| Air Marshal Sir James Rowland AC, KBE, DFC, AFC |
|
|---|---|
| Flight Lieutenant Jim Rowland in England, 1945 | |
| 33rd Governor of New South Wales | |
| In office 20 January 1981 – 20 January 1989 |
|
| Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | Sir Roden Cutler |
| Succeeded by | Sir David Martin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1922 Armidale, New South Wales |
| Died | 27 May 1999 (aged 76) Sydney, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Profession | Air Force officer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service/branch | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1942–1979 |
| Rank | Air Marshal |
| Unit | No. 635 Squadron RAF |
| Commands | ARDU (1956–59) No. 3 AD (1967–69) Technical Services Branch (1972–75) Chief of the Air Staff (1975–79) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of Australia Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross |
Air Marshal Sir James Anthony (Jim) Rowland, AC, KBE, DFC, AFC (1 November 1922 – 27 May 1999) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force, serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He later held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991. Born in rural New South Wales, Rowland cut short his aeronautical engineering studies at the University of Sydney to join the RAAF in 1942. He was posted to Britain and served as a bomber pilot with the Pathfinders in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. The following year he was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner.
After repatriation and demobilisation, Rowland gained his engineering degree and rejoined the RAAF. He became a test pilot, serving with and later commanding the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the 1950s, and also a senior engineering officer, being closely involved in preparations for delivery to Australia of the Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighter in the 1960s. In 1972 he was promoted to air vice marshal and became Air Member for Technical Services, holding this post until his elevation to air marshal and appointment as CAS in March 1975. He was the first engineering officer to lead the RAAF, and the first man to personally command it in a legal sense, following abolition of the Australian Air Board in 1976. Knighted in 1977, Rowland retired from the Air Force in 1979 and became Governor of New South Wales in January 1981. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1987. Retiring from the Governorship in 1989, he held a place on several boards as well as the Chancellorship of the University of Sydney. He died in 1999.
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Jim Rowland was born in Armidale, New South Wales, on 1 November 1922.[1][2] He was the son of Louis Rowland, a commander in the Royal Australian Navy, and his wife Elsie.[3][4] Jim evinced a fascination with aviation from an early age, carving model aeroplanes out of wood. Growing up on his family's rural property, he was schooled via correspondence before completing his secondary education at Cranbrook, Sydney.[5][6] At 17, he entered the University of Sydney to study aeronautical engineering but left in May 1942 to enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot under the Empire Air Training Scheme. He was commissioned as a pilot officer in July 1943 and posted to Britain, where he converted to Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.[1][7]
Rowland joined the Pathfinder Force that marked targets for other aircraft on strategic bombing missions over Europe. Considered an exceptional pilot, he became a master bomber with No. 635 Squadron RAF in 1944.[7][8] The master bomber’s role was to arrive ahead of the main Allied force, check that flares marking the target were in place, and warn his fellows if they were bombing inaccurately.[9] Having been promoted to acting flight lieutenant, Rowland was on a sortie to attack Düsseldorf in December 1944 when he lost one of his engines. He nevertheless continued on to the target where, due to his lower-than-normal altitude, his Lancaster was seriously damaged by anti-aircraft fire before and after he dropped his bombs. Nursing his plane back to base, Rowland was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in recognition of his "great determination and devotion to duty"; the award was promulgated in the London Gazette on 16 February 1945.[7][10] In January 1945, Rowland's Lancaster collided with a Canadian bomber over Frankfurt, and he had to bail out with his surviving crew. Captured and held by the Gestapo in solitary confinement, he was scheduled to be executed but was saved by two Luftwaffe officers who had learned of his situation. They took him to a prisoner-of-war camp, where he remained until being repatriated at the end of hostilities.[8][11]
Rowland’s commission was terminated in November 1945. Returning to Australia, he resumed his studies at the University of Sydney and completed his degree, before rejoining the RAAF as a member of its newly formed Technical Branch in 1947.[1][7] He was posted to Britain in 1949 to attend the Empire Test Pilots' School. In 1952 he was appointed chief test pilot with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at RAAF Base Laverton, Victoria.[3] Rowland led trials on many of the Air Force's early jets such as the Gloster Meteor, De Havilland Vampire, English Electric Canberra, and CAC Sabre.[1] Promoted to squadron leader, he earned the Air Force Cross (AFC) for his test flying achievements; the award was gazetted on 1 January 1955.[7][12] He married Faye Doughton on 20 April 1955; the couple had a daughter, Anni.[3][11]
Having earlier attended RAAF Staff College, Point Cook, and been promoted to wing commander, Rowland took charge of ARDU from June 1956 until August 1959.[7][13] In 1957, he raised concerns that the supersonic Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, touted as a multi-role replacement for the Sabre, was ill-suited for any purpose except interception. Defence Minister Sir Philip McBride had reached the same conclusion, and kept the Sabre in frontline service until a more suitable aircraft could be chosen, namely the Dassault Mirage III delta-wing fighter.[14] From 1961 to 1964 Rowland was based in Paris, as Technical Staff Officer on the RAAF team preparing for the Mirage's acceptance into Australian service.[7] After returning to Australia he was posted to the Directorate of Aircraft Engineering at the Department of Air, Canberra, responsible for ongoing technical oversight of the Mirage.[15]
