Charles Eaton, OBE, AFC (21 December 1895 – 12 November 1979) was a senior officer and aviator in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and later served as a diplomat.

Born in London, he joined the British Army upon the outbreak of World War I and saw action on the Western Front before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917.

Between 1929 and 1931, he was chosen to lead three expeditions to search for lost aircraft in Central Australia, gaining national attention and earning the Air Force Cross for his "zeal and devotion to duty".

Schooled in Wandsworth, Charles worked in Battersea Town Council from the age of fourteen, before joining the London Regiment upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.

He took part in trench bombing missions and attacks on enemy lines of communication, seeing action in the Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Loos, and the Somme.

[2][5] He was transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force (RAF) in April 1918, and posted the following month to France flying Airco DH.9 single-engined bombers with No.

[7][8] Moving to South Yarra, Victoria, he enlisted as a flying officer in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at Laverton on 14 August 1925.

Promoted flight lieutenant in February 1928,[2] he flew a Moth in the 1929 East-West Air Race from Sydney to Perth, as part of the celebrations for the Western Australia Centenary; he was the sixth competitor across the line, after fellow RFC veteran Jerry Pentland.

[10][11] Regarded as one of the RAAF's most skilful cross-country pilots and navigators, Eaton came to public attention as leader of three military expeditions to find lost aircraft in Central Australia between 1929 and 1931.

Three of the RAAF's five veteran DH.9 biplanes went down in the search—though all crews escaped injury—including Eaton's, which experienced what he labelled "a good crash" on 21 April near Tennant Creek after the engine's pistons melted.

[13][14] The same day, Captain Lester Brain, flying a Qantas aircraft, located the wreck of the Kookaburra in the Tanami Desert, approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) east-south-east of Wave Hill.

Setting out from Wave Hill on 23 April, Eaton led a ground party across rough terrain that reached the crash site four days later and buried the crew, who had perished of thirst and exposure.

[12] In November 1930, Eaton was selected to lead another expedition for a missing aircraft near Ayers Rock, but it was called off soon afterwards when the pilot showed up in Alice Springs.

Employing four DH.60 Moths, the RAAF team located the missing men near Dashwood Creek on 7 January 1931, and they were rescued four days later by a ground party accompanied by Eaton.

[13][15] Eaton was awarded the Air Force Cross on 10 March 1931 "in recognition of his zeal and devotion to duty in conducting flights to Central Australia in search of missing aviators".

[13] Aside from his crash landing in the desert while searching for the Kookaburra, Eaton had another narrow escape in 1929 when he was test flying the Wackett Warrigal I with Sergeant Eric Douglas.

Promoted squadron leader in 1936,[2] he undertook a clandestine mission around the new year to scout for suitable landing grounds in the Dutch East Indies, primarily Timor and Ambon.

21 Squadron in May 1937, one of his first tasks being to undertake another aerial search in Central Australia, this time for prospector Sir Herbert Gepp, who was subsequently discovered alive and well.

Staff were initially accommodated in a former meatworks built during World War I, and life at the newly established air base had a "distinctly raw, pioneering feel about it" according to historian Chris Coulthard-Clark.

[2] His squadrons were employed in escort, maritime reconnaissance, and coastal patrol duties, the overworked aircraft having to be sent to RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, after every 240 hours flying time—with a consequent three-week loss from Darwin's strength—as deep maintenance was not yet possible in the Northern Territory.

Piloting his own light plane, he was greeted by four Wirraways that proceeded to escort him into landing; the Minister subsequently complimented Eaton on the "keen-ness and efficiency of all ranks", particularly considering the challenging environment.

Thomas, and also incurred the ire of trade unionists when he used RAAF staff to unload ships in Port Darwin during industrial action; Eaton himself took part in the work, shovelling coal alongside his men.

[25] On 25 February 1941, he made a flight north to reconnoitre Timor, Ambon, and Babo in Dutch New Guinea for potential use by the RAAF in any Pacific conflict.

[23] By April, the total strength based at RAAF Station Darwin had increased to almost 700 officers and airmen; by the following month it had been augmented by satellite airfields at Bathurst Island, Groote Eylandt, Batchelor, and Katherine.

[2][27] His "marked success", "untiring energy", and "tact in handling men" while in the Northern Territory were recognised in the new year with his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

[31][32] Through March–April, his Beaufighters attacked enemy shipping, while the Mitchells and Beauforts bombed Timor on a daily basis as a prelude to Operations Reckless and Persecution, the invasions of Hollandia and Aitape.

The German submarine U-862 operated off southern Australia during the first months of 1945, and the few combat units in Eaton's command were heavily engaged in anti-submarine patrols which sought to locate this and any other U-boats in the area.

While based there, he accompanied the provincial governor on visits to townships damaged in Allied raids during the war, taking care to be circumspect about the part played by his own forces from No.

[38] In July 1947, Dutch forces launched a "police action" against territory held by the fledgling Indonesian Republic, which had been declared shortly after the end of the war.

In accordance with his wishes, his ashes were scattered near Tennant Creek, site of his 1929 forced landing during the search for the Kookaburra, from an RAAF Caribou on 15 April 1981.