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Air Commodore Peter Frank Raw, DSO, DFC, AFC (5 June 1922 – 14 July 1988) was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot and officer. He joined the RAAF in 1941, and served as a flight instructor, bomber pilot and the commander of a communications unit during World War II. After the war he became a specialist navigator. Raw was appointed the commander of No. 2 Squadron in January 1953, but temporarily left this position for part of the year to participate in the 1953 London to Christchurch air race, in which he placed second. He returned to lead No. 2 Squadron at the end of 1953 and held this position until 1955. Raw subsequently served in staff and diplomatic roles until 1965, when he took command of No. 82 Wing. Between May 1966 and April 1967, he served as the air support coordinator for the Australian forces in South Vietnam; his initial refusal to commit RAAF helicopters to assist the Australian Army force that was heavily engaged during the Battle of Long Tan in August 1966 generated lasting controversy. Raw served in various staff and training positions until 1972, when he was appointed the commander of RAAF Base Butterworth. He returned to Australia in 1976 and retired from the RAAF two years later. ==Early career== Raw was born in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Huntly on 5 June 1922 to Alfred and Eleanor Raw. He was educated at Tooronga Road State School and, later, Melbourne High School.〔 Raw began an electrical apprenticeship at Carlton & United Breweries in 1939, and studied part-time at Melbourne Technical College.〔〔Clark (2007), p. 28〕 Raw attempted to join the Royal Australian Navy as an electrical artificer in 1941, but was rejected and told to reapply in twelve months. Instead, he joined the RAAF on 15 August that year. He departed Sydney bound for Southern Rhodesia in November 1941 to be trained as a pilot under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Arriving in Southern Rhodesia in January 1942, Raw completed his training and was commissioned as an officer in December that year. He subsequently served as a flying instructor in Southern Rhodesia.〔 In May 1944 Raw became engaged to Dorothy Maggs, whose family lived in Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. In mid-1944, Raw was transferred to Egypt and undertook an operational conversion course that prepared him to fly Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in combat.〔 In July that year he was posted to No. 178 Squadron RAF, a British B-24 Liberator unit based near Foggia in southern Italy.〔 While serving with this squadron, Raw took part in operations in the eastern Mediterranean region as well as Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia.〔 During August 1944 the long-range bomber units controlled by No. 205 Group RAF, including No. 178 Squadron, undertook several risky operations as part of the Warsaw airlift to supply the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising.〔Herington (1963), pp. 330–331〕 Raw participated in three of these flights.〔 His bomber was the only aircraft to deliver its cargo to Warsaw during a mission on 16 August; Raw subsequently received the Polish Cross of Valour in February 1945 for this achievement.〔 One of his other flights to Warsaw was conducted on 1 September, but Raw was unable to see the city at the time he dropped the load of supplies due to bad weather. During a raid on the northern Italian city of Verona on 12 October 1944, Raw's aircraft was hit by two anti-aircraft shells that destroyed its hydraulics system and an engine, wounded the radio operator and opened 166 holes in the fuselage. Despite this damage, Raw was able to return the B-24 safely to its base. He suffered frostbite to his feet, as damage to the plane's nose caused icy winds to enter the cockpit.〔 In December 1944, Raw was promoted to flight lieutenant. He assumed command of No. 205 Group Communication Squadron in 1945.〔〔Herington (1963), p. 331〕 In February that year he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.〔 Following the end of the war, Raw returned to Australia in November 1945 and was demobilised on 17 January 1946.〔〔 He married Maggs at St Mary's Church of England in Caulfield on the 19th of the month; they had a daughter.〔 Raw rejoined the RAAF in May 1946, and retained his wartime rank of flight lieutenant. Between 1947 and October 1949 he was posted to Britain to undertake specialist training in navigation.〔Clark (2007), pp. 28–29〕 On his return to Australia, Raw served as an instructor at the RAAF's School of Air Navigation, and later held training positions at No. 78 Wing and No. 2 Operational Training Unit (No. 2 OTU). During 1952 he served as the acting commanding officer of No. 2 OTU, which at the time was responsible for training pilots for combat in the Korean War with No. 77 Squadron.〔〔Clark (2007), p. 29〕 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「Peter Raw」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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