 fighters . The Air Force also underwent a major organisational change , as it transitioned from a geographically based command @-@ and @-@ control system to one based on function , resulting in the establishment of Home ( operational ) , Training , and Maintenance Commands . Eastern Area Command , considered a de facto operational headquarters owing to the preponderance of combat units under its control , was reorganised as Home Command in October 1953 . Headlam was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE ) in the 1954 New Year Honours for his " exceptional ability and devotion to duty " . He was promoted to acting air commodore in May . His appointment as aide @-@ de @-@ camp to Queen Elizabeth II was announced on 7 October 1954 .   Headlam was promoted to substantive air commodore on 1 January 1955 . In November he was posted to RAAF Overseas Headquarters , London , and the following year undertook studies at the Imperial Defence College . Returning to Australia , he served as acting Air Member for Personnel at the Department of Air , Canberra , from 19 March to 21 October 1957 , between the terms of Air Vice Marshals Fred Scherger and Allan Walters , and again from 24 August 1959 to 28 March 1960 , between the terms of Walters and Air Vice Marshal Bill Hely . In this role Headlam occupied a seat on the Air Board , the service 's controlling body that comprised its senior officers and was chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff . He was also one of two RAAF representatives to serve on a committee , chaired by businessman William John Allison , examining conditions of defence service ; the committee 's recommendations led to a doubling of flight pay , among other improvements . Headlam 's other positions at the Department of Air included Air Commodore Plans from October 1957 to January 1959 , and Director General Plans and Policy from January to August 1959 . The latter assignment put him in charge of the RAAF 's Directorate of Intelligence . Headlam was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( CBE ) in the 1958 Queen 's Birthday Honours , gazetted on 3 June . In May 1960 he became acting Deputy Chief of the Air Staff .   On 30 January 1961 , Headlam joined the staff of Operational Command ( OPCOM ) , the successor organisation to Home Command , responsible for the direction of RAAF operational units . He took over as Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) OPCOM from Air Vice Marshal Val Hancock in April . Headlam was promoted to air vice marshal on 29 May . On 17 July 1962 , he was posted to RAAF Base Butterworth , Malaya , and took up the appointment of AOC No. 224 Group RAF in Singapore one week later . He was succeeded as AOC OPCOM by Air Vice Marshal Alister Murdoch . As AOC No. 224 Group , Headlam had overall responsibility for regional air defence and offensive air operations during the Brunei Rebellion in December 1962 , and the subsequent Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia that officially began the following month . Divorced from his first wife in 1956 , he married widowed social worker Vernon Spence at the Sydney registry office on 20 January 1964 . He handed over No. 224 Group to Air Vice Marshal Christopher Foxley @-@ Norris on 30 November .   