Don Bennett

Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett (September 14 1910–September 15 1986 was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the history of the Royal Air Force and led the Pathfinder Force (No. 8 Group) from 1942 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. He has been described as "one of the most brilliant technical airmen of his generation: an outstanding pilot, a superb navigator who was also capable of stripping a wireless set or overhauling an engine".

Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett was born the youngest son of a grazier in Toowoomba, Queensland. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1930 and was seconded to the RAF a year later, starting with the flying boats of 20 Squadron. Bennett developed a passion for accurate flying and precise navigation that would never leave him. After a period as an instructor at RAF Calshot, he left the service in 1935 (retaining a reserve commission) to join Imperial Airways. Over the next five years, Bennett specialised in long distance flights, breaking a number of records and pioneering techniques which would later become commonplace, notably air-to-air refueling. In July 1938 he flew the Atlantic in the experimental Mercury-Maia composite flying boat.

During 1940 Bennett's long-distance expertise was set to work setting up the Atlantic Ferry, the organisation tasked with the wartime delivery of thousands of aircraft manufactured in the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom. At that time, a transatlantic flight was a significant event, but the Atlantic Ferry project proved remarkably successful and demonstrated that with suitable training even inexperienced pilots could safely deliver new aircraft across the North Atlantic.

Bennett was recommissioned in 1941, promoted to Wing Commander in December of that year, and appointed to the command of 77 Squadron, based at Leeming flying Whitleys for Coastal Command.

In April 1942 Bennett was given command of 10 Squadron (Halifaxes) and shortly afterwards led a raid on the Tirpitz. Shot down during that raid, he evaded capture and escaped to Sweden, from where he was able to return to Britain.

In July 1942, Bennett was appointed to command the new Pathfinder Force, an elite unit tasked with improving Bomber Command's navigation. At this stage of the war, Bomber Command had begun to make raids deep into Germany, but had not yet been able to cause significant damage, largely because only about a quarter of the bomb loads were delivered "on target" — and this at a time when "on target" was defined as within three miles of the aim point.

Pathfinder Force was set up to lead the bomber stream to the target areas and drop markers for the remainder of the force to aim at. Later in the war, the Pathfinder Force would be equipped with a range of newly developed and often highly effective electronic aids, but the initial object was to simply take picked crews with standard equipment and hone their navigation skills.

Having already demonstrated that he could pass on his meticulous navigational ability to others, Bennett was an obvious choice for the role, yet nevertheless a surprising one. The Air Ministry's Directorate of Bomber Operations had for some time been pushing to establish an elite precision bombing force, but Bomber Command chief Air-Vice Marshal Arthur Harris was implacably opposed to the idea, on the grounds that an elite force would "lower the morale" of the other squadrons. When Harris learned that Vice-Chief of the Air Staff Sir Wilfred Freeman planned to order the change, and that the strong-willed Basil Embry would probably be given command of the new force, Harris bowed to the inevitable, but took the opportunity to appoint a younger and more malleable officer of his own choice: Wing Commander Don Bennett. Over the following years, Harris would discover that malleability was not one of Bennett's virtues.

During 1943, Bennett was awarded the DSO and promoted twice, to Air Commodore and then Air Vice-Marshal — the youngest officer to ever hold that rank. He remained in command of the Pathfinder Force until the end of the war, overseeing its growth to an eventual 19 squadrons, working relentlessly to improve its standards, and tirelessly campaigning for better equipment, in particular for more Mosquitos and Lancasters to replace the diverse assortment of often obsolete aircraft the force started with.

Bennett was not a popular leader: a personally difficult and naturally aloof man, he earned a great deal of respect from his crews but little affection. Nor did he get on well with the other RAF Group Commanders: not only was he 20 years younger, he was an Australian in an era when colonials were not to be considered for high command. Indeed, Bennett saw his own appointment in those terms: it was, he believed, a victory for the "players" over the "gentleman".

Despite the unquestioned achievements of No. 8 Group, at the end of the war Bennett was the only bomber Group Commander not to be knighted. He returned to private life and pursued a variety of activities. He became a Director of British South American Airways, a Liberal Member of Parliament for a time, and designed and built both cars and light aircraft.

Don Bennett died at the age of 76 on Battle of Britain Day: September 15 1986.