Rochford Hughes

Air Marshal Sir Sidney Weetman Rochford Hughes, (25 October 1914 – 17 September 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer who served as Air Officer Commanding Far East Air Force from 1966 to 1969.

RAF career Educated at Waitaki Boys' High School, Hughes was part of the editorial team at the New Zealand Herald from 1933. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1937 but was transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1938. He served in the Second World War mainly in the Middle East and North Africa; after being shot down, he was taken prisoner in 1941 by a group of Italian soldiers near Benghazi, although he later turned the tables and took 130 Italians prisoner himself. He became Officer Commanding No. 511 Squadron in September 1945. Following the Mount Erebus disaster, he consulted for the commission that was established to investigate the incident.