Ian Dougald McLachlan

The son of Dugald and Bertha McLachlan, Ian McLachlan was born in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, on 23 July 1911.Howie, Who's Who in Australia 1992, p. 793Gillison, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070724--1-.pdf Royal Australian Air Force, p. 110] Following education at Melbourne High School, he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1928.{{cite web|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Contents/About-APDC/About-APDC/Office-of-Air-Force-History/Air-Marshals-of-the-RAAF/137/Air-Vice-Marshals-L-Z.aspx |title=Air Vice-Marshals (L–Z) |publisher=Royal Australian Air Force |access-date=20 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110601195011/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Contents/About-APDC/About-APDC/Office-of-Air-Force-History/Air-Marshals-of-the-RAAF/137/Air-Vice-Marshals-L-Z.aspx |archive-date=1 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }} He was one of four cadets sponsored that year by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which did not at that stage have its own officer training college. Budgetary constraints imposed by the Great Depression necessitated the transfer of these cadets out of Duntroon midway through their four-year course.Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, pp. 196–197Moore, Duntroon, pp. 64–65 Although offered positions in the Australian Public Service or nominations for short-term commissions with the Royal Air Force, all were determined to serve with the RAAF, apparently "delighted" at the prospect of entering their chosen service early.

Enlisting in the Air Force on 10 December 1930, McLachlan completed his flight training the following year.{{cite web|url=http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=R&veteranId=1081097|title=McLachlan, Ian Dougald|work=World War 2 Nominal Roll|access-date=20 July 2016|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011202132/http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=R&veteranId=1081097|url-status=dead}} He was commissioned as a pilot in 1932, and undertook flight-instruction and general duties roles over the next five years. In 1937, he was a member of the RAAF contingent posted to Britain to celebrate the coronation of King George VI.{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/units/people_1077819.asp |title=Air Vice Marshal Ian Dougald McLachlan|publisher= Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016}} Ranked flight lieutenant, he was given command of No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, operating Hawker Demon fighters out of RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, on 4 December 1939.Roylance, Air Base Richmond, p.123 He was promoted to squadron leader on 1 February 1940, and led his unit to the Middle East on 15 July.

File:SUK14909SteegeGladiator1940.jpg

Sailing via Bombay, India, No. 3 Squadron arrived at Suez, Egypt, in late August 1940.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 80[https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070676--1-.pdf Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 57] In its original army cooperation role supporting the Australian 6th Division in the North African Campaign, the squadron was equipped with obsolescent Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters and Westland Lysander observation aircraft. As part of his unit's work-up for operations, McLachlan organised training exercises with the 6th Division, as well as written exams to test his men's knowledge of army jargon and air-to-ground communications.[https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070677--1-.pdf Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 100]

Described by historian Alan Stephens as "acerbic but capable", McLachlan led No. 3 Squadron through the Battle of Sidi Barrani in December 1940, followed by the Battle of Bardia and the capture of Tobruk in January 1941. Prior to converting to Hawker Hurricanes that month, the unit was credited with destroying twelve Italian aircraft for the loss of five Gladiators and two pilots; McLachlan shot down a Fiat CR.42 on 10 December 1940, the same action in which fellow squadron member and future ace Gordon Steege claimed his first "kill".Thomas, Gloster Gladiator Aces, pp. 44–46 Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief RAF Middle East, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore, praised McLachlan and his squadron for their "high morale and adaptability to desert conditions".{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/events/conference/2003/scully.asp|title= Fighter Operations – North Africa and the Middle East|publisher= Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016}}

McLachlan was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his "fine qualities as a fighter pilot" and "determined leadership" in the face of often "overwhelming numbers of enemy aircraft"; the citation was promulgated in the London Gazette on 11 February 1941 under the name "Ian Duncan MacLachlan".{{cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1068971/RCDIG1068971--290-.JPG |title=Recommendation: Distinguished Flying Cross|publisher= Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016}}{{London Gazette|issue= 35073|page=831|date=11 February 1941}} He was the first RAAF fighter pilot to be decorated in World War II.{{cite magazine|title=Duntroon|magazine=RAAF News |volume= 10|issue= 8|date=September 1968|page=2}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47157536 |title=Tribute to RAAF |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=21 August 1941 |access-date=20 July 2016|page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Promoted to wing commander, he took charge of the newly established RAF Benina, Benghazi, on 13 February, handing over No. 3 Squadron to Squadron Leader Peter Jeffrey.Herington, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070676--1-.pdf Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 70] By May 1941, McLachlan was acting as RAAF Liaison Officer for the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Middle East, Air Marshal Arthur Tedder. The Air Board in Melbourne, chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, was not consulted over this change of role and took exception to the RAF's "unilateral action" in appointing McLachlan, but eventually acquiesced and permitted him to remain at the post to coordinate facilities for RAAF personnel in the region until July, when he was recalled to Australia.Herington, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070677--1-.pdf Air War Against Germany and Italy, p. 98][https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070678--1-.pdf Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 112–113, 120]

