Lawrence Coombes

Lawrence Percival Coombes (9 April 1899 – 3 June 1988) was a British-Australian aeronautical engineer who served as the first Chief Superintendent of the Australian Aeronautical Research Laboratories from 1938 until 1964. He had previously worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment from 1924, and during World War I had served as a pilot in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force, becoming a flying ace credited with 15 aerial victories.

Early life and education Coombes was born in Madras, India, and educated in London. From 1915 he studied engineering at the City and Guilds College in London, but in July 1917 he took leave of absence from his studies in order to enlist in the Royal Naval Air Service.

Military career Coombes was assigned to on 22 July 1917 as a probationary flight officer, and attended the training schools at Air Stations Chingford and Cranwell, before being awarded his Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate at Air Station Fairlop on 20 September.

He was promoted to flight sub-lieutenant on 28 September, and posted to HMS Daedalus in November. In June and July he was credited with shooting down ten more aircraft, bringing his total number of victories to fifteen.

Coombes was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) on 3 August, then returned to England to spend the rest of the war serving as an instructor at No. 204 Training Depot Station at RAF Eastchurch. and spent the rest of the summer barnstorming around the north of England in surplus B.E.2's with Charles Kingsford Smith where he also acted as a technical advisor to the RAF's High Speed Flight, competing for the 1927 Schneider Trophy. but eventually relinquished his commission on 29 May 1926.

In 1930, he returned to the Royal Aircraft Establishment where he was in charge of the Seaplane Tank.

Coombes died in Melbourne on 3 June 1988.

Personal life On 6 April 1926 he married Annie Marie ("Nancy") Lee, and they had two daughters; Shirley Ruth (b. 1928) and Josephine (b. 1932).

Honours and awards Other awards and honours presented to Coombes include: Freeman of the City of London for war services (1918) Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (1945) Fellow of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (1953) Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute (1953) Lawrence Hargrave Memorial Medal (1957) Kingsford-Smith Memorial Medal (1962) Kernot Medal, University of Melbourne (1968) Doctor of Engineering, Honoris Causa, Monash University (1975) Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences (1975)