Henry Wrigley
Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley, CBE, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He piloted the first trans-Australia flight from Melbourne to Darwin in 1919, and afterwards laid the groundwork for the RAAF’s air power doctrine. During World War I, he saw combat with No. 3 Squadron on the Western Front, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. He later commanded the unit and published a history of its wartime exploits. His writings on air power were collected and published posthumously as The Decisive Factor in 1990. He died in 1987 at the age of ninety-five and was survived by his wife, two children and a step-grandchild.
About Henry Wrigley in brief
Air Vice Marshal Henry Neilson Wrigley, CBE, DFC, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He piloted the first trans-Australia flight from Melbourne to Darwin in 1919, and afterwards laid the groundwork for the RAAF’s air power doctrine. During World War I, he saw combat with No. 3 Squadron on the Western Front, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross; he later commanded the unit and published a history of its wartime exploits. He was awarded the Air Force Cross for his 1919 cross-country flight. His writings on air power were collected and published posthumously as The Decisive Factor in 1990. He died in 1987 at the age of ninety-five and was survived by his wife, two children and a step-grandchild. He is buried in Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Anglican Church, where he served as a school teacher and a member of the militia before joining the Australian Flying Corps in 1916. He also served in World War II as Air Officer Commanding RAAF Overseas Headquarters, London, from September 1942 until his retirement from the military in June 1946. He had a son and a daughter, both of whom died of cancer in the 1970s and 1980s. He served as Air Vice Marshal in the Second World War, and was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He retired in 1946 at the aged of ninety. He later became a prominent aviation scholar and wrote a book on the history of the Royal Air Force and the role of air power in the First World War.
His son, Peter, was the first Australian to be awarded a PhD in aeronautics from the University of Melbourne. He worked as a consultant for the Australian Defence Research Establishment, and later served as an advisor to the Prime Minister of Australia and the Australian Prime Minister. He wrote the book Air Power in the Twenty-First Century, which was published in 1989. He passed away in 1987. He leaves behind a wife and four children. His great-great-grandson, Peter Wrigleys, is an Australian politician and a former Member of the House of Representatives. He will also be remembered as one of the first Australians to join the Australian Air Corps in 1921, and for his contribution to the formation of the Australian Army Air Service. He flew the first Royal Aircraft Factory B. E. 2 and B.E. 8s in the early 20th century. He became a flight lieutenant in 1920 and was one of seven officers on the original Air Force’s formation that March. In 1921, he was appointed adjutant at Central Flying School in Point Cook, Victoria. In 1936, he took command of RAAF Station Laverton and was promoted to group captain. In 1940, he became Air Member for Personnel in November 1940. In 1941, he organised the newly established Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air force and selected its director, Clare Stevenson, in 1941. In 1942 he was made a Companion of the Order of the British Empire.
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