Harry Cobby


Arthur Henry Cobby, was an Australian military aviator. He was the leading fighter ace of the Australian Flying Corps during World War I, despite seeing active service for less than a year.
Born and educated in Melbourne, Cobby was a bank clerk when war broke out, and was prevented by his employer from enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force until 1916. After completing flight training in England, he served on the Western Front with No. 4 Squadron AFC, operating Sopwith Camels. He was credited with 29 aerial victories, and his achievements were recognised with the Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Flying Cross and two bars, and a mention in despatches.
Acclaimed a national hero, Cobby transferred to the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force in 1921 and rose to the rank of wing commander. He left the Permanent Air Force in 1936 to join the Civil Aviation Board, but remained in the RAAF reserve. Re-joining the PAF at the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Cobby held senior posts including Director of Recruiting and Air Officer Commanding North-Eastern Area. In 1943, he was awarded the George Medal for rescuing fellow survivors of an aircraft crash. He was appointed Air Officer Commanding No. 10 Operational Group the following year, but was relieved of his post in the wake of the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. Retiring from the Air Force in 1946, Cobby served with the Department of Civil Aviation until his death on Armistice Day in 1955.

Early career

Arthur Henry Cobby was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran to Arthur Edward Stanley Cobby, a tram conductor, and his wife Alice. Known as Harry, the young Cobby completed his senior-level education at University College, Armadale, before being commissioned into the 46th Infantry Battalion, a militia unit, in 1912. He later transferred to the 47th Infantry Battalion.
When World War I broke out, Cobby attempted to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force but his employer, the Commonwealth Bank, refused to release him as his position of clerk was considered an essential occupation. He eventually managed to join the Australian Flying Corps on 23 December 1916, despite a professed lack of interest in flying. He became a founding member of No. 4 Squadron AFC, and embarked for England aboard RMS Omrah on 17 January 1917.

World War I combat service

No. 4 Squadron arrived in England in March 1917 to undergo training in preparation for service on the Western Front. Equipped with Sopwith Camels, the unit was sent to France in December. Cobby later admitted to being so nervous about the prospect of going into battle that "if anything could have been done by me to delay that hour, I would have left nothing undone to bring it about". When he did see combat against the German Luftstreitkräfte for the first time, he had only twelve hours solo flying experience.
Cobby claimed an early victory, over a DFW reconnaissance plane, in February 1918, but this was credited only as "driven down" and not confirmed. Based in the Pas-de-Calais area, No. 4 Squadron supported Allied forces during the German spring offensive that commenced the following month. Cobby's aerial opponents included members of Baron von Richthofen's "Flying Circus". On 21 March he shot down two of the formation's Albatros D.Vs, which were confirmed as his first official victories.
Having proved himself a talented and aggressive pilot, Cobby's leadership abilities were recognised with his appointment as a flight commander on 14 May 1918, and promotion to captain on 25 May. Described as "an imp of mischief", he personalised his Sopwith Camel by fitting it with aluminium cutouts of comic actor Charlie Chaplin. Cobby again scored two kills in one day on 30 May near Estaires, when he destroyed an Albatros and an observation balloon, and repeated this feat the next day in the same area. He had been responsible for downing No. 4 Squadron's first balloon at Merville earlier in May; although vulnerable to attack with incendiary bullets, these large observation platforms, nicknamed Drachen, were generally well protected by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft defences, and were thus considered a dangerous but valuable target. Cobby was recommended for the Military Cross on 3 June 1918 in recognition of his combat success and for being a "bold and skilful Patrol Leader, who is setting a fine example to his Squadron". The award was changed to a Distinguished Flying Cross, appearing in the London Gazette on 2 July.
Cobby shot down three German aircraft on 28 June and was recommended for a bar to his DFC, highlighting his then-current tally of 15 victories. On 15 July 1918, he and another pilot dived on five Pfalz scouts near Armentières, Cobby accounting for two of the enemy aircraft and his companion for one. The Australians were then pursued by four Fokker Triplanes but managed to evade their attackers. This action earned Cobby a recommendation for a second bar to his DFC, the citation noting that he had scored 21 kills to date and had "succeeded in destroying so many machines by hard work and by using his brains, as well as by courage and brilliant flying". The two bars to his DFC were gazetted on the same day, 21 September. On 16 August, Cobby led a bombing raid against the German airfield at Haubourdin, near Lille, the largest aerial assault by Allied forces up until then, resulting in 37 enemy aircraft being destroyed. The following day he led a similar attack on Lomme airfield and was recommended for the Distinguished Service Order as a result. Gazetted on 2 November, the citation for the award declared that "The success of these two raids was largely due to the determined and skilful leadership of this officer".
By the end of his active service, Cobby was in charge of Allied formations numbering up to 80 aircraft. Fellow No. 4 Squadron ace, George Jones, described him as the unit's "natural leader in the air and in all off-duty activities"; his exploits made him a national hero. No. 4 Squadron was recognised as the most successful fighter squadron in France, accounting for as many as 220 victories. In September 1918, Cobby was transferred to a training unit in England, where he found the strain of instructing pupils "much worse than flying in France". He continued applying for a return to the front until the war ended in November, and was mentioned in despatches by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig the same month. Though Cobby's final tally for the war is often given as 29 aircraft and 13 observation balloons destroyed, claim-by-claim analyses of his victories credit him with 24 aircraft and five balloons, for a grand total of 29, making him the highest-scoring member of the AFC, as well as the service's only "balloon-busting" ace. His proudest boast was that as a flight commander he never lost a pilot over enemy territory.

