William Anderson (RAAF Officer) - Inter-war Years

Inter-war Years

Anderson relinquished command of No. 3 Squadron in January 1919 and returned to Australia two months later. In December that year the Australian Flying Corps was disbanded, to be replaced on 1 January 1920 by the short-lived Australian Air Corps (AAC), which was, like the AFC, a branch of the Army. The AFC's senior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Williams, was still in England, and Major Anderson was appointed commander of the AAC, a position that also put him in charge of Central Flying School (CFS) at Point Cook, Victoria. On 31 March 1921, he joined the newly formed Australian Air Force (the "Royal" prefix being added in August) as a squadron leader, becoming its third most senior officer after Williams and former Royal Naval Air Service pilot Stanley Goble, both now wing commanders. During 1921, Anderson headed up the RAAF's Point Cook base and its two major units, No. 1 Flying Training School (No. 1 FTS)—the successor to CFS—and the newly established No. 1 Aircraft Depot (No. 1 AD). Over the next four years he acted as Director of Personnel and Training, Chief of the Administrative Staff, and Second Air Member on the RAAF's controlling body, the Air Board, when Goble was away on overseas postings. In April 1922, he took part in the new service's first army cooperation exercise, piloting an Airco DH9 with Flight Lieutenant Adrian Cole, who spotted for artillery firing from an emplacement at Queenscliff, Victoria. A year later, Anderson proposed a special RAAF workshop for research and development, which was duly formed at Point Cook later that year.

The young Air Force staged numerous public displays in its early years; on one such occasion over the Melbourne suburb of Essendon in September 1924, Anderson, Ray Brownell and another pilot took part in a mock dogfight while ace Harry Cobby gave a demonstration of balloon busting. During 1925–26, Anderson again took command of No. 1 FTS, as well as occupying a position on the Air Board as Air Member for Personnel. He was posted to England between 1927 and 1929, attending RAF Staff College, Andover, and serving as Air Liaison Officer (ALO) to the British Air Ministry. On 23 March 1927 he was promoted to wing commander. As ALO in 1928, he provided information to the Air Board concerning shortcomings of the de Havilland Hound light day bomber, then being strongly considered for the RAAF, that led to the Westland Wapiti being ordered instead. Returning to Australia in mid-1929, Anderson was for a short time in charge of No. 1 AD, now based at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, before appointment to the Air Board as Air Member for Supply in October. He spent most of the 1930s in this position, aside from an acting role as Air Member for Personnel in 1933–34, and attendance at the Imperial Defence College, London, the following year. Anderson had no formal training in the supply field, and though regarded with affection was variously considered "not quite on the same wave length as others" and "so immersed in the minutiae of administration that some important policy matters languished". His chronic shyness with women other than his unmarried sister also made him an object of fun in some quarters. He was raised to group captain in December 1932 and air commodore in January 1938. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1933 King's Birthday Honours, he was promoted Commander in the same order (CBE) in the 1934 New Year Honours.