Stanley James (Jimmy) Goble | |
|---|---|
 Official RAAF portrait of Air Vice Marshal Stanley Goble | |
| Born | 21 August 1891 Croydon, Victoria |
| Died | 24 July 1948 (aged 56) Heidelberg, Victoria |
| Allegiance | Australia |
| Service | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1915–46 |
| Rank | Air Vice Marshal |
| Unit | No. 8 Squadron RNAS (1916–17) |
| Commands | No. 5 Squadron RNAS (1917–18) Chief of the Air Staff (1922–25, 1932–34, 1939–40) No. 2 Group RAF (1936–37) |
| Battles / wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Cross Mentioned in Despatches (2) Croix de Guerre (France) |
Air Vice Marshal Stanley James (Jimmy) Goble, CBE, DSO, DSC (21 August 1891 – 24 July 1948) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He served three terms as Chief of the Air Staff, alternating with Wing Commander (later Air Marshal Sir) Richard Williams. Goble came to national attention in 1924 when he and fellow RAAF pilot Ivor McIntyre became the first men to circumnavigate Australia by air, journeying 8,450 miles (13,600 km) in a single-engined floatplane.
During World War I, Goble flew fighters on the Western Front with the British Royal Naval Air Service. He became an ace with ten victories, commanded No. 5 Squadron (later No. 205 Squadron RAF), and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Service Cross. Returning to Australia, Goble assisted in the formation of the RAAF as an independent branch of the Australian armed forces. On an exchange posting to Britain in the 1930s, he led No. 2 (Bomber) Group RAF.
As Chief of the Air Staff at the onset of World War II, Goble clashed with the Federal Government over implementation of the Empire Air Training Scheme, which he believed would be detrimental to the defence of Australia. He stepped down as leader of the RAAF in early 1940, and spent the rest of the war in Ottawa as Air Liaison Officer to Canada. Goble died in 1948 at the age of fifty-six, two years after retiring from the military.