Air Vice-Marshal Joseph Eric Hewitt, (13 April 1901 – 1 November 1985) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1915, and transferred permanently to the Air Force in 1928. Hewitt commanded No. 101 (Fleet Cooperation) Flight in the early 1930s, and No. 104 (Bomber) 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. The following year he was posted to Allied Air Forces Headquarters, South West Pacific Area, as Director of Intelligence. In 1943, he took command of No. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's main mobile strike force, but was controversially sacked by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, less than a year later over alleged morale and disciplinary issues.
Described as a "small, dapper man",Stephens & Isaacs, High Fliers, pp. 97–99 who was "outspoken, even 'cocky'",Dennis et al., Oxford Military History of Australia, p. 259 Hewitt overcame the setback to his career during the war and made his most significant contributions as Air Member for Personnel from 1945 to 1948. Directly responsible for the demobilisation of thousands of wartime staff and the consolidation of what was then the world's fourth largest air force into a much smaller peacetime service, he also helped modernise education and training within the RAAF. Hewitt was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1951, the same year he became Air Member for Supply and Equipment. 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.
Early career Born on 13 April 1901 in Tylden, Victoria, Joseph Eric Hewitt was the son of Joseph Henry Hewitt and his wife Rose Alice, née Harkness.Draper, Who's Who in Australia 1985, p. 409 He attended Scotch College, Melbourne, before entering the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay in 1915, aged 13. After graduating in 1918, Hewitt was posted to Britain as a midshipmen to serve with the Royal Navy. He rose to lieutenant in the RAN before volunteering for secondment to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a flight lieutenant in January 1923.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 23–24 Hewitt undertook the pilots' course at No. 1 Flying Training School, Point Cook, and graduated at the end of the year.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 34 He was further seconded to the Royal Air Force in May 1925, holding a temporary commission as a flying officer until September. He married Lorna Bishop in Sydney on 10 November; they had three daughters.
In August 1926, Hewitt joined the newly formed No. 101 (Fleet Cooperation) Flight, operating Seagull III amphibians. Before deploying to Queensland to survey the Great Barrier Reef with HMAS Moresby, he practiced manoeuvres around the centre of Melbourne, landing in the Yarra River near Flinders Street station. Media criticism of the escapade led to him being brought before the Chief of the Air Staff, Group Captain Richard Williams, who rather than upbraiding Hewitt expressed himself "reservedly pleased about the publicity". After completing its survey work in November 1928, the unit served aboard the seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross.Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, pp. 408–411
Hewitt's transfer to the Air Force was made permanent in April 1928. Promoted to squadron leader, he became commanding officer of No. 101 Flight in February 1931,Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 218 and supervised embarkation of the Seagull aboard the cruiser HMAS Australia in September–October 1932.Wilson, The Eagle and the Albatross, p. 27 Hewitt finished his tour with No. 101 Flight the following year, and was posted to Britain in 1934. He attended the RAF Staff College, Andover, in his first year abroad, and served as assistant liaison officer at Australia House, London, in 1935. Although a specialist seaplane pilot, he converted to bombers in England, flying Hawker Hinds and Bristol Blenheims as commanding officer of No. 104 Squadron RAF from 1936.Wilson, The Eagle and the Albatross, p. 51
Hewitt was promoted wing commander in January 1938. Returning to Australia, he was appointed senior air staff officer (SASO) at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, in June. In May 1939, Hewitt was chosen to lead No. 10 Squadron, due to be formed on 1 July at the recently established RAAF Station Rathmines, near Lake Macquarie. He was preparing to depart for England to take delivery of the unit's planned complement of Short Sunderland flying boats when he broke his neck riding his motor cycle near Richmond, and had to forgo the assignment while he recovered. Fit for duty by August, he was given command of the Rathmines base to manage the deployment of No. 10 Squadron and its aircraft, but this was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II in September, and the Sunderlands and their RAAF crews remained in Britain for service alongside the RAF.Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 150
World War II
Director of Personal Services to AOC No. 9 Operational Group
On 20 November 1939, the RAAF formed No. 1 Group in Melbourne,Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 67 which evolved into Southern Area Command early in 1940 with Hewitt as senior administration staff officer.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 92 Having been promoted group captain in December 1939, Hewitt was made Director of Personal Services (DPS) at RAAF Headquarters in July 1940. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 11 July for his performance as SASO at Richmond. Described by author Joyce Thompson as having "a Calvinist background and rigid ideas on women's place in society", as DPS Hewitt opposed the creation of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) and later advocated that its members be enrolled on a contractual basis rather than enlisted or commissioned as Permanent Air Force staff.Thomson, The WAAAF in Wartime Australia, pp. 58–59 Promoted acting air commodore, he became Acting Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in October 1941.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force!, p. 295 In January 1942, he was posted to the staff of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command in the Dutch East Indies. Hewitt served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in March and April before being assigned to the newly formed Allied Air Forces Headquarters (AAF HQ), South West Pacific Area (SWPA), as Director of Intelligence.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 473 He established cordial working relations with his American peers at AAF HQ, becoming a confidant of its commander, Major General George Kenney.
