(The Distinguished Service Order)

Wing Commander ROBERT HENRY MAXWELL GIBBES DSO, DFC & Bar
Service No: 260714
Additional Service Number: O18235
Service: Royal Australian Air Force

Date of Birth: 6 May 1916
Place of Birth: Young, NSW

Date of Enlistment: 5 February 1940
Locality on Enlistment: Balgowlah, NSW
Place of Enlistment: Mascot, NSW

Next of Kin: Gibbes, Mary

Date of Discharge: 11 January 1946
Posting at Discharge: RAAF HQ Melbourne

WW2 Honours and Gallantry:
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross and bar
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WGCDR "Bobby" Gibbes served a short time with '450' but managed to leave a very impressive mark in our memories.
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The following extracts are from:
The Sydney Morning Herald
written by journalist Gerry Carman - 14 April 2007

AIR ACE WAS BORN TO FLY
April 14, 2007

Bobby Gibbes 1916-2007

"The exploits of Wing Commander Bobby Gibbes, one of the last of the great fighter pilots of a bygone era, had the makings of a Boy's Own book.

Gibbes was one of Australia's most colourful wartime characters and one of the most highly decorated pilots of WWII, earning the Companion of The Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Flying Cross with Bar.

His was a household name during and after the war - and he was never backward in bucking authority, in war or peace.

Gibbes was one of eight senior RAAF Officers involved in the "Morotai Mutiny" in April 1945, when they resigned their commissions in protest at what they considered a move to sideline them from the main fighting theatre against the Japanese. They were persuaded to withdraw their resignations but Gibbes was court-martialled for smuggling three bottles of scotch whisky into his quarters."
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"He was credited with shooting down 12 enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of another."
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"Robert Henry Maxwell Gibbes was born at Young in NSW and educated at All Saints College in Bathurst. When he saw his first aircraft as a boy as it prepared to land in a paddock he was instantly fascinated and took off after it shouting: "It's mine when it falls!" His father ran a grazing property and young Gibbes worked as a jackaroo around the district.

When WWII started he became an air cadet and by June 1940 he was a pilot officer in the RAAF. He had cheated to join the Air Force, since his height and leg reach was slightly under the required minimum. He also deliberately messed up his bomber pilot training to ensure he was given a fighter pilot posting.

He joined No. 3 Squadron in North Africa in May 1941 and there became a double ace - and later the longest serving commander of the squadron.

Two actions sum up the man. On December 21, 1942, he landed his Kittyhawk in difficult terrain in the North African desert to rescue Rex Bailey, a squadron colleague who had been shot down. Gibbes got rid of his belly fuel tank to reduce weight and tossed out his parachute to make room for the other pilot in the cockpit before losing his ort wheel during the rough, hair-raising take-off - which meant an eventful one-wheel landing when they got back to their base.

On January 14, 1943, he was shot down 220 kilometres behind enemy lines and walked for 72 hours. He outfoxed the patrols of Rommel's Africa Corps by heading west - away from his base - until he was found by a British patrol."
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