In December 1966 Rowland became commanding officer of No. 3 Aircraft Depot (No. 3 AD) at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, with the acting rank of group captain; his promotion was made substantive in November 1967.[16][17] After completing his tenure at No. 3 AD in January 1969, Rowland was appointed Senior Engineering Staff Officer at Headquarters Operational Command in Glenbrook, New South Wales.[3][18] In 1971 he was posted to Britain to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies, London.[3] Returning to Australia, he was Director-General of Aircraft Engineering before being promoted to air vice marshal to serve as Air Member for Technical Services (AMTS), the RAAF’s senior engineering position, in November 1972. The AMTS occupied a seat on the Australian Air Board, the service's controlling body that was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).[8][19] In March 1975 Rowland was raised to air marshal and took over from Air Marshal Charles Read as CAS, becoming the first appointee to the position who had joined the RAAF after the commencement of World War II.[1][7] He was also the first engineering officer to lead the RAAF. However the CAS was required to be a member of the Air Force's aircrew stream so, although already a qualified pilot, he had to transfer from the Technical Branch to the General Duties Branch. Soon afterwards, the stipulation for the CAS to be a member of the General Duties Branch was removed.[7][20]
1) Whatever you do, it will cost more, and the later you do it the more it will cost
2) There are never enough wires, and if there are they are in the wrong places
3) Whatever you choose there's now a better one available
4) Aircraft always get heavier
In 1976, Rowland became the first CAS to personally command the RAAF in a legal sense, following dissolution of the Air Board, a consequence of defence reorganisation in the wake of the "Tange report" in 1973. A new Chief of the Air Staff Advisory Committee (CASAC) was set up, but there was no requirement for the CAS to accept its advice.[21] According to Air Force historian Alan Stephens, Rowland considered that the "collective wisdom" engendered by the Air Board had been generally beneficial to the RAAF, and believed the new arrangements led to "'paralysis and arrogation of decision making', and empire building in the Public Service component".[22][23] Though known as a strong committee member who enjoyed a good argument, he "found that the sheer time involved in attending meetings made it very difficult for him to run the Air Force 'the way [he] wanted to'".[1][23] To help facilitate the cross-fertilisation of ideas on air power between senior officers, he inaugurated an annual CAS Symposium.[24] On 11 June 1977, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the military division (KBE).[25] In July the same year, he was awarded the National Medal with First Clasp, given "for diligent long service to the community".[26] Rowland retired from the RAAF in March 1979, and was succeeded as CAS by Air Marshal Neville McNamara, who later became the first Air Force member to command all three Australian services as Chief of the Defence Force Staff (later Chief of the Defence Force).[20][27]
| Viceregal styles of Sir James Rowland |
|
| Reference style | His Excellency |
|---|---|
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Alternative style | Sir |
After leaving the Air Force, Rowland continued to live in Canberra, consulting part-time for French arms concern Ofema.[28][29] In late 1980 he was recommended by the government of Neville Wran to serve as the next Governor of New South Wales, replacing Sir Roden Cutler. Rowland admitted that he did not have "the faintest idea" why he was chosen, and thought that "there must be a lot of people who could do it a lot better than I could". However he saw the role as the monarch's representative in New South Wales as helping to provide "a valuable link with an older part of the world".[11][28] He was duly appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 January 1981.[11][30] Upon taking office, Rowland declared that he wished to be seen as a "man of the people". To this end he opened Government House to the public on a more frequent basis, and also extended invitations for official functions to a broader range of society than was previously the case.[11] As Governor of New South Wales, he held a dormant commission to serve as Administrator of the Commonwealth and Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force during absences by the Governor General, and did so a number of times while in office.[31] On one such occasion he was required to dismiss Air Vice Marshal James Flemming from his position as director of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, after Flemming made comments alleging that "leftists" were trying to transform the War Memorial into a "peace memorial".[29]
Rowland was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Engineering by the University of Sydney in 1983, and also appointed a Knight of the Order of St John.[3][32] On 26 January 1987, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for "service to the Crown and to the people of New South Wales".[33] At Sydney Town Hall on 3 October that year, he took the salute of Vietnam veterans during their official "Welcome Home March".[34] Rowland's original four-year term as Governor was extended twice, each time for two years, by the Wran and Unsworth administrations.[6] He was succeeded on 20 January 1989 by Rear Admiral Sir David Martin.[35] After retiring from the Governorship, Rowland served as President of the Royal Humane Society,[36] Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991,[32] and as a member of the Police Board from 1989 to 1992.[5][6] He was also a member of the boards of several private companies, including Angus & Coote and Thomson-CSF Pacific Holdings, and Chairman of the Aerospace Foundation of Australia from 1992 until his death in Sydney on 27 May 1999.[8] Sir James Rowland was survived by his wife and daughter, and accorded a state funeral.[11]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Read |
Chief of the Air Staff 1975–1979 |
Succeeded by Sir Neville McNamara |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Roden Cutler |
Governor of New South Wales 1981–1989 |
Succeeded by Sir David Martin |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Hermann Black |
Chancellor of the University of Sydney 1990–1991 |
Succeeded by Dame Leonie Kramer |
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