canberratimes | David Ellery
Sir Richard Kingsland. Photo: Graham Tidy
Sir Richard Kingsland, a former RAAF Group Captain who shot it out with pro-Nazi French police in Morocco to rescue two of Britain’s most senior WWII leaders in 1940, has died in a Canberra Hospital.
High ranking former defence leaders, including former chief of air force and chief of defence force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, current chief of air force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown and former chief of air staff, Air Marshal David Evans, have all paid tribute to the gallant officer who subsequently rose to the highest ranks of the Australian public service.
“He was an extraordinary man,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said, “He’s been around Canberra for a long time.
“People like Sir Richard gave everything during the war and then came back to build the modern Australia. He typified the no-nonsense, understated approach of that generation. They were never into self-promotion.”
Sir Richard’s senior public service posts included Secretary of the Department of Interior (1963-1970), Secretary of the Repatriation Department and then the Department of Repatriation and Compensation (1970-1976) and Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (1976 until his retirement in 1981).
Air Marshal Evans said Sir Richard had finished the war as Australia’s youngest ever RAAF group captain.
