Alister Murdoch

Air Marshal Sir Alister Murray Murdoch, (9 December 1912 – 24 October 1984) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Alister Murray Murdoch was born on 9 December 1912 in Elsternwick, Victoria, the son of engineer Thomas Murdoch and his wife Kathleen.

A lieutenant in the Commonwealth Military Forces at the time of Alister's birth, Thomas was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in World War I, and rose to the rank of brigadier as Director-General of Engineer Services in World War II.

Educated at Caulfield Grammar School, Alister entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1929, following his elder brother Ian (later a major general).

Alister was one of four cadets sponsored that year by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which did not at that stage have its own officer training college.

Budgetary constraints imposed during the Great Depression necessitated the transfer of these cadets out of Duntroon midway through their four-year course.

Although offered positions in the Australian Public Service or nominations for short-term commissions with the Royal Air Force, all were determined to serve with the RAAF and were more than pleased with the prospect of entering their chosen service early.

Joining the Air Force in 1930, Murdoch trained as a seaplane pilot and participated in an Antarctic rescue mission for lost explorers in 1935.

During World War II, he commanded No. 221 Squadron RAF in Europe and the Middle East, and later occupied senior positions on the staff of RAAF formations in the South West Pacific.

Murdoch enlisted in the Air Force on 10 December 1930, and completed his pilot training the following year.

He was commissioned in 1932 and later qualified as a flying instructor and seaplane pilot, undertaking navy cooperation and maritime patrol operations.

In December 1935, Flying Officer Murdoch was selected to join an RAAF rescue mission for explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot, Herbert Hollick-Kenyon, who were presumed lost while journeying across the Antarctic.

Flying a de Havilland Gipsy Moth, Murdoch located Hollick-Kenyon near the Bay of Whales.

Hollick-Kenyon led the search party to Ellsworth, who protested that he was not lost and did not need rescuing.

Murdoch was posted to England in 1936–37 to undertake a course in long navigation at RAF Manston and serve on attachment with No. 114 Squadron.

Returning to Australia, he married Florence Miller on 27 December 1937; the couple had a daughter.

Murdoch spent the next two years on the staff of the Directorate of Operations and Intelligence at Air Force Headquarters, Melbourne.

In June 1938, he helped inaugurate RAAF instruction in long navigation with a nine-month course in the discipline.

Ranked squadron leader at the outbreak of World War II, Murdoch took charge of No. 1 Air Observer School at Cootamundra, New South Wales, from April 1940 until mid-1941.

Following this posting he was promoted to wing commander and sent to the European Theatre.

In August 1941, he became commanding officer of No. 221 Squadron RAF, a Coastal Command unit flying Vickers Wellingtons on reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols out of Iceland during the Battle of the Atlantic.

The next year, Murdoch accompanied the squadron to the Middle East, where it carried out anti-submarine and maritime strike operations.

He also served as staff officer operations with No. 235 Wing RAF.

Back in London in July 1942, Murdoch was assigned to Combined Operations Headquarters, where he assisted in planning the Dieppe Raid before returning to Australia in 1943.

Promoted to group captain, Murdoch was appointed senior air staff officer (SASO) at Eastern Area Command, Sydney, in July 1943.

In January 1944, he became SASO at North-Western Area Command, which controlled thirteen Australian, British, Dutch, and American squadrons from its headquarters in Darwin, Northern Territory.

Murdoch planned many of the command's bombing and mining operations in the South West Pacific Theatre, and was mentioned in despatches for his "distinguished service" in the role.

He was posted as SASO to the Australian First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF) in April 1945, replacing Group Captain William Gibson after the latter's dismissal in the wake of the "Morotai Mutiny", when the threatened resignations of eight of the RAAF's leading fighter aces caused a crisis in the formation's leadership.

Delegated operational responsibility by No. 1 TAF's new commander, Air Commodore Frederick Scherger, Murdoch received much of the credit for the planning of the RAAF's role in Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of Labuan.

He accompanied Scherger ashore on the afternoon of the landings on 10 June 1945.

Murdoch was also praised for his staff work during Operation Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan, in July.

Murdoch was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 25 June 1946 for "conspicuous service in operations against the Japanese" during World War II.

One of a small coterie of officers earmarked for top positions in the post-war Air Force, he was Director of Personnel Services in 1946–47 before attending the Imperial Defence College, London, in 1948.

His post-war appointments included Commandant of RAAF College from 1952 to 1953, Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Training Command from 1953 to 1955, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1958 to 1959, and AOC Operational Command from 1962 to 1965.

As AOC Training Command in 1954, Murdoch headed a program to determine aircraft purchases for the RAAF; his recommendations included the C-130 Hercules transport, considered one of the most important acquisitions in the Air Force's history.

His term as CAS coincided with an increased commitment to the Vietnam War, and he came into conflict with Australian Army commanders over the employment of helicopters in battle.

He was also involved in assessing the readiness of the General Dynamics F-111C for RAAF service.

Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1960 and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966, Murdoch was the fourth in a series of CASs who had been cadets at the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

He served as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1965 to 1969.

He retired from the Air Force in December 1969 and died in 1984.