Flight Lieutenant John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH

Service Number: 400793

Description

A fighter-pilot who became Prime Minister. Gorton had a distinguished war record; his craggy looks were partly the result of a crash when his aircraft was shot down in 1942.

John Gorton was 29, married, and had completed an MA at Oxford when he joined the RAAF in late 1940. He trained as a pilot and served in Britain before being posted to Singapore with No. 232 Squadron RAF. On 21 January 1942, flying a Hawker Hurricane which had only been unloaded a week earlier, he was shot down by a Japanese fighter. He crash-landed and was thrown heavily into his instrument panel, causing severe facial injuries.

Just two days before the surrender of Singapore Gorton was evacuated on the transport Derrymore, but his problems were far from over; the ship was torpedoed and he only survived after being rescued by the corvette HMAS Ballarat. Later that year, once healed, he was posted to No. 77 Squadron RAAF, flying Kittyhawks. On 7 September, operating out of Darwin, he had to make a forced landing. It was days before he and the aircraft were recovered.

Gorton took part in No. 77 Squadron’s operations against the Japanese out of Milne Bay. There he was involved in a serious accident when his aircraft crashed during take-off. In March 1944 he returned to Australia to become a flying instructor. He was discharged in December 1944.

Entering politics after the war, Gorton was elected as a Liberal Party senator in 1949 and became a minister in 1958. When Prime Minister Holt drowned in 1967 Gorton was selected to take his place. He was a controversial and progressive leader: “A knockabout bloke with the larrikin streak, his scarred features and crumpled suits, his candid approach and laconic air, jaunty grin, tousled hair and ever-present cigarette.”

For the Prime Minister, it was a politically tumultuous time, not the least because of growing opposition to the Vietnam War. But his strongest critics seemed to have been in his own party. He was replaced as leader in 1971 after casting the deciding vote against himself. In 1975 he quit politics. It was only in retirement during his later years that he was recognised as a party elder.

Details

First name/s

John Grey

Last name

Gorton

Service Number

400793

Final rank

Flight Lieutenant

Date of Birth

09/09/1911

Place of Birth

Melbourne

Date of Death

19/05/2002

Place of Death

Sydney

Ranks held

Conflicts

Places

Gazettes

Other references

Biographical information The Oxford companion to Australian military history in 1995

Flight Lieutenant John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH

ERR/68/0600/VN

Timeline

09/09/1911: Date of birth
1935: Married Bettina Brown (died 1983).
08/11/1940: Enlisted in the RAAF, and served in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Darwin and Milne Bay.
1942: 232 Squadron RAF
1943-1944: 77 Squadron RAAF
05/12/1944: Discharged with rank of Flight Lieutenant.
10/01/1968: Start of Prime Ministerial term.
10/03/1971: End of Prime Ministerial term.
12/06/1971: The Order of the Companion of Honour.
11/06/1977: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.
13/06/1988: Companion of the Order of Australia.
1993: Married Nancy Home.
19/05/2002: Date of death