In 1942 McLachlan took command of RAAF Station Canberra, and, later in the year, RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria. Posted for action in New Guinea, he became the inaugural commander of No. 71 Wing at Milne Bay in February 1943.No. 71 Wing, "Operations Record Book", p. 1Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070531--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, pp. 23–24, 35] The wing consisted of No. 6 Squadron (flying Lockheed Hudsons), No. 75 Squadron (P-40 Kittyhawks), No. 77 Squadron (Kittyhawks), and No. 100 Squadron (Bristol Beauforts). It came under the control of No. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's "premier fighting unit" in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), whose purpose was to act as a mobile strike force in support of advancing Allied troops.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 122–123 In March the Beauforts took part in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, "the decisive aerial engagement" in the SWPA according to General Douglas MacArthur, though they were unable to score any hits against Japanese ships.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 160–165Gillison, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070523--1-.pdf Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 690–692]

File:NWA0471McLachlan1943.jpg at Port Moresby, New Guinea, c. 1943|alt=Two men in military uniforms conversing at a desk in a wooden hut]]

By June 1943, McLachlan had been promoted group captain and given command of No. 73 Wing. He established his headquarters at Goodenough Island, where he was responsible for organising the wing into a fighter formation consisting of No. 76 Squadron (Kittyhawks), No. 77 Squadron (Kittyhawks) and No. 79 Squadron (Spitfires). As well as providing local air defence, and fighter escort for Australian bombers, the Kittyhawks were armed with incendiary and general-purpose bombs so that they could engage in ground attack missions, a practice that had already been employed by Commonwealth forces in the Middle Eastern theatre.Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070531--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, pp. 33–36] In August, the wing transferred to Kiriwina, and No. 9 Group's other combat formation, No. 71 Wing, took over responsibility for Goodenough.Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070554--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, p. 69]Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070557--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, p. 124] Appointed senior air staff officer (SASO) at No. 9 Group, McLachlan handed over command of No. 73 Wing to Wing Commander Gordon Steege in October 1943.{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/units/people_8291.asp|title= Air Commodore Gordon Henry Steege|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016}} Towards the end of his posting to No. 9 Group, McLachlan told its former commander, Air Commodore Joe Hewitt, that the USAAF was "leaping ahead" of the RAAF, which was being left to "clean up the remnants" of Japanese resistance. He feared that Australian fighter pilots especially would be "increasingly restless if the Americans took all the fighting plums". Barely a year later, morale among senior RAAF fighter pilots had dropped to such an extent that eight of them tried to resign their commissions in the so-called "Morotai Mutiny".Stephens, Power Plus Attitude, p. 71

In March 1944, McLachlan took charge of Southern Area Command, Melbourne, with responsibility for maritime patrol, convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare in southern Australian waters; he handed over to Group Captain Charles Eaton the following January.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. 301–304Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070558--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, pp. 140–141] Mentioned in despatches on 9 March 1945 for his "gallant and distinguished service",{{cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1068971/RCDIG1068971--291-.JPG|title=Recommendation: Mentioned in Despatches|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016}}{{London Gazette|issue=36975|supp=y|page=1326|date=9 March 1945}} McLachlan returned to action in the South-West Pacific as commander of No. 81 Wing, which comprised Nos. 76, 77 and 82 Squadrons, operating Kittyhawks.Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070730--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, p. 249] As part of the Australian First Tactical Air Force in the Dutch East Indies, the wing was slated to take part in Operation Oboe One, the Battle of Tarakan, in May but was unable to relocate from Noemfoor to its new base on Morotai in time. It fought in Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of Labuan, from June and was based on the island when the Pacific War ended in August 1945.Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070565--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, p. 299]Odgers, [https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070402--1-.pdf Air War Against Japan, pp. 466–473]

[[File:OG3466McLachlan1945.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|McLachlan (second from left) with pilots of No. 81 Wing at Labuan, North Borneo, in September 1945

|alt=Three-quarter informal portrait of four men in military uniforms with slouch hats in front of a military aircraft]]

