Early Career
Hancock was born on 31 May 1907 in Perth, Western Australia, and educated at Hale School in Wembley Downs. He was the elder cousin of future mining magnate Lang Hancock. Val Hancock entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1925 and graduated as senior cadet in 1928, earning the Sword of Honour. His preferred career path in the military was engineering, and it was only when he found that there was no vacancy in his corps of choice, and that he had instead been earmarked for the artillery, that he put his name forward for transfer to the Royal Australian Air Force. Accordingly, he enlisted in the RAAF on 1 February 1929, and undertook flying instruction at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria, later that year.
Hancock's initial postings after qualifying as a pilot were to Nos. 1 and 3 Squadrons. It was, however, common practice for Duntroon graduates to be given staff positions in the Air Force because of their training in administration, and Hancock was no exception. He spent most of the 1930s in a succession of posts at RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. From 1931 to 1935, he served as Deputy Director of Operations and Intelligence. He married Joan Butler on 26 May 1932; the couple had two sons and a daughter. By 1935, Hancock had been promoted to flight lieutenant and appointed Staff Officer to the Chief of the Air Staff. In 1937 he was posted to Britain to attend the RAF Staff College, Andover. Like other Commonwealth air forces, the RAAF maintained close technological and educational ties with the Royal Air Force, and Hancock was one of 30 Australian officers to pass through Andover before the outbreak of World War II. Returning to Australia in 1938, he was promoted to squadron leader and became Director of Works and Buildings, commonly known as "Works and Bricks", at RAAF Headquarters.
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