Adrian Cole (RAAF officer)

Adrian Lindley Trevor Cole
Lieutenant Adrian Cole in Palestine, 1917
Nickname(s)	"King"
Born	(1895-06-19)19 June 1895 Glen Iris, Victoria
Died	14 February 1966(1966-02-14) (aged 70) Melbourne, Victoria
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service	1914–46
Rank	Air Vice Marshal
Unit	No. 1 Squadron AFC (1916–17) No. 2 Squadron AFC (1917–18)
Commands held	RAAF Station Laverton (1929–32) RAAF Station Richmond (1936–38) No. 2 Group (1939–40) Southern Area Command (1940–41) RAF Northern Ireland (1942–43) North-Western Area Command (1943–44)
Battles/wars	World War I Middle Eastern theatre Sinai and Palestine Campaign Western Front World War II Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre European theatre Dieppe Raid South West Pacific theatre North Western Area Campaign New Guinea campaign Operation Transom South East Asian theatre
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross
Other work	Company director

World War I

World War II

Air Vice Marshal Adrian Lindley Trevor Cole, CBE, DSO, MC, DFC (19 June 1895 – 14 February 1966) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Joining the army at the outbreak of World War I, he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 and flew with No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East and No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front. He became an ace, credited with victories over ten enemy aircraft, and earned the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1921, he was a founding member of the RAAF.

"King" Cole rose to the position of Air Member for Supply in 1933 and gained promotion to group captain in 1935. The following year he was appointed the first commanding officer of Headquarters RAAF Station Richmond. During World War II, he led North-Western Area Command in Darwin, Northern Territory, and held a series of overseas posts in North Africa, England, Northern Ireland, and Ceylon. As Forward Air Controller during the Dieppe Raid in 1942, he was wounded in action and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Cole served on corporate boards of directors following his retirement from the RAAF in 1946. He died in 1966 at the age of seventy.