Following the end of hostilities, McLachlan volunteered to serve with the Allied occupation forces in Japan.{{cite web|url=http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/OG3467|title=Item OG3467|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=20 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923194027/http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/OG3467|archive-date=23 September 2012|df=dmy-all}} He married Margaret Helen Chrystal on 5 January 1946; they had a son and a daughter.Legge, Who's Who in Australia 1968, p. 573 Promoted to acting air commodore on 1 March, he was appointed SASO of the British Commonwealth Air Group (BCAIR), headquartered in Kure and responsible for No. 81 Wing RAAF, as well as squadrons from the Royal Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Indian Air Force.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 213 Returning to Australia in 1948, he served as Air Commodore Operations at RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne, at which time the English Electric Canberra was ordered as Australia's first jet bomber, partly for its ability to deliver nuclear weapons.Stephens, Power Plus Attitude, p. 108{{cite web|url=http://www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum/research/aircraft/series2/A84.htm |title=Canberra|publisher=RAAF Museum|access-date=20 July 2016}} He completed his term in September 1951 and took over North-Eastern Area Command, based at Townsville, Queensland.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2837203 |title=New postings in RAAF |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Canberra |date=8 September 1951 |access-date=20 July 2016 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Following his appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 New Year's Honours,{{London Gazette|issue=40054|supp=y|page=40|date=1 January 1954}} McLachlan was posted to Britain for three years, first attending the Imperial Defence College, London, and then serving as RAF Director of Flying Training at the Air Ministry during 1955–56. Raised to air vice-marshal, he returned to Australia in 1957 to become Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Training Command in Melbourne.

As AOC Training Command, McLachlan undertook two reviews that would have, according to the official history of the post-war RAAF, "a significant effect on the Air Force of the 1960s".Stephens, Going Solo, p. 78 In 1957, at the instigation of the Air Member for Personnel, Air Vice Marshal Frederick Scherger, McLachlan formed a committee to review the effectiveness of the syllabus at RAAF College for meeting the future needs of the Air Force in an age of guided missiles and nuclear weaponry. This led to a policy of cadets undertaking academic degrees, in line with similar institutions in the other armed services; the college was subsequently renamed RAAF Academy. The official history of the RAAF considered the result to be only partially successful; although it turned out highly educated officers, they were educated solely in a rigid scientific discipline suited to an Air Force that never came into existence, one relying on missiles rather than manned aircraft.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 188 In 1959, McLachlan chaired a committee to review the change in the RAAF's command structure that had taken place in 1953–54, from a geographically based "area" system to a functional system consisting of Home, Maintenance Command, and Training Commands. Concluding that this had reduced duplication and improved efficiency, he proposed further rationalisation by amalgamating Training and Maintenance Commands to form a new organisation, Support Command. His plan was duly implemented, as was his recommendation that Home Command, responsible for air operations, be renamed Operational Command.

File:DF-ST-87-12346.JPEG

McLachlan was appointed Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in 1959, before being posted to Washington, D.C., as attaché heading up the Australian Joint Services Staff in 1961. During his term in the US, Australia ordered the General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber as a replacement for the Canberra. Despite what was touted as a firm timetable and cost schedule for the order, McLachlan confided to a colleague that he had serious concerns about when and if the RAAF would actually get the F-111, and what the final cost would be. According to Air Force historian Alan Stephens, "even for such a shrewd and sardonic man as McLachlan, that was to prove a painfully prescient observation", as the new bomber was delivered six years late and massively over budget.Stephens, Going Solo, p. 376 Following his return from Washington, McLachlan became Air Member for Supply and Equipment (AMSE) in February 1964.Stephens, Going Solo, p. 500 As AMSE he sat on the Air Board, the service's controlling body that consisted of its most senior officers, chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff. In this position he worked to increase the proportion of tertiary educated supply officers, following similar achievements among engineering officers in the RAAF's Technical Branch.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 66, 76, 140 He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1966 New Year's Honours, the citation noting particularly his chairmanship of the two "historic" committees that reorganised RAAF College and the Air Force's command structure in the late 1950s.{{London Gazette|issue=43855|supp=y|page=37|date=1 January 1966}}{{cite magazine|title=Queen honours 20|magazine=RAAF News| volume= 8|issue= 1|date=January–February 1966|page=4}} The use of electronic data processing became more widespread during McLachlan's tenure as AMSE, and by 1968 the RAAF's supply system had been computerised.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 185–186

