Gippsland, Victoria, flying a Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2B and later a Maurice Farman Shorthorn.[21][22] In September 1918, he was posted as a flying instructor to Point Cook, where he saw out the remainder of the war.[4][21]

Between the wars

Cathedral spire with biplane in level flight in the distance
Captain McNamara flying an Avro 504K over St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, c. 1919–20. He was later married in the cathedral.

Following the disbandment of the AFC, McNamara transferred to the

Prince of Wales at Government House, Melbourne, on 26 May.[21] He enlisted in the newly established Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1921.[3] Ranked flying officer (honorary flight lieutenant), he was one of the original twenty-one officers on the Air Force's strength at its formation that March.[24] Posted to RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne as Staff Officer Operations and Intelligence, McNamara was given command of No. 1 Flying Training School (No. 1 FTS) at Point Cook in July 1922. He was promoted squadron leader in March 1924 and the following month married Hélène Bluntschli, a Belgian national he had met in Cairo during the war, at St Patrick's Cathedral;[2][6] his best man was fellow officer Frank Lukis.[25]

McNamara travelled to England in 1925 for two years exchange with the

wing commander one year later.[8] He was placed in charge of RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, including No. 1 Aircraft Depot, in February 1933.[6] McNamara was raised to group captain in 1936, and attended the Imperial Defence College, London, the following year.[5][8] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1938 New Year Honours.[27]

World War II

Half-length outdoor portrait of moustachioed man in military great coat with peaked cap, talking to a group of ten or men in military uniforms with forage caps
Air Vice Marshal McNamara (right) greets Australian airmen upon their arrival in Britain, 1941

When World War II broke out in September 1939, McNamara was serving as

air vice marshal and acting AOC of RAAF Overseas Headquarters when Williams returned to Australia in January 1942 for what was expected to be a temporary visit; Williams was subsequently posted to Washington, D.C. and McNamara retained command of the headquarters until the end of the year.[33][34]

McNamara was appointed AOC

Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1945 New Year Honours,[37] and returned to London in March. That month McNamara was deeply affected by the loss of his close friend Peter Drummond, who had helped keep attacking cavalry at bay during his Victoria Cross action in 1917. Drummond's Consolidated B-24 Liberator disappeared near the Azores en route to Canada and all aboard were presumed killed; McNamara had to break the news to his widow, Isabel.[38] McNamara's health had also suffered from exposure to the desert dust in Aden, and he was unable to take up his next position as the RAAF's representative at the Ministry of Defence until September.[21] His entire war was spent outside Australia.[3]

Retirement and legacy

Three-quarter outdoor portrait of moustachioed man in military uniform with peaked cap and pilot's wings on left breast pocket, flanked by woman in hat and fur coat, and young man in military great coat and forage cap
McNamara at Buckingham Palace, London, for his investiture as a Companion of the Bath, flanked by his wife and son, in May 1945

McNamara was summarily retired from the RAAF in 1946, along with several other senior commanders and veterans of World War I, officially to make way for the advancement of younger and equally capable officers. His role overseas had in any case become redundant.

British Zone of Occupation.[21] McNamara continued to live in England after completing his work with the Commission in October 1947, and served on the National Coal Board in London from 1947 to 1959.[3][5] He died of hypertensive heart failure on 2 November 1961, aged 67, after suffering a fall at his home in Buckinghamshire. Survived by his wife and two children, he was buried at St Joseph's Priory, Austin Wood, Gerrards Cross, after a large funeral.[6][41]

Embittered by his dismissal from the RAAF and the meagre

Shepparton, Victoria,[44] and the Frank McNamara VC Club at Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Queensland.[45][46]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Chisholm, Who's Who in Australia 1947, pp. 567–568
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Macklin, Bravest, pp. 84–93
  3. ^ a b c d e f Stephens and Isaacs, High Fliers, pp. 20–22
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Air Vice Marshal Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamara Archived 13 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d Dennis et al., The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 339
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Garrison, Australian Dictionary of Biography, pp. 348–349
  7. ^ a b Helson, Ten Years at the Top, p. 19
  8. ^ a b c d e f Air Vice Marshal Francis Hubert (Frank) McNamara: Timeline Archived 23 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 14 January 2009.
  9. ^ a b c d e Frank Hubert McNamara Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine at The AIF Project Archived 11 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  10. ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 9
  11. ^ "No. 29675". The London Gazette. 21 July 1916. p. 7219.
  12. ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, p. 32 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ a b c d e Wilson, The Brotherhood of Airmen, pp. 11–13
  14. ^ a b c d e f Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 14–15
  15. ^ a b Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, pp. 58–59 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Recommendation for Immediate Award[permanent dead link] at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  17. ^ Statement by Lieutenant Drummond[permanent dead link] at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  18. ^ Statement by Lieutenant Ellis[permanent dead link] at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  19. ^ Statement by Captain Rutherford Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  20. ^ "No. 30122". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1917. pp. 5701–5703.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Macklin, Bravest, pp. 94–99
  22. ^ Coulthard-Clark, A Hero's Dilemma, pp. 54–55
  23. ^ Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 20
  24. ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 16 Archived 7 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Coulthard-Clark, A Hero's Dilemma, p. 68
  26. ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 712 Archived 7 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "No. 34469". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1937. p. 8.
  28. ^ a b c Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 113 Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 4 Archived 27 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 108–110 Archived 14 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 113–116 Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  32. ^ Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 18–120 Archived 14 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ^ Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 529 Archived 19 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  34. ^ Coulthard-Clark, A Hero's Dilemma, p. 92
  35. ^ a b Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 391 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ Herington, Air Power Over Europe, p. 278 Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  37. ^ "No. 36866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1944. pp. 4–5.
  38. ^ Coulthard-Clark, A Hero's Dilemma, pp. 104–105
  39. ^ Helson, Ten Years at the Top, pp. 234–237
  40. ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 179–181
  41. ^ Bowyer, For Valour, p. 88
  42. ^ Cutlack, The Australian Flying Corps, p. 52 Archived 21 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ a b Coulthard-Clark, A Hero's Dilemma, pp. 114–115
  44. ^ Frank McNamara Park Archived 2 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine at Greater Shepparton Online Network. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  45. ^ Edlington, David, ed. (5 December 2002). "Frontline distributions to Army for the 12 months to 30 June 2002". Army News. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  46. ^ Australian Defence Credit Union Limited Archived 21 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine at Abacus Australian Mutuals. Retrieved 31 January 2009.

References


Military offices
Preceded by Commanding Officer No. 1 Flying Training School
1930–33
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commanding Officer RAAF Station Laverton
1933–36
Succeeded by
Preceded by Air Officer Commanding RAAF Overseas Headquarters
1942
Succeeded by
Henry Wrigley
Preceded by Air Officer Commanding British Forces Aden
1943–45
Succeeded by