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Air Vice Marshal Alan Moorehouse Charlesworth, CBE, AFC (17 September 1903 – 21 September 1978) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Tasmania, he graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, and served with the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in Queensland before transferring to the Air Force in 1925. Most of his pre-war flying career was spent with No. 1 Squadron at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria. In 1932 he undertook a series of survey flights around Australia, earning the Air Force Cross. Charlesworth's early wartime commands included No. 2 Squadron at Laverton, and RAAF Station Pearce in Western Australia. Appointed Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Eastern Area in December 1943, he was promoted temporary air commodore the following year and took over as AOC North-Western Area in Darwin, Northern Territory. Charlesworth's control of air operations during the North-Western Area Campaign led to his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire following the end of World War II. Retaining his wartime rank, he took charge of the newly formed School of Land/Air Warfare from 1947 until 1949, when he assumed command of RAAF Station Williamtown, New South Wales. He was posted to Japan later that year as Chief of Staff, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, and organised support for RAAF units involved in the Korean War. Returning to Australia in 1951, he was raised to acting air vice marshal and became AOC Southern Area. Charlesworth's final appointment before retiring from the Air Force was commanding RAAF Overseas Headquarters, London, in 1954–55. After leaving the military he served as Director of Recruiting in the late 1950s, and later as a judge's associate at the Supreme Court of Victoria. He died at his home in Glen Iris, Victoria, in 1978. ==Early career== Born in Lottah, Tasmania, on 17 September 1903, Alan Charlesworth was the son of a storeman, Edwin Charlesworth, and his wife Louisa.〔(Charlesworth, Alan Moorehouse (1903–1978) ) at ''Australian Dictionary of Biography''. Retrieved on 10 January 2011.〕 The youth attended Lottah Public School and St Virgil's College, Hobart, before entering the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1920.〔(Honorary Air Vice-Marshals ) at Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved on 10 January 2011.〕 He won the Silver Boomerang trophy, awarded to the college's champion athlete, three years running in 1921–23.〔Moore, ''Duntroon'', pp. 329, 339〕 In 1923 he was appointed company sergeant major at Duntroon, and received the Sword of Honour upon graduating as a lieutenant later that year.〔〔O'Neill, ''Australia in the Korean War'', p. 630〕 Following service as adjutant and quartermaster with the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in Queensland, Charlesworth transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a flying officer on 27 January 1925.〔Gillison, (''Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942'', p. 712 )〕 Among his classmates on the 1925 pilots' course at Point Cook, Victoria, was fellow Duntroon graduate Frederick Scherger.〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', p. 192〕 During a training flight on 25 March, Charlesworth's Avro 504K stalled and spun into a field, injuring him and killing his instructor.〔〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', pp. 315–316〕 Recovering, he was subsequently involved in an accident with future lieutenant general and Governor of New South Wales Eric Woodward, when their plane flipped on landing and came to rest upside down on a fence; neither man was badly hurt.〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', pp. 125–126〕 Charlesworth graduated as a pilot in July 1925, and was posted to No. 1 Squadron at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria.〔 In January 1926, he took part in experiments to test parachutes by attaching them to dummies and throwing them out of aircraft in flight.〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', p. 337〕 His secondment to the Air Force was made permanent in January 1928, and he was promoted to flight lieutenant the following month. On 30 April, Charlesworth married Edith Bennett at All Saints Anglican Church, St Kilda; the couple had a daughter.〔 The next month, he was posted to the United Kingdom on attachment to the Royal Air Force (RAF). He attended the RAF School of Photography at Farnborough, before serving with the RAF Survey Flight in British Somaliland during 1929–30.〔 Returning to Australia he was again posted to No. 1 Squadron, taking command of a round-Australia aerial survey conducted in three phases during 1932 in association with the Commonwealth Geologist, Doctor Walter Woolnough. Charlesworth's study in Britain and his experience in Somaliland had made him the RAAF's leading expert in photographic reconnaissance, which was to be utilised in the search for potential oil fields.〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', pp. 424–427〕 The first phase of the survey took place in January–February, employing two Westland Wapitis and seven other Air Force personnel from Nos. 1 and 3 Squadrons to photograph sites in southern Queensland. Despite both aircraft being damaged in a gale at Bourke in northern New South Wales while returning to base, the expedition was considered a success.〔〔Roylance, ''Air Base Richmond'', pp. 38–39〕 For the second phase, lasting from July to September, Charlesworth and his team journeyed around the whole of Australia from New South Wales to Queensland, thence to the Northern Territory and Western Australia, before returning to Laverton. The final phase in December explored Tasmania. Charlesworth was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) for his leadership of the survey, described as a "milestone" in the country's exploration.〔 Following his survey work, Charlesworth was appointed Staff Officer Photography at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne.〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', p. 429〕 In 1934 he returned to Laverton to take up his third and final posting with No. 1 Squadron.〔 By September 1937, he had been raised to Squadron Leader and was in temporary command of the unit.〔〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', p. 343〕 He had overall charge of a training flight in November–December that ended in disaster, when a Hawker Demon crashed near Cootamundra, New South Wales, and its pilot burned to death; this was one of a spate of incidents during the year that led to serious questions being raised about the level of flying safety in the RAAF.〔〔Coulthard-Clark, ''The Third Brother'', pp. 344–346〕 In March 1939, Charlesworth was raised to wing commander and took command of No. 2 Squadron, operating Avro Ansons out of Laverton.〔〔(2 Squadron RAAF ) at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 10 January 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alan Charlesworth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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