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Darwin’s naval chief Captain E P Thomas over naval air co-operation was a probable factor in Eaton’s removal
from the Darwin command. He moved to Station Headquarters Ascotvale in April 1942. Twelve months later
as temporary Group Captain Eaton became commanding officer of 72 Wing, which moved via Townsville to
Merauke, New Guinea. A short stint followed as commanding officer of No 2 Bombing and Gunnery School at
Port Pirie, then Eaton was back in the Northern Territory as commanding officer of 79 Wing, Batchelor, which
consisted of Nos 1, 2, 18 and 31 Squadrons.
During his service in the RAAF Group Captain Eaton had displayed a flair for organisation; hence he spent
much time in forming or reorganising units. Much of the successful functioning of 72 and 79 Wings was owed to
him but further recognition was denied him except for the award in 1946 of the (Dutch) Order of Oranje Nassau.
For a time after the war Eaton farmed at Metung, Victoria, and entered the commercial world as ‘a company
promoter’. Other significant post-war service included spells as Australian Consul in Dili, Timor and acting
Australian Consul-General in Batavia (now Djakarta).
Eaton married Beatrice Godfrey on 11 January 1919 and two sons and a daughter were born to them. He died
at Frankston, Victoria, on 12 November 1979.
A Powell, The Shadow’s Edge, 1988; RAAF records.
J HAYDON, Vol 1.
[See also next entry: EATON, Charles (Moth).]
EATON, CHARLES (MOTH) (1895–1979), airman and diplomat, was born in London on 21 December 1895.
He joined the London Regiment in 1912 and served in France until transferring to the Royal Flying Corps in
April 1917. Qualifying as a pilot two months later and duly promoted to Lieutenant, Eaton returned to France
where he specialised in long-range reconnaissance missions over the German lines.
Shot down behind enemy lines on 29 June 1918, Eaton and his observer survived the crash in which the aircraft
overturned and caught fire and were taken prisoner. He was reported as killed in August 1918. Lieutenant Eaton
was far from being dead however. He escaped three times but was recaptured on each occasion. At war’s end he
remained a prisoner at Holsminden until repatriated to England.
Charles Eaton was back in the air soon after, however, and in January 1919 was the personal pilot to the British
Prime Minister, David Lloyd-George, flying him and other delegates to the peace negotiations at Versailles.
Eaton served with Numbers 1 and 2 (Communications) Squadrons before he ceased duty with the Royal Air
Force (RAF) in August 1920 and became a civilian pilot until 1921 when he rejoined the RAF and was posted to
No 28 Squadron in India where he complete a series of extensive aerial mapping surveys. A year later he again
resigned and sailed to Australia where he was employed in the forestry service in the Cape York region until
1924.
On 14 August 1925 Eaton enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a Flying Officer, and number
24 on the Air Force List. Eaton served in a number of units including No 1 Flying Training School at Laverton
where he amassed 300 hours flying, as Adjutant at No 1 Aircraft Depot and at Headquarters, Melbourne, as a Staff
Officer. By 1936 Eaton had attained the rank of Squadron Leader.
It was as a Flight Lieutenant, however, that Charles Eaton’s links with the Northern Territory began, when
in April 1929 he led a flight of DH9A aircraft in the search for missing aviators Anderson and Hitchcock.
He commenced the search from Alice Springs, which had been Anderson and Hitchcock’s departure point in
their search for Charles Kingsford Smith’s Southern Cross, believed to have been forced down near Wyndham in
Western Australia.
It was after the search was based at Newcastle Waters that the missing aeroplane, the Kookaburra, and the
bodies of Anderson and Hitchcock were located some 140 kilometres south east of Wave Hill Station on 21 April.
It was during the search that Eaton became the first person to land an aeroplane at the site of the present town of
Tennant Creek, when his DH9A suffered an engine cooling system failure.
Charles Eaton later led a ground party, the Thornycroft Expedition, to the site and recovered the airmen’s
bodies for burial in their home states. Later in 1929 Eaton gained a placing in the East West Air Race to Perth flying
a DH60 Moth aircraft, and it is said, his nickname, ‘Moth’ Eaton.
In January 1931 Eaton was again in the Territory as commander of a flight of aircraft sent to search for the
aircraft, the Golden Quest, of W L Pittendrigh and S J Hamre. The four DH60 Moth aircraft conducted the search
from Alice Springs and were successful in locating the missing airmen. A month later Flight Lieutenant Eaton was
awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) in recognition of his leadership in aerial searches in central Australia.
In May 1937 Eaton was again deployed to central Australia when Sir Hubert Gepp’s de Havilland Rapide
aircraft went missing in the Tanami Desert. Leading a flight of RAAF Hawker Demon aircraft Eaton provided
support for the search and the missing aircraft and personnel were located near Lake McKay. Such was his concern
for his fellow man that in later years Eaton voiced bitter disappointment that of his three searches, he had failed on
the first occasion in not saving the lives of Anderson and Hitchcock.
In 1938 Australia’s defence strategy dictated a need for air defence facilities at Darwin along with a series
of advanced operational bases linking northwards to Singapore. Squadron Leader Eaton and Wing Commander
George (later Sir George) Jones inspected possible northern defence sites under Air Board direction and their
recommendations resulted in the selection of Ambon as an Advance Operational Base, the annexation of Cartier
Island and Ashmore Reef for an emergency landing site, and the construction of the RAAF Station at Darwin.
Promoted to Wing Commander in February 1939, Eaton assumed command of the newly formed No 12 Squadron,
which deployed to Darwin during July and August that year. Eaton was very highly regarded as a leader of