Sir Richard Kingsland, (19 October 1916 – 27 August 2012) was an Australian

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

pilot known for being the youngest Australian group captain at age 29. He later became a senior public servant, heading the Departments of the Interior, Repatriation, and Veterans' Affairs.

Biography

Julius Allan Cohen was born in 1916. He later changed his name to Richard Kingsland, to avoid anti-semitism. Kingsland was sent to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 1940 to rescue two of Britain's most senior WWII leaders,

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian. First elected to Parliament in 19 ...

and

John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, (10 July 1886 – 31 March 1946) was a senior British Army officer. As a young officer during the First World War, he was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actio ...

. Kingsland managed to rescue them from French headquarters with only two other men and managed to flee in a

Seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

. That same year, he and his crew were sent to bomb a major Japanese headquarters established in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. For his invaluable service, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in September 1940. In June 2010, he published his autobiography, ''Into the Midst of Things''.

Public service

During his public service career, rising to become Secretary of the Departments of Interior,

Repatriation Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...

, and

Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

, Kingsland served 12 ministers and built a reputation as a trusted and experienced departmental head.

Awards and honours

Richard Kingsland was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1967. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1978, and appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1989. In 2013, a street in the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

suburb of Casey was named Kingsland Parade in Richard Kingsland's honour.

Death

Richard Kingsland died in August 2012, aged 95. He was survived by his wife of 68 years, Kathleen Kingsland, two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsland, Richard 1916 births 2012 deaths Australian aviators Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Jews Australian Knights Bachelor Australian public servants Australian World War II pilots Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Australian Air Force officers Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Secretaries of the Australian Government Veterans' Affairs Department