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Air Marshal Sir James Anthony (Jim) Rowland, (1 November 1922 – 27 May 1999) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He later held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991. Born in rural New South Wales, Rowland cut short his aeronautical engineering studies at the University of Sydney to join the RAAF in 1942. He was posted to Britain and served as a bomber pilot with the Pathfinders in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944. The following year he was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner. After repatriation and demobilisation, Rowland gained his engineering degree and rejoined the RAAF. He became a test pilot, serving with and later commanding the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the 1950s, and also a senior engineering officer, being closely involved in preparations for delivery to Australia of the Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighter in the 1960s. In 1972 he was promoted to air vice marshal and became Air Member for Technical Services, holding this post until his elevation to air marshal and appointment as CAS in March 1975. He was the first engineering officer to lead the RAAF, and the first man to personally command it in a legal sense, following abolition of the Australian Air Board in 1976. Knighted in 1977, Rowland retired from the Air Force in 1979 and became Governor of New South Wales in January 1981. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1987. Retiring from the Governorship in 1989, he held a place on several boards as well as the Chancellorship of the University of Sydney. He died in 1999. ==Early life and World War II== Jim Rowland was born in Armidale, New South Wales, on 1 November 1922.〔Stephens; Isaacs, ''High Fliers'', pp. 158–161〕〔(Rowland, James Anthony ) at (World War 2 Nominal Roll ). Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 He was the son of Louis Rowland, a commander in the Royal Australian Navy, and his wife Elsie.〔Draper, ''Who's Who in Australia 1985'', p. 741〕〔(Rowland, Louis Claude ) at World War 2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 Jim evinced a fascination with aviation from an early age, carving model aeroplanes out of wood.〔(Eulogy for Sir James Rowland ) at (Register of War Memorials in New South Wales ). Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 Growing up with his three brothers on the family's rural property, he was schooled via correspondence before completing his secondary education at Cranbrook, Sydney.〔Williams, "Sir James Anthony Rowland", p. 571〕〔(Death of Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland ) at Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 At 17, he entered the University of Sydney to study aeronautical engineering, but left in May 1942 to enlist in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a pilot under the Empire Air Training Scheme. He was commissioned as a pilot officer in July 1943 and posted to Britain, where he converted to Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster heavy bombers.〔〔Dennis et al., ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History'', pp. 455–456〕 Rowland was posted to the Pathfinder Force that marked targets for other aircraft on strategic bombing missions over Europe. Considered an exceptional pilot, he became a master bomber with No. 635 Squadron RAF in 1944.〔〔(Air Marshals ) at Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 As a master bomber, his role was to arrive ahead of the main Allied force, check that flares marking the target were in place, and warn his fellows if they were bombing inaccurately.〔〔Nelson, ''From Wagga to Waddington'', pp. 37–38〕 No. 635 Squadron operated Lancasters, a type that, Rowland recalled, "would forgive sprog pilots doing the most outrageous things to it, and would even bring them home with quite large bits shot off it".〔(635 Squadron ) at Royal Air Force. Retrieved on 20 June 2012.〕〔Brown, ''Skylarks'', p. vii〕 Having been promoted to acting flight lieutenant, he was on a sortie to attack Düsseldorf in December 1944 when he lost one of his engines. He nevertheless continued on to the target where, owing to his lower-than-normal altitude, his aircraft was seriously damaged by anti-aircraft fire before and after he dropped his bombs. Nursing his plane back to base, he was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in recognition of his "great determination and devotion to duty"; the award was promulgated in the ''London Gazette'' on 16 February 1945.〔〔 ''(DFC)''〕 In January 1945, Rowland's Lancaster collided with a Canadian bomber over Frankfurt, and he had to bail out with his surviving crew. Captured and held by the Gestapo in solitary confinement, he was scheduled to be executed but was saved by two Luftwaffe officers who had learned of his situation. They took him to a prisoner-of-war camp, where he remained until being repatriated at the end of hostilities.〔〔(Air Marshal Sir James Anthony Rowland ) at Register of War Memorials in New South Wales. Retrieved on 28 May 2011.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Rowland (RAAF officer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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