Air Marshal Sir Valston Eldridge Hancock, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1961 to 1965. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Hancock transferred from the Army to the RAAF in 1929 and qualified as a pilot.
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Hancock competing in the high jump at an RAAF sports carnival in the early 1930s
Group Captains Hancock (centre) and Walters (second left), Air Commodore Hewitt (second right), and Chief of the Air Staff, AVM Jones (right), 1942
No. 100 Squadron Beauforts near Wewak, 1945
Air Commodore Hancock as inaugural commandant of RAAF College, Point Cook, c. 1948
Air Vice-Marshal Hancock (right) greeting personnel of No. 78 Wing in Malta, where the unit was on garrison duty, August 1953Awards 3
About this person
Air Marshal Sir Valston Eldridge Hancock, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1961 to 1965. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Hancock transferred from the Army to the RAAF in 1929 and qualified as a pilot. His administrative training at Duntroon saw him mainly occupy staff posts, including Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence at RAAF Headquarters from 1931 to 1935, and Director of Works and Buildings from 1937 to 1939. During the early years of World War II, he commanded No. 1 Bombing and Gunnery School, and held senior planning and administrative positions. He eventually saw combat in the Aitape-Wewak campaign of the Pacific War during 1945. Flying Bristol Beaufort light bombers, he led first No. 100 Squadron, and later No. 71 Wing. His actions earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
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