John Lerew

John Margrave Lerew, DFC (20 August 1912 – 24 February 1996) was an officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II, and later a senior manager in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

He also developed a love of fast cars, joining a racing team and placing third in the 1930 Australian Grand Prix.

On 19 November 1932, Lerew enlisted as an air cadet in the RAAF active reserve, known as the Citizen Air Force (CAF).

He had marched into Victoria Barracks on a whim and asked to see the person in charge of Air Force recruiting.

He was shown to the office of Squadron Leader Raymond Brownell, also a former Scotch College boy, who admitted him.

Lerew undertook flying instruction on the 1933 'B' course conducted by No. 1 Squadron at RAAF Station Laverton, and was commissioned a pilot officer on 1 April.

He transferred from the CAF to the Permanent Air Force on 20 May 1935, following graduation from university, and was promoted flying officer on 1 July.

Posted to No. 1 Aircraft Depot, he was raised to probationary flight lieutenant in 1936.

The rank became substantive the following year, when he was appointed Staff Officer Directorate of Works and Buildings at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne, responsible for selection and improvement of airfield sites.

He studied part-time for a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Melbourne, concurrently serving approximately two years in the militia with several units including the 39th Battalion, 3rd Division Artillery Survey Unit, and Melbourne University Regiment.

Lerwe was still based in Melbourne when World War II broke out in September 1939.

He was promoted squadron leader in June 1940, and the same month took charge of No. 1 Aircraft Park in Geelong.

One of his initial tasks was to test fly the first Fairey Battle single-engined light bomber assembled in Australia.

He was posted to No. 2 Aircraft Depot at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, in September 1940, and shortly afterwards undertook a survey of the Solomon Islands and the island of New Britain, including its capital Rabaul.

Lerew was given command of No. 24 Squadron in May 1941, and raised to temporary wing commander in October.

No. 24 Squadron's complement in November 1941 consisted of one Fairey Battle, three De Havilland Moth Minor biplane trainers, five Lockheed Hudson twin-engined light bombers, and eleven CAC Wirraway monoplane trainers.

The two-seat Wirraways were expected to be employed in operations as fighters, but were suitable for such a role "only in the minds of the Air Board", in the words of RAAF historian Alan Stephens.

On 1 December, RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne put Lerew's squadron on notice for deployment to Rabaul as an advance garrison in the defence of northern Australia.

No. 24 Squadron's Hudsons began moving to Vunakanau airfield, Rabaul, from RAAF Station Townsville in far-north Queensland on 5 December 1941.

By the middle of the month they had been joined by the unit's Wirraways.

Vunakanau afforded little shelter for staff or aircraft, and Japanese reconnaissance planes were already active in the vicinity, suggesting an attack was imminent.

No. 24 Squadron began carrying out reconnaissance missions with its Hudsons, and on one occasion attempted to bomb an enemy ship without success.

RAAF Headquarters threatened to relieve Lerew for his apparent lack of results and delays in communications, and demanded to know his excuses.

Possessed of what the official history of the RAAF in World War II described as an "impish irreverence", Lerew listed among his reasons "disappointment in the lack of assistance rendered by the Almighty".

He later reported that he was being caused "more worry" by his own headquarters in "the south than from the enemy situated in the north".

As commander of No. 24 Squadron, based in New Britain, he became famous in the annals of Air Force history for his irreverent response to orders by headquarters in Australia during the Battle of Rabaul in January 1942.

After his squadron was directed to assist in repelling the invading Japanese fleet with its one serviceable bomber, and to keep its damaged airfield open, Lerew signalled headquarters with the ancient Latin phrase supposedly used by gladiators honouring their Emperor: "Morituri vos salutamus" ("We who are about to die salute you").

He also defied an order to abandon his staff, and organised their escape from Rabaul.

In February 1942, Lerew led a low-level bombing raid on enemy shipping in New Guinea that set two vessels on fire.

He was shot down but managed to evade capture, and returned to safety nine days after being reported missing.

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, he subsequently commanded the RAAF's first flying safety directorate.

No. 24 Squadron's strength at the beginning of 1942 was four Hudsons, six Wirraways, and 130 staff.

On New Year's Day, Lerew led the Hudsons on a raid against Kapingamarangi Island, igniting a fuel dump that was still burning when the squadron returned to follow up the attack two days later.

During 4–7 January, Vunakanau airfield suffered four raids by unescorted Japanese bombers, destroying all but one of the Hudsons.

After leaving the Air Force in 1946 as a group captain, Lerew took up a position with the newly formed ICAO in Canada.

He was responsible for several of its administrative and technical reforms, and rose to Chief of Flight Branch in 1969.

Retiring from ICAO in 1972, he travelled extensively before settling in Vancouver, where he died in 1996 at the age of eighty-three.

Born in Hamilton, Victoria, Lerew was the son of William Margrave Lerew, a chemist and veterinary surgeon who had emigrated from England with his two brothers.

The family was of French Huguenot extraction, the original name being Le Roux.

John Lerew was educated at Scotch College, Melbourne, where he was a member of the cadets.