Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes u ...

Sir Robert Allingham George, (27 July 1896 – 13 September 1967) was a senior officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

from 23 February 1953 until 7 March 1960. He was born in the

County of Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

, Scotland, on 27 July 1896, and educated at

Invergordon Invergordon (; gd, Inbhir Ghòrdain or ) is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen. History The town built up around the harbour which was establish ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. In May 1927, he married Sybil Elizabeth Baldwin.

Military career

When the First World War began in 1914, George enlisted in the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

and was sent to France.Air Vice-Marshal Sir Robert George
''Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation'' He was transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for his night bombing. In 1919 he was appointed to a permanent commission in the

. He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 100 Squadron in 1930 and Officer Commanding No. 33 Squadron in 1932. George later served as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters RAF Far East in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from 1934 and as Station Commander at

RAF Hawkinge Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Ashford, north of Folkestone, Kent and west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal ...

from 1937. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was Air Attaché in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. He went on to be Air Officer Commanding AHQ Iraq and Persia in 1944. After the War he served as Air Attaché in Paris until he retired in 1952. He 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 ...

in 1944 and a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

in 1948, promoted to substantive air vice marshal in 1950 and knighted as a

Knight 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 ...

in 1952.

Governor of South Australia

Sir Robert was appointed Governor of South Australia in August 1952. He and Lady George arrived in Adelaide early the following year. The Premier, Sir Thomas Playford, noted in his welcome address to Sir Robert that governors were expected to be "an inspiration in times of danger." Playford's words turned out to be portentous – South Australia would suffer through earthquake, fire and flood in consecutive years during Sir Robert's tenure. In March 1954, the worst earthquake in Adelaide's history damaged

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, along with many other buildings in the city. Less than a year later, the Governor's summer residence at Marble Hill was destroyed in the

Black Sunday bushfires The Black Sunday bushfires were a series of bushfires that broke out across South Australia on 2 January 1955. Extreme morning temperatures coupled with strong north-westerly winds contributed to the breakout of numerous fires in Adelaide Hills, ...

of January 1955. He and his wife and staff sheltered under wet blankets in the driveway, and were lucky to escape with their lives. In a particularly cruel twist of fate, all Sir Robert and Lady George's possessions were lost in the fire, having been relocated to Marble Hill while Government House was undergoing repairs for the damage suffered in the earthquake.Australian Dictionary of Biography Online – George, Sir Robert Allingham
/ref> Finally, the

1956 Murray River flood The 1956 Murray River flood involved the rising of waters in the Murray River and flooding of many towns in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The flood was and still is considered the biggest flood in the recorded history of the Murr ...

was the largest in recorded history. On 20 August, Sir Robert surveyed the flood-hit areas in a light aircraft, and said he was "appalled at the tremendous area underwater and the terrific damage which had resulted." Sir Robert was a colourful governor, once demanding a personal helicopter from Premier Playford. Although admired for his bravery, Sir Robert was considered old-fashioned by the masses, particularly due to his impatience,

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

-playing, and his habit of carrying a

fly-whisk __NOTOC__ A fly-whisk (or fly-swish) is a tool that is used to swat flies. A similar gadget is used as a hand fan in hot tropical climates, sometimes as part of regalia, and is called a ''chowrie'', ''chāmara'', or ''prakirnaka'' in South Asia an ...

and a

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking *Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are b ...

. Lady George was an ardent supporter of many charities, but her support for traditional family roles was not popular with the emerging

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

; once, while officiating at the opening of new laboratories at a girls' college, she claimed: "The most important thing for a girl is to learn how to run a home well." Despite their frequent clashes, Playford supported George and the dignity of the Vice-Regal post in a 1956 court case regarding the cook's wages. The prosecuting lawyer was future Labor premier

Don Dunstan Donald Allan Dunstan (21 September 1926 – 6 February 1999) was an Australian politician who served as the 35th premier of South Australia from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1970 to 1979. He was a member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for th ...

. Playford negotiated an out-of-court settlement on condition that Dunstan and his Labor colleagues in the House would not debate the budget item. Labor maverick Samuel Lawn (the member for

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

) did not honour the agreement, and tried to raise a public scandal. Playford responded by extending George's term.

Freemasonry

George was appointed Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Australia in 1956.

Retirement and accidental death

George and his family retired to England in 1959 after which he held no further government appointments. He died in a London Hospital on 13 September 1967, after being accidentally hit by a car and not regaining consciousness.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Robert 1896 births 1967 deaths British air attachés Governors of South Australia Australian Freemasons Scottish Freemasons Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Knights of the Order of St John Pedestrian road incident deaths Recipients of the Military Cross Road incident deaths in London Royal Air Force air marshals Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Flying Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I Seaforth Highlanders soldiers Scottish military personnel