Richard Kingsland

He was born as Julius Allen Cohen, on October 19, 1916, in Murray, New South Wales, Australia. Enlisted in the Australian Air Force on July 15, 1935. After passing a pilot's course and an officers' course, he was assigned to serve in seaplanes. In the middle of 1939 he was sent along with most of his fellow pilots to receive the new Sunderland type seaplanes purchased for the squadron. At the end of their conversion period and receiving the planes, World War II broke out and the Australian government ordered the squadron to stay in England and assist the British Air Force.

He served at the Mount Batten base near Plymouth in southern England when his main occupation was in naval patrols against German submarines and escorting convoys that made their way to British ports. He was considered a particularly daring pilot and asked his commanders to assign him challenging missions. He participated in fighting the German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean. Later he flew important personalities and senior commanders to the Middle East and other places in
the world.
He was sent to Morocco in 1940 and rescue two of Britain
most senior WWII leaders, Duff Cooper and John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort. Kingsland managed to rescue them from French headquarters with only two other men and managed to flee in a Seaplane. The same year, he and his crew were sent to bomb a major Japanese headquarters established in Rabaul, New Guinea. For his invaluable service, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in September 1940. He later changed his name to Richard Kingsland, to avoid anti-semitism. During his public service career, rising to become Secretary of the Departments of Interior, Repatriation, and Veterans' Affairs, he served 12 ministers and built a reputation as a trusted and experienced departmental head. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and was knighted in 1978. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, He died in August 2012, aged 95.