 After the war , Hancock became the inaugural commandant of RAAF College . His subsequent positions included Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from 1951 to 1953 , Air Member for Personnel from 1953 to 1955 , and Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) No. 224 Group RAF in Malaya , responsible for all Commonwealth air forces in the region , from 1957 to 1959 . Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1958 , he served as AOC RAAF Operational Command from 1959 to 1961 , before being promoted to air marshal and commencing his term as Chief of the Air Staff . He was knighted in 1962 . In his role as the Air Force 's senior officer , Hancock initiated redevelopment of RAAF Base Learmonth in north Western Australia , as part of a chain of forward airfields for the defence of the continent . He also evaluated potential replacements for the RAAF 's English Electric Canberra bomber , selecting the American " TFX " ( later the General Dynamics F @-@ 111 ) as the most suitable for Australia 's needs , though he did not recommend its immediate purchase due to its early stage of development . After his retirement from the military in May 1965 , Hancock co @-@ founded the Australia Defence Association . He died in 1998 , aged 91 . 
