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Our Commanders.
Air
Vice Marshal Harold Hawkins GLM, ICD,
CBE, AFC
Commander
1965–1969
Harold Hawkins was born at Toowoomba Queensland, Australia in 1922.
He joined the Royal Australian Air Force and served during World War II,
seeing service in North Africa, Italy and the Far East (Philippines).
During his wartime service, he was posted to the Rhodesian Air Training
Group’s Central Flying School at Norton for a flying instructors’ course
in 1943. He returned for a brief visit in June 1944 to marry a Rhodesian
girl, Evelyn Walker, and they had a son and a daughter. He was posted back
to Australia from the Middle East before the end of the war and saw
service in the Philippines.
After VJ Day, he was demobbed and
joined Australian National Airways. However, the lure of Africa was too
great and he returned to Southern Rhodesia in 1946. Harold took a post
with the Department of Civil Aviation as an air traffic controller at
Belvedere, and in March 1947 was the second pilot to join the Southern
Rhodesia Government Communications Squadron. He attested in the rank of
warrant officer and joined Sergeant Doug Whyte as the founding pilots of
what was to become the post-war air force. He was promoted to lieutenant
in June 1947 and in November, collected Dakota SR 25, a gift from Jan
Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa.
He was appointed officer
commanding of the Communications Squadron and by early 1948 was in command
of the Southern Rhodesia Air Unit. He became a captain in 1949, holding
the post of chief instructor and officer commanding flying SRAF Cranborne.
Promotion to major followed, and in 1953 he was posted to the United
Kingdom to attend the RAF Staff College at Bracknell. At the end of the
course, he became air advisor to the Federal High Commission at Rhodesia
House succeeding Wing Commander Keith Taute.
The adoption of RAF
ranks found him acting wing commander, and then t/wing commander in
September 1955, his promotion to group captain following in 1958. In April
1961 with the rank of air commodore, he was appointed deputy chief of Air
Staff, and Honorary Additional Air ADC to Her Majesty the Queen. In
April 1965 he was promoted to air vice marshal and succeeded Air
Vice Marshal Raf Bentley as chief of Staff of the Royal Rhodesian
Air Force.
Harold was awarded the AFC in the Queen’s Birthday
Honours list in June 1951, and was made an Officer of the British Empire
in the New Year’s Honours list in January 1960. He was elevated to a
Commander of the Order (CBE) in June 1965. He was also a graduate of The
Imperial Defence College, London.
In April 1968 he retired after
his four years in office, and in August 1969 he was appointed the
acknowledged diplomatic representative in South Africa, a post he held
until the granting of independence to Zimbabwe in 1980. He was awarded the
Independence Commemorative Decoration in November 1970, and was
created a Grand Officer of the Legion of Merit in the Honours list of
November 1976.
Harold was a very keen rugby player having played in
Australia before and during the war. He held the posts of both vice
president and president of the Rhodesia Rugby Union. He died on 13th March
1988 in South Africa.
End
Extracted from the
book, "A Pride of Eagles."
ORAFs records its thanks to the
following for permitting ORAFs to use their material.
Research and text
by Anne (now Shaw) and Peter and Cooke
Chris Cocks for making the
information available to ORAFs
The late Beryl Salt author of "A Pride
of Eagles."
Refer: http://www.ourstory.com/thread.html?t=552858#678697
Kind Regards
Eddy Norris
Irene, RSA
ora...@gmail.com
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