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  • Hippolyte De La Rue
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  • Air Commodore Hippolyte Ferdinand (Frank) De La Rue CBE, DFC (13 March 1891 – 18 May 1977) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Joining the Mercantile Marine as a youth, he became a pilot in Britain's Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. In 1918, he was given command of No. 223 Squadron in the newly formed Royal Air Force. The following year he took charge of No. 270 Squadron RAF in Egypt. Returning to Australia, De La Rue joined the short-lived Australian Air Corps in 1920, and became a founding member of the RAAF in March 1921. Specialising in maritime aviation, he led seaplane formations based at Point Cook, Victoria, during the 1920s and early 1930s
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serviceyears
  • 1908
Birth Date
  • 1891-03-13
Commands
death place
  • Kew, Victoria
Nickname
  • "Kanga"
Name
  • Hippolyte Ferdinand De La Rue
Caption
  • Group Captain De La Rue, 1939
Birth Place
  • Auburn, New South Wales
Title
  • Air Officer Commanding Western Area
Awards
death date
  • 1977-05-18
Rank
Image size
  • 160
Battles
  • World War I *European theatre *Gallipoli Campaign World War II
Before
  • New formation
Years
  • 1941
Alt
  • Half-length side-on portrait of man in dark military uniform with four stripes on cuff, wearing a forage cap and holding a large lensed instrument in his hands
After
  • Air Commodore Raymond Brownell
abstract
  • Air Commodore Hippolyte Ferdinand (Frank) De La Rue CBE, DFC (13 March 1891 – 18 May 1977) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Joining the Mercantile Marine as a youth, he became a pilot in Britain's Royal Naval Air Service during World War I. In 1918, he was given command of No. 223 Squadron in the newly formed Royal Air Force. The following year he took charge of No. 270 Squadron RAF in Egypt. Returning to Australia, De La Rue joined the short-lived Australian Air Corps in 1920, and became a founding member of the RAAF in March 1921. Specialising in maritime aviation, he led seaplane formations based at Point Cook, Victoria, during the 1920s and early 1930s De La Rue was appointed commanding officer of No. 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook in 1933. He was promoted to group captain in 1937 and took command of RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, the following year. At the outbreak of World War II, De La Rue was slated to lead an air expeditionary force to Great Britain, but this plan was abandoned after Australia committed itself to the Empire Air Training Scheme. Promoted to temporary air commodore, he served as Air Officer Commanding Western Area from 1941 to 1943, and finished the war as Inspector of Administration at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. Nicknamed "Kanga", De La Rue retired from the Air Force in 1946, and died in 1977 at the age of eighty-six.
is notable commanders of