Air Commodore Peter Frank Raw, (5 June 1922 – 14 July 1988) was a senior officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He saw combat in a heavy bomber unit in the European theatre during the later stages of World War II and as a senior officer in the Vietnam War, and served in many flying, training and administrative roles.
Raw joined the RAAF in 1941, and served as a flight instructor, bomber pilot and the commander of a communications unit during World War II. After the war he became a specialist navigator. He was appointed commanding officer of the bomber-equipped No. 2 Squadron in January 1953, but temporarily left this position for part of the year to participate in the 1953 London to Christchurch air race, in which he placed second. He returned to lead No. 2 Squadron at the end of 1953 and held the position until 1955.
Raw subsequently served in staff and diplomatic roles until 1965, when he took command of No. 82 Wing, which comprised all of the RAAF's bomber units. Between May 1966 and April 1967, he served as the air support co-ordinator for the Australian forces in South Vietnam. His initial reluctance to commit RAAF helicopters to assist the Australian Army force that was in danger of being defeated during the Battle of Long Tan in August 1966 generated lasting controversy and contributed to a later decision to transfer battlefield helicopters to the Army. Raw served in various staff and training positions until 1972, when he was appointed the commander of RAAF Base Butterworth. He returned to Australia in 1976 and retired from the RAAF two years later.
Early career
Peter Frank Raw was born in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Huntly on 5 June 1922 to Alfred and Eleanor Raw. He was educated at Tooronga Road State School and later attended Melbourne High School. Raw began an electrical apprenticeship at Carlton & United Breweries in 1939, and studied part-time at Melbourne Technical College.
Raw attempted to enlist with the Royal Australian Navy as an electrical artificer in 1941, but was rejected and told to reapply in twelve months. Instead, he joined the RAAF on 15 August that year. He departed Sydney bound for Southern Rhodesia in November 1941 to be trained as a pilot under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Arriving in Southern Rhodesia in January 1942, Raw completed his training and was commissioned as a pilot officer in December that year. He subsequently served as a flying instructor in Southern Rhodesia. In May 1944 Raw became engaged to Dorothy Maggs, whose family lived in Southern Rhodesia and South Africa.
In mid-1944, Raw was transferred to Egypt and undertook an operational conversion course that prepared him to fly Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in combat. In July that year he was posted to No. 178 Squadron RAF, a British B-24 Liberator unit based near Foggia in southern Italy. While serving with this squadron, Raw took part in operations in the eastern Mediterranean region as well as Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. During one of his first combat operations, a raid on an oil refinery near Ploiești in Romania, Raw successfully bombed the target despite heavy anti-aircraft gunfire and later evaded an enemy fighter.
In August 1944 the long-range bomber units controlled by No. 205 Group RAF, including No. 178 Squadron, took part in the Warsaw airlift to supply the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw uprising. These missions were very challenging due to the long duration of the flights, adverse weather and German opposition. The bomber units involved suffered heavy casualties. Raw made three flights to Warsaw. His bomber was the only aircraft to deliver its cargo to Warsaw during a mission on 16 August; Raw received the Polish Cross of Valour in February 1945 for this achievement. One of his other flights to Warsaw took place on 1 September, but due to bad weather Raw was unable to see the city at the time he dropped the load of supplies.
During a raid on the northern Italian city of Verona on 12 October 1944, Raw's aircraft was hit by two anti-aircraft shells that destroyed its hydraulics system and an engine, wounded the radio operator and opened 166 holes in the fuselage. Despite this damage, Raw was able to return the B-24 safely to its base. He suffered frostbite to his feet, as damage to the plane's nose caused icy winds to enter the cockpit.