Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 1, 2016
James Rowland (1 November 1922 – 27 May 1999) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), serving as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) from 1975 to 1979. He later held office as Governor of New South Wales from 1981 to 1989, and was Chancellor of the University of Sydney from 1990 to 1991. After joining the RAAF in 1942, he was posted to Britain as a Pathfinder bomber pilot in the air war over Europe, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was forced to bail out over Germany following a collision with another Allied aircraft in 1945, and was imprisoned. After repatriation and demobilisation, Rowland finished an aeronautical engineering degree and rejoined the RAAF. He became a test pilot, serving with and later commanding the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in the 1950s, and also a senior engineering officer, being closely involved in the delivery to Australia of the Dassault Mirage III supersonic fighter in the 1960s. He served as Air Member for Technical Services from 1972 until 1975, when he was elevated to air marshal and CAS, the first engineer to hold the position. He was knighted in 1977 and appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1987. (Full article...)