Returning to Australia , Headlam became Deputy Chief of the Air Staff ( DCAS ) on 26 January 1965 . He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath ( CB ) " in recognition of distinguished service in the Borneo Territories " on 22 June . His tenure as DCAS coincided with the most significant rearmament program the Air Force had undertaken since World War II , and with manpower shortages stemming from this expansion and from Australia 's increasing involvement in the security of South East Asia . The first RAAF helicopters were committed to the Vietnam War towards the end of his term , and he travelled to Saigon with the Chief of the General Staff , Lieutenant General Sir John Wilton , in March 1966 to plan the deployment . The year before , Wilton had recommended to Air Marshal Murdoch , the Chief of the Air Staff , that two Iroquois be sent to Vietnam for familiarisation purposes ; Murdoch had rebuffed Wilton , and the RAAF helicopter squadron was considered underprepared for its army co @-@ operation role when it finally did deploy . Headlam succeeded Air Vice Marshal Douglas Candy as AOC Support Command , Melbourne , on 8 August 1966 . Support Command had been formed in 1959 , by merging the RAAF 's former Training and Maintenance Commands . On 1 January 1968 , Headlam was posted to London as Head of the Australian Joint Services Staff . He served as an Extra Gentleman Usher to the Queen from 17 November 1970 to 5 June 1971 .   = = Retirement = =   Returning to Australia in June 1971 , Headlam took resettlement leave before retiring from the Air Force on 3 August . He made his home in Melbourne , where he died aged 62 on 23 December 1976 , after a lengthy battle with cancer . Surv
Ġfighters Ġ. ĠThe ĠAir ĠForce Ġalso Ġunderwent Ġa Ġmajor Ġorganis ational Ġchange Ġ, Ġas Ġit Ġtransitioned Ġfrom Ġa Ġgeographically Ġbased Ġcommand Ġ@ - @ Ġand Ġ@ - @ Ġcontrol Ġsystem Ġto Ġone Ġbased Ġon Ġfunction Ġ, Ġresulting Ġin Ġthe Ġestablishment Ġof ĠHome Ġ( Ġoperational Ġ) Ġ, ĠTraining Ġ, Ġand ĠMaintenance ĠCommands Ġ. ĠEastern ĠArea ĠCommand Ġ, Ġconsidered Ġa Ġde Ġfacto Ġoperational Ġheadquarters Ġowing Ġto Ġthe Ġprep onder ance Ġof Ġcombat Ġunits Ġunder Ġits Ġcontrol Ġ, Ġwas Ġreorgan ised Ġas ĠHome ĠCommand Ġin ĠOctober Ġ1953 Ġ. ĠHead lam Ġwas Ġappointed Ġan ĠOfficer Ġof Ġthe ĠOrder Ġof Ġthe ĠBritish ĠEmpire Ġ( ĠO BE Ġ) Ġin Ġthe Ġ1954 ĠNew ĠYear ĠHon ours Ġfor Ġhis Ġ" Ġexceptional Ġability Ġand Ġdevotion Ġto Ġduty Ġ" Ġ. ĠHe Ġwas Ġpromoted