Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)

Joseph Eric Hewitt was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. He commanded No.101 Flight in the early 1930s, and No.104 Squadron RAF on exchange in Britain shortly before World War II. He was appointed the RAAF’s Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in 1941. In 1943, he took command of No  9 Operational Group, but was controversially sacked over alleged morale and disciplinary issues. Retiring from the military in 1956, he went into business and later managed his own publishing house. He died of lung cancer in 1985, aged 84, at his home in St Vincent’s, Melbourne.

About Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer) in brief

Summary Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)Joseph Eric Hewitt was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. A Royal Australian Navy officer, he transferred permanently to the Air Force in 1928. He commanded No.101 Flight in the early 1930s, and No.  104 Squadron RAF on exchange in Britain shortly before World War II. He was appointed the RAAF’s Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in 1941. In 1943, he took command of No  9 Operational Group, but was controversially sacked over alleged morale and disciplinary issues. Hewitt overcame the setback to his career during the war and made his most significant contributions afterwards, as Air Member for Personnel from 1945 to 1948. Retiring from the military in 1956, he went into business and later managed his own publishing house. He wrote two books including Adversity in Success, a first-hand account of the South West Pacific air war, before his death in 1985 aged 84. He is buried in the Melbourne suburb of St Vincent’s, with his wife, Lorna Bishop, and their three daughters. He died of lung cancer in 1985, aged 84, at his home in St Vincent’s, Melbourne. He had been a member of the Royal Air Force since 1928, and served in the Second World War. He also served as a Member of the Order of the British Empire from 1951 to 1956, and was awarded a CBE for services to the RAN in 1948. He served as the Chief of Air Staff of the Australian Army from 1947 to 1958, and as Air Vice Marshal of the Commonwealth from 1958 to 1958.

He retired in 1956. His son, Peter Hewitt, is a former Australian politician and a former member of Parliament. He worked as a consultant for the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and is the author of a book on the history of Australian air force history, The Great War and the First World War, published by Melbourne University Press. The book, The Greatest Air Force Story, is published by Sydney University Press and is available in hardback and paperback. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. In Australia, call the national suicide prevention line on 1 800 9090. For support in the UK, call 08457 909090 or visit the National suicide Prevention Line on 0800 1 800, or the Samaritans on 08457 909090. In Europe, call 0800 0 800. In America, call 1-844-9090, or visit the National Suicide Prevention Line on 8457 8090 or The National suicide Prevention Center on 1 September or 8 September in the UK. For more information on suicide prevention in Australia, visit http://www.sophia.org/.