Francis William Fellowes LUKIS CBE MID*

LUKIS, Francis William Fellowes

Service Numbers: 39, 9
Enlisted: 1 October 1914, Guildford, Western Australia
Last Rank: Air Commodore
Last Unit: RAAF Eastern Area Headquarters (Sydney)
Born: Balingup, Western Australia, 27 July 1896
Home Town: Balingup, Donnybrook-Balingup, Western Australia
Schooling: Perth High School , Western Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Cancer, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 February 1966, aged 69 years
Cemetery: Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne
Hakea, Garden 2, Section C, Niche 50
Memorials:
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World War 1 Service

1 Oct 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 39, Guildford, Western Australia
8 Feb 1915: Involvement Corporal, 39, 10th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Mashobra embarkation_ship_number: A47 public_note: ''
8 Feb 1915: Embarked Corporal, 39, 10th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Mashobra, Fremantle
30 Jul 1916: Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 10th Light Horse Regiment
16 Jan 1918: Honoured Mention in Dispatches, AFC / RFC operations Western Front / Middle East
31 May 1919: Discharged AIF WW1, Captain, Australian Flying Corps (AFC)
12 Jan 1920: Honoured Mention in Dispatches, AFC / RFC operations Western Front / Middle East

Non Warlike Service

31 Mar 1921: Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Wing Commander, 9, RAAF Point Cook
9 Jun 1938: Honoured Officer of the Order of the British Empire

World War 2 Service

26 Mar 1943: Honoured Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Australia's Northern Periphery
2 May 1946: Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Air Commodore, 9, RAAF Eastern Area Headquarters (Sydney)

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Biography contributed by Graham Padget

Air Commodore Francis William Fellowes Lukis, OBE CBE MID (2) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force. A veteran of World War I, he first saw combat as a soldier in the Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli. In 1917, Lukis transferred to the Australian Flying Corps and flew with No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East, where he was twice mentioned in despatches. A member of the Australian Air Corps following the war, he transferred to the fledgling RAAF in 1921, and became the first Commanding Officer of the newly re-formed No. 3 Squadron at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, in 1925.
Lukis went on to lead No. 1 Squadron in the early 1930s, and was promoted to group captain in 1938. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire the same year, he was in charge of RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, during the early years of World War II. He later held forward commands in the South West Pacific theatre, including Northern Area, for which he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and No. 9 Operational Group. Lukis also served on the Air Board, the RAAF's controlling body, as Air Member for Personnel. After retirement from the Air Force in 1946, he became a manager with Australian National Airways, and was active in veterans' associations. He died of cancer in 1966 at the age of sixty-nine.

(extracted & edited from Wikipedia & various WW1 WW2 sites)

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