 Hancock was born on 31 May 1907 in Perth , Western Australia , and educated at Hale School in Wembley Downs . He was the elder cousin of future mining magnate Lang Hancock . Val Hancock entered the Royal Military College , Duntroon , in 1925 and graduated as senior cadet in 1928 , earning the Sword of Honour . His preferred career path in the military was engineering , and it was only when he found that there was no vacancy in his corps of choice , and that he had instead been earmarked for the artillery , that he put his name forward for transfer to the Royal Australian Air Force . He enlisted in the RAAF on 1 February 1929 , and undertook flying instruction at RAAF Point Cook , Victoria , later that year . 