In February 1943, Hewitt was appointed Air Officer Commanding (AOC) No. 9 Operational Group.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 122–123 The RAAF's main mobile strike force, No. 9 Group initially comprised seven Australian combat squadrons and came under the control of the US Fifth Air Force.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 6 The month he took over, Hewitt's squadrons were reorganised into two wings based in New Guinea: No. 71 Wing, comprising units at Milne Bay, New Guinea, and No. 73 Wing, comprising those at Port Moresby.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 23–24 In March, No. 9 Group led the RAAF's contribution to the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, "the decisive aerial engagement" in the SWPA according to General Douglas MacArthur, resulting in 12 Japanese ships being sunk.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 160–165 Hewitt occasionally flew with his crews on operations, contrary to General Kenney's policy against commanders taking such risks.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force!, p. 211
By April 1943, Hewitt had been dragged into the divisive personal conflict between the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, and the AOC of RAAF Command, Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock. RAAF Command was the Air Force's main operational formation in the Pacific, controlling 24 Australian squadrons. Jones, administrative and de jure head of the RAAF, sought to extend his authority into the sphere of operations by posting a "more accountable" officer into Bostock's position, namely Hewitt.Helson, Ten Years at the Top, pp. 122–126 The Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford, backed Jones' manoeuvre but was informed by Prime Minister John Curtin that MacArthur, as Supreme Commander SWPA, "would insist on the replacement of AVM Bostock by an equally able officer", and that "Air Commodore Hewitt ... was not considered an adequate replacement."Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 16–18 Hewitt recognised qualities in both Jones and Bostock, and tried not to take sides in their feud.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force!, pp. 210–211
No changes were made to command arrangements in the South West Pacific following this episode, and Hewitt continued to lead No. 9 Group in its bombing and strafing campaign against Japanese airfields and lines of communication in New Britain, north-east of New Guinea. By mid-June 1943, he had set up Group Headquarters at Milne Bay, and No. 73 Wing HQ at Goodenough Island. On 22 July, he mounted an operation against Gasmata airfield using 62 aircraft from five of his squadrons, the largest strike undertaken by the Australians to that date.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 33–35 No. 9 Group would take most of the credit for the RAAF reaching a peak of 254 tons of bombs dropped in October, as against 137 tons delivered the previous month.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 93–95 On 8 November, Hewitt sent out a formation of three Bristol Beauforts in a severe electrical storm to attack the heavily defended harbour at Rabaul. This was conceived as a "make or break" effort to prove the worth or otherwise of the Beaufort as a torpedo bomber, in which role it had so far been a disappointment; in what the official history of the RAAF in World War II described as "an heroic attack", at least one enemy tanker was struck, for the loss of one Beaufort.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 100–102 The planning and execution of the raid led to conflict between Hewitt and the commanding officer of the Beaufort squadron, Wing Commander G. D. Nicoll, and Hewitt dismissed Nicoll shortly afterwards; the decision was swiftly reversed by Air Vice Marshal Jones.
AOC No. 9 Operational Group to Air Member for Personnel
Although Hewitt was performing an "excellent job" according to Fifth Air Force commander Major General Ennis Whitehead, he was controversially removed from his post in mid-November 1943 by Jones, over accusations of poor discipline and morale within No. 9 Group.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 102–103 RAAF historian Alan Stephens later described the circumstances of Hewitt's dismissal as "murky", and the allegations leading to it as unofficial. Drakeford defended Hewitt's service record, informing the Prime Minister that "the present position may be largely, if not entirely, due to some temporary physical stress brought about by the strain of his important duties as A.O.C. of No. 9 Group." Hewitt himself believed that he had been smeared by a disgruntled former staff officer; historian Kristen Alexander identified Wing Commander Kenneth Ranger, who would play a leading part in the "Morotai Mutiny" of 1945, as having made allegations regarding Hewitt's supposed "lack of balance, vanity and lack of purpose in the prosecution of the war".Alexander, "Cleaning the Augean stables" Hewitt returned to his previous position as Director of Intelligence at Allied Air Headquarters, and the Air Member of Personnel, Air Commodore Frank Lukis, took over as AOC No. 9 Group in December. General Kenney considered Hewitt's removal "bad news".