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Air Chief Marshal Sir James Donald Innes Hardman (21 December 1899 – 2 March 1982), known as Donald Hardman, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. He began his flying career as a fighter pilot in World War I, achieving nine victories to become an ace. During World War II, Hardman held senior staff and operational posts. He was Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1952 to 1954, after which he served as a member of the British Air Council until retiring in 1958. Born in Lancashire, Hardman joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 and was posted to France the following year. He flew Sopwith Dolphins with No. 19 Squadron, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his fighting skills. Between the wars he served with No. 31 Squadron in India and No. 216 Squadron in Egypt. A wing commander at the outbreak of World War II, Hardman was attached to the Air Ministry for several years before being posted in 1944 to South East Asia, where he commanded No. 232 (Transport) Group during the Burma campaign. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1940 and a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1945, and was mentioned in despatches in 1941. Finishing the war an air commodore, Hardman was Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, Commandant of RAF Staff College, Bracknell, and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Home Command, prior to becoming RAAF CAS in January 1952. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath the same year. As CAS he was responsible for reorganising the RAAF's geographically based command-and-control system into a functional structure. Returning to Britain, he became Air Member for Supply and Organisation in May 1954, and was promoted to air chief marshal the following year. He was raised to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in January 1958, shortly before his retirement. ==Early life and World War I== Born on 21 December 1899 in Oldham, Lancashire, James Donald Innes Hardman was the son of a master cotton-spinner, also named James, and his wife Wilhelmina. The younger James, known as Donald, was educated at Malvern College.〔Stephens; Isaacs, ''High Fliers'', pp. 113–115〕 He began his military career in 1916 as a seventeen-year-old private in the Artists Rifles—part of the London Regiment—and joined the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) early the following year.〔Stephens, ''Australia's Air Chiefs'', pp. 23–24〕〔Franks, ''Dolphin and Snipe Aces'', p. 25〕 Hardman was commissioned a temporary second lieutenant on 10 May 1917 and confirmed in his rank on 21 July. Prevented initially from seeing combat because of his youth, Hardman was eventually posted to No. 19 Squadron on the Western Front in February 1918, just as the unit was completing its conversion from SPAD S.VIIs to Sopwith Dolphins.〔〔 He achieved his first aerial victory in May 1918.〔 On 28 September, Hardman was promoted from lieutenant to temporary captain, and appointed one of No. 19 Squadron's flight commanders.〔 He scored two "kills" in one sortie on 30 October 1918, when he led twelve Dolphins escorting DH.9 bombers of No. 98 Squadron to Mons; in a dogfight that resulted in the loss of ten British aircraft, Hardman shot down two German Fokker D.VIIs in flames.〔 His "cool judgment and skill in leading" during this action earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross; the award was promulgated on 11 February 1919. Hardman's final wartime tally was nine aerial victories.〔〔 The life expectancy for even an experienced RFC pilot on the Western Front was as little as three weeks;〔Brent, ''A Century of Military Aviation'', pp. 27–28〕〔Robertson, ''The Dream of Civilized Warfare'', p. 106〕 years later Hardman admitted that he was still surprised he had survived.〔 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「Donald Hardman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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