McLachlan completed his term as Air Member for Supply and Equipment on 23 July 1968 and retired from the RAAF; he was divorced from his wife the same year. Upon leaving the military, he became an aeronautical consultant to the Northrop Corporation, and chairman of Information Electronics Pty Ltd from 1983, serving in both positions until 1987. He was also chairman of Pokolbin Winemakers from 1970 through 1975. In retirement he continued to exercise his interest in Australia's defence, joining in 1975 a group of pundits, including former Chief of the Air Staff Sir Alister Murdoch, who promoted the addition of nuclear weapons to the country's arsenal.Stephens, Power Plus Attitude, p. 149 A resident of Sydney's Darling Point, Ian McLachlan died on 14 July 1991.Coulthard-Clark, The Third Brother, p. 523

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=No. 71 Wing|author-link=No. 71 Wing RAAF|date=1943–1946|title=Operations Record Book|url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1360007|publisher=National Archives of Australia|location=Canberra}}
• {{cite book| year = 2000| title = How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One – Narrative| url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Heritage%20Series/HTG12-How-Not-To-Run-An-Air-Force!-Volume-1.pdf| last = Ashworth| first = Norman| publisher = RAAF Air Power Studies Centre| location = Canberra| isbn = 0-642-26550-X| access-date = 21 August 2024| archive-date = 22 August 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170822135130/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Heritage%20Series/HTG12-How-Not-To-Run-An-Air-Force!-Volume-1.pdf| url-status = bot: unknown}}
• {{cite book |last=Coulthard-Clark |first=Chris |year=1991 |title=The Third Brother: The Royal Australian Air Force 1921–39 |location=North Sydney |publisher=Allen & Unwin |url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST32-The-Third-Brother-The-Royal-Australian-Air-Force-1921-39.pdf |isbn=0-04-442307-1 |access-date=21 August 2024 |archive-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403064733/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST32-The-Third-Brother-The-Royal-Australian-Air-Force-1921-39.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}
• {{cite book|last=Gillison | first=Douglas |year=1962| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial| url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070209/|oclc=2000369}}
• {{cite book|last=Herington | first=John |year=1954| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume III – Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939–1943 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070211/ |oclc=3633363}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Howie|editor-first=Ann C.| year=1990| title=Who's Who in Australia 1992|title-link=Who's Who in Australia|location= Melbourne|publisher= Information Australia |oclc=220853568}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Legge|editor-first=J. S.| year=1968| title=Who's Who in Australia 1968|location= Melbourne|publisher= The Herald and Weekly Times|oclc=686615829}}
• {{cite book|last=Moore| first=Darren| year=2001| title=Duntroon 1911–2001: A History of the Royal Military College of Australia|location=Canberra| publisher=Royal Military College, Duntroon|isbn=1-876439-97-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Odgers | first=George |author-link=George Odgers|orig-year=1957| year=1968| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume II – Air War Against Japan, 1943–1945 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial| url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070210/|oclc=11218821}}
• {{cite book|last=Roylance| first=Derek|year=1991| title=Air Base Richmond| location=RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales| publisher=Royal Australian Air Force|isbn=0-646-05212-8}}
• {{cite book|last=Stephens|first=Alan|year=1992|title=Power Plus Attitude: Ideas, Strategy and Doctrine in the Royal Australian Air Force 1921–1991|location=Canberra|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST02-Power-Plus-Attitude-Ideas,-Strategy-and-Doctrine-in-the-Royal-Australian-Air-Force,-1921-1991.pdf|isbn=0-644-24388-0|access-date=21 August 2024|archive-date=22 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322013500/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST02-Power-Plus-Attitude-Ideas,-Strategy-and-Doctrine-in-the-Royal-Australian-Air-Force,-1921-1991.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}}
• {{cite book|last=Stephens|first=Alan|year=1995|title=Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971|location=Canberra|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST03-Going-Solo-The-Royal-Australian-Air-Force-1946-1971.pdf|isbn=0-644-42803-1|access-date=21 August 2024|archive-date=22 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822135528/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST03-Going-Solo-The-Royal-Australian-Air-Force-1946-1971.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}}
• {{cite book|last=Stephens| first=Alan|orig-year=2001|year=2006| title=The Royal Australian Air Force: A History|location=London| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-555541-4}}
• {{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Andrew|title=Gloster Gladiator Aces |publisher=Osprey|location=Oxford|year=2002|isbn=978-1-84176-289-0}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclachlan, Ian}}

Category:1911 births

Category:1991 deaths

Category:Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath

Category:Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies

Category:Military personnel from Melbourne

Category:People educated at Melbourne High School

Category:People from South Yarra, Victoria

Category:Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates

Category:Royal Australian Air Force air marshals

Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II