Between the wars

Still instructing in England following the end of the war, Cobby was chosen to lead the AFC's Anzac Day flypast over London before the Prince of Wales on 25 April 1919, in concert with a parade by Australian soldiers. By 2:30 in the afternoon, he was taking his 50-strong aerial formation through a series of wild stunts over the alarmed Prince's head, and later told the story that he flew so close to the marching soldiers that their bayonets almost pierced his undercarriage. Cobby later said that this was: "probably the most foolish thing I have ever done". He returned to Australia in May 1919, and married Hilda Maude Urban in Caulfield, Victoria, on 24 April 1920; the couple had a son and a daughter. Following the disbandment of the AFC, Cobby joined the newly formed Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. Ranked flying officer, he was one of the original 21 officers on the air force's strength at its formation that March. His first posting, along with most of his colleagues, was to a mixed squadron equipped primarily with S.E.5s and DH.9s at No. 1 Flying Training School, based at RAAF Point Cook. Flight Lieutenant Cobby became Commanding Officer of No. 1 Squadron when it was reformed at Point Cook on 1 July 1925, serving in the position until August 1926.
By 1927, Cobby had been promoted to squadron leader, and the following year went to England to attend RAF Staff College, Andover. Returning to Australia, he took over as CO of No. 3 Squadron at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, from Squadron Leader Frank Lukis on 13 January 1930. At this time, the position of No. 3 Squadron commander doubled as CO of the base. Though popular with his staff, Cobby was not known for his attention to detail. In December 1930, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Commodore Richard Williams, arrived for an inspection and found the base to be in such a state of untidiness that he ordered every man on parade and gave them what was described as "an almighty dressing down", threatening that Christmas leave would be cancelled unless the place was cleaned up. Having handed over to Squadron Leader Bill Bostock on 22 November 1931, Cobby was promoted to wing commander on 1 May 1933 and subsequently served as RAAF Director of Intelligence. In this position he headed an interdepartmental committee that was formed in August 1933 to examine the possibilities of air survey and aerial photography to further national development. The committee's findings, presented in April 1934, favoured employing government agencies for such work and ultimately led to the formation of the North Australian Survey Flight from staff and aircraft of No. 1 Squadron in April 1935. The resulting surveys of Queensland and the Northern Territory provided valuable input for the establishment of military airfields and other installations following the outbreak of World War II.
Restless in the inter-war years, Cobby retired from the Air Force to join the Civil Aviation Board as Controller of Operations in 1936; he also contributed to aviation magazines such as Australian Airmen and Popular Flying. His civil aviation duties included aircraft inspection, the issuing of licences and airworthiness certificates, maintenance of radio and meteorological services, and RAAF liaison. After the creation of a new Department of Civil Aviation in November 1938, the Civil Aviation Board was reorganised and Cobby's position was made redundant.