Ġto Ġacting Ġair Ġcommod ore Ġin ĠMay Ġ. ĠHis Ġappointment Ġas Ġaide Ġ@ - @ Ġde Ġ@ - @ Ġcamp Ġto ĠQueen ĠElizabeth ĠII Ġwas Ġannounced Ġon Ġ7 ĠOctober Ġ1954 Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠHead lam Ġwas Ġpromoted Ġto Ġsubstantive Ġair Ġcommod ore Ġon Ġ1 ĠJanuary Ġ1955 Ġ. ĠIn ĠNovember Ġhe Ġwas Ġposted Ġto ĠR AAF ĠOverse as ĠHeadquarters Ġ, ĠLondon Ġ, Ġand Ġthe Ġfollowing Ġyear Ġundertook Ġstudies Ġat Ġthe ĠImperial ĠDefence ĠCollege Ġ. ĠReturning Ġto ĠAustralia Ġ, Ġhe Ġserved Ġas Ġacting ĠAir ĠMember Ġfor ĠPersonnel Ġat Ġthe ĠDepartment Ġof ĠAir Ġ, ĠCanberra Ġ, Ġfrom Ġ19 ĠMarch Ġto Ġ21 ĠOctober Ġ1957 Ġ, Ġbetween Ġthe Ġterms Ġof ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarsh als ĠFred ĠScher ger Ġand ĠAllan ĠWalters Ġ, Ġand Ġagain Ġfrom Ġ24 ĠAugust Ġ1959 Ġto Ġ28 ĠMarch Ġ1960 Ġ, Ġbetween Ġthe Ġterms Ġof ĠWalters Ġand ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarshal ĠBill ĠHe ly Ġ. ĠIn Ġthis Ġrole ĠHead lam Ġoccupied Ġa Ġseat Ġon Ġthe ĠAir ĠBoard Ġ, Ġthe Ġservice Ġ' s Ġcontrolling Ġbody Ġthat Ġcomprised Ġits Ġsenior Ġofficers Ġand Ġwas Ġchaired Ġby Ġthe ĠChief Ġof Ġthe ĠAir ĠStaff Ġ. ĠHe Ġwas Ġalso Ġone Ġof Ġtwo ĠR AAF Ġrepresentatives Ġto Ġserve Ġon Ġa Ġcommittee Ġ, Ġchaired Ġby Ġbusinessman ĠWilliam ĠJohn ĠAllison Ġ, Ġexamining Ġconditions Ġof Ġdefence Ġservice Ġ; Ġthe Ġcommittee Ġ' s Ġrecommendations Ġled Ġto Ġa Ġdoubling Ġof Ġflight Ġpay Ġ, Ġamong Ġother Ġimprovements Ġ. ĠHead lam Ġ' s Ġother Ġpositions Ġat Ġthe ĠDepartment Ġof ĠAir Ġincluded ĠAir ĠCommodore ĠPlans Ġfrom ĠOctober Ġ1957 Ġto ĠJanuary Ġ1959 Ġ, Ġand ĠDirector ĠGeneral ĠPlans Ġand ĠPolicy Ġfrom ĠJanuary Ġto ĠAugust Ġ1959 Ġ. ĠThe Ġlatter Ġassignment Ġput Ġhim Ġin Ġcharge Ġof Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġ' s ĠDirectorate Ġof ĠIntelligence Ġ. ĠHead lam Ġwas Ġappointed Ġa ĠCommander Ġof Ġthe ĠOrder Ġof Ġthe ĠBritish ĠEmpire Ġ( ĠCB E Ġ) Ġin Ġthe Ġ1958 ĠQueen Ġ' s ĠBirthday ĠHon ours Ġ, Ġg az et ted Ġon Ġ3 ĠJune Ġ. ĠIn ĠMay Ġ1960 Ġhe Ġbecame Ġacting ĠDeputy ĠChief Ġof Ġthe ĠAir ĠStaff Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠOn Ġ30 ĠJanuary Ġ1961 Ġ, ĠHead lam Ġjoined Ġthe Ġstaff Ġof ĠOper ational ĠCommand Ġ( ĠO PC OM Ġ) Ġ, Ġthe Ġsuccessor Ġorganisation Ġto ĠHome ĠCommand Ġ, Ġresponsible Ġfor Ġthe Ġdirection Ġof ĠR AAF Ġoperational Ġunits Ġ. ĠHe Ġtook Ġover Ġas ĠAir ĠOfficer ĠCommand ing Ġ( ĠA OC Ġ) ĠO PC OM Ġfrom ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarshal ĠVal ĠHancock Ġin ĠApril Ġ. ĠHead lam Ġwas Ġpromoted Ġto Ġair Ġvice Ġmarsh al Ġon Ġ29 ĠMay Ġ. ĠOn Ġ17 ĠJuly Ġ1962 Ġ, Ġhe Ġwas Ġposted Ġto ĠR AAF ĠBase ĠButter worth Ġ, ĠMal aya Ġ, Ġand Ġtook Ġup Ġthe Ġappointment Ġof ĠA OC ĠNo . Ġ224 ĠGroup ĠRAF Ġin ĠSingapore Ġone Ġweek Ġlater Ġ. ĠHe Ġwas Ġsucceeded Ġas ĠA OC ĠO PC OM Ġby ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarshal ĠAl ister ĠMurdoch Ġ. ĠAs ĠA OC ĠNo . Ġ224 ĠGroup