John Herington

John Herington (3 June 1916 – 22 January 1967) was a British-born Australian military historian and officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served during the Second World War as a pilot with Coastal Command and as an intelligence officer. He authored two of the volumes of the official history series Australia in the War of 1939–1945, dealing with the role of the RAAF in the conflict. He later worked for the Department of Supply, working in South Australia and in London, where he died of cancer in 1967.

Early life John Herington was born in Coventry, England on 3 June 1916. One of five children, both his parents died when Herington was still a child and he was cared for by guardians. He was educated at Bablake School in Coventry before going on to study at Downing College in University of Cambridge. He gained a Bachelor of Arts in 1937 and under the tutelage of Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond, enhanced his interest in military history. However, inspired by the work of Kingsley Fairbridge, he trained in social work and gained practical experience in London. He emigrated to Australia in 1938 and worked at the schools established by Fairbridge.

Second World War Herington joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in February 1941. He trained in the Empire Air Training Scheme, becoming a pilot after time at military flying schools in Australia and then Canada. Top ranked in his class and, commissioned as a pilot officer, he was sent to England to serve with the Royal Air Force. Posted to No. 202 Squadron, a Coastal Command unit based in Gibraltar and equipped with the Consolidated Catalina seaplane, Herington flew long range anti-submarine patrols into the Atlantic and in the western Mediterranean. After nearly a year with the squadron, he was posted away to Northern Ireland to carry out instructing duties at No. 131 Operational Training Unit. He was seriously injured on 24 May 1943, when his Catalina crashed into a lake.

After resigning from the RAAF the same year his first book was published, Herington took up a permanent role with the Department of Supply as regional security officer for South Australia. He continued to work on his second volume of the official history, and this was published in 1963 as Air Power Over Europe 1944–1945. His work was again favourably received, with the latest volume assessed by one contemporary commentator as "calm and scholarly".

Later life In 1965, Herington was sent to London as the senior representative for the Department of Supply there. Hospitalised at St Marylebone with cancer, he died on 22 January 1967. Survived by his wife and seven children, he was cremated and his ashes buried in Melbourne, in the churchyard of St John the Evangelist in Glen Iris.