Ellis Wackett
Air Vice Marshal Ellis Charles Wackett, CB, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He inaugurated parachute instruction within the RAAF and made the country’s first freefall descent from a military aircraft in 1926. In 1935, he became RAAF’s senior engineer with his appointment as Director of Technical Services. By 1942, he rose to air commodore by 1942 and assumed the role of Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance.
About Ellis Wackett in brief
Air Vice Marshal Ellis Charles Wackett, CB, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He inaugurated parachute instruction within the RAAF and made the country’s first freefall descent from a military aircraft in 1926. The following year, he led a three-month survey flight to Papua New Guinea. In 1935, he became RAAF’s senior engineer with his appointment as Director of Technical Services. By 1942, he rose to air commodore by 1942 and assumed the role of Air Member for Engineering and Maintenance. He established the Technical Branch as a separate department in 1948, and was promoted to air vice marshal the same year. From 1960 to 1968, he was a member of the Australian National Airlines Commission, parent of Trans Australia Airlines. His prominent chin and nose also earned him the nickname \”Punch\”. He died in 1984, aged 83. He was the third and youngest child of James, an English-born storekeeper, and Alice Wacket. He was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in January 1921, and posted to England for study in July. He married Doreen Doveen on 14 August 1928, and they had two sons and a daughter. He served as a midshipman aboard the Royal Navy battleship HMS Monarch and battlecruiser HMS Renown, and later the RAN light cruiser HMAS Brisbane and battle cruiser HMAS Australia. He died on 13 August 1984, at the age of 83, in Melbourne. He is buried in the Melbourne suburb of Waverly.
He had a son, James, who served in the Australian Army and served in World War I. He also had a daughter, Doreen, who was a teacher at the University of Adelaide. He retired from the Air Force in 1959, having been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and Companion of the order of the Bath. He has been credited with infusing operations with new standards of airworthiness. He started his service career as a Royal Australian Navy cadet during World War I, and transferred to the Air force in 1923 while on an engineering course in Britain. He qualified as a pilot before completing his studies and returning to Australia, where he began instructing volunteers in 1926 at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales. In 1928, he piloted the Airco DH. 9 from which Flying Officer Frederick Scherger made the first public display of parachuting in Australia, at Essendon, Victoria. In 1933, he went to England to attend RAF Staff College, Andover, and returned to Australia in 1934. In 1936, he joined the Australian Defence Force and was posted to Australia as a flying officer. In 1938, he took up the post of Chief of the Air Staff at RAAF station Laverton, Victoria, and served until his retirement in 1959. He went on to become the Air Vice Marshal for Technical Services until leaving the military in 1959; he was appointed a CBE in 1961.
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