Ġ, ĠHead lam Ġhad Ġoverall Ġresponsibility Ġfor Ġregional Ġair Ġdefence Ġand Ġoffensive Ġair Ġoperations Ġduring Ġthe ĠBrune i ĠRebellion Ġin ĠDecember Ġ1962 Ġ, Ġand Ġthe Ġsubsequent ĠKon front asi Ġbetween ĠIndonesia Ġand ĠMalaysia Ġthat Ġofficially Ġbegan Ġthe Ġfollowing Ġmonth Ġ. ĠDiv or ced Ġfrom Ġhis Ġfirst Ġwife Ġin Ġ1956 Ġ, Ġhe Ġmarried Ġwid owed Ġsocial Ġworker ĠVernon ĠSp ence Ġat Ġthe ĠSydney Ġregistry Ġoffice Ġon Ġ20 ĠJanuary Ġ1964 Ġ. ĠHe Ġhanded Ġover ĠNo . Ġ224 ĠGroup Ġto ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarshal ĠChristopher ĠFox ley Ġ@ - @ ĠNorris Ġon Ġ30 ĠNovember Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠReturning Ġto ĠAustralia Ġ, ĠHead lam Ġbecame ĠDeputy ĠChief Ġof Ġthe ĠAir ĠStaff Ġ( ĠDC AS Ġ) Ġon Ġ26 ĠJanuary Ġ1965 Ġ. ĠHe Ġwas Ġappointed Ġa ĠCompanion Ġof Ġthe ĠOrder Ġof Ġthe ĠBath Ġ( ĠCB Ġ) Ġ" Ġin Ġrecognition Ġof Ġdistinguished Ġservice Ġin Ġthe ĠB orne o ĠTerritories Ġ" Ġon Ġ22 ĠJune Ġ. ĠHis Ġtenure Ġas ĠDC AS Ġcoincided Ġwith Ġthe Ġmost Ġsignificant Ġre arm ament Ġprogram Ġthe ĠAir ĠForce Ġhad Ġundertaken Ġsince ĠWorld ĠWar ĠII Ġ, Ġand Ġwith Ġmanpower Ġshortages Ġstemming Ġfrom Ġthis Ġexpansion Ġand Ġfrom ĠAustralia Ġ' s Ġincreasing Ġinvolvement Ġin Ġthe Ġsecurity Ġof ĠSouth ĠEast ĠAsia Ġ. ĠThe Ġfirst ĠR AAF Ġhelicopters Ġwere Ġcommitted Ġto Ġthe ĠVietnam ĠWar Ġtowards Ġthe Ġend Ġof Ġhis Ġterm Ġ, Ġand Ġhe Ġtravelled Ġto ĠSa igon Ġwith Ġthe ĠChief Ġof Ġthe ĠGeneral ĠStaff Ġ, ĠLieutenant ĠGeneral ĠSir ĠJohn ĠWil ton Ġ, Ġin ĠMarch Ġ1966 Ġto Ġplan Ġthe Ġdeployment Ġ. ĠThe Ġyear Ġbefore Ġ, ĠWil ton Ġhad Ġrecommended Ġto ĠAir ĠMarshal ĠMurdoch Ġ, Ġthe ĠChief Ġof Ġthe ĠAir ĠStaff Ġ, Ġthat Ġtwo ĠIro qu ois Ġbe Ġsent Ġto ĠVietnam Ġfor Ġfamiliar isation Ġpurposes Ġ; ĠMurdoch Ġhad Ġreb uffed ĠWil ton Ġ, Ġand Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġhelicopter Ġsquadron Ġwas Ġconsidered Ġunder pre pared Ġfor Ġits Ġarmy Ġco Ġ@ - @ Ġoperation Ġrole Ġwhen Ġit Ġfinally Ġdid Ġdeploy Ġ. ĠHead lam Ġsucceeded ĠAir ĠVice ĠMarshal ĠDouglas ĠCandy Ġas ĠA OC ĠSupport ĠCommand Ġ, ĠMelbourne Ġ, Ġon Ġ8 ĠAugust Ġ1966 Ġ. ĠSupport ĠCommand Ġhad Ġbeen Ġformed Ġin Ġ1959 Ġ, Ġby Ġmerging Ġthe ĠR AAF Ġ' s Ġformer ĠTraining Ġand ĠMaintenance ĠCommands Ġ. ĠOn Ġ1 ĠJanuary Ġ1968 Ġ, ĠHead lam Ġwas Ġposted Ġto ĠLondon Ġas ĠHead Ġof Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠJoint ĠServices ĠStaff Ġ. ĠHe Ġserved Ġas Ġan ĠExtra ĠGentleman ĠUs her Ġto Ġthe ĠQueen Ġfrom Ġ17 ĠNovember Ġ1970 Ġto Ġ5 ĠJune Ġ1971 Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= ĠRetirement Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠReturning Ġto ĠAustralia Ġin ĠJune Ġ1971 Ġ, ĠHead lam Ġtook Ġresettlement Ġleave Ġbefore Ġretiring Ġfrom Ġthe ĠAir ĠForce Ġon Ġ3 ĠAugust Ġ. ĠHe Ġmade Ġhis Ġhome Ġin ĠMelbourne Ġ, Ġwhere Ġhe Ġdied Ġaged Ġ62 Ġon Ġ23 ĠDecember Ġ1976 Ġ, Ġafter Ġa Ġlengthy Ġbattle Ġwith Ġcancer Ġ. ĠSurv