His achievements earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross and a mention in despatches, and he finished the war an acting group captain.

On 2 May, he led a low-level sortie against Penfui airfield, a key base for Japanese raids on Darwin, during which he destroyed two enemy Mitsubishi Zero fighters on the ground with cannon.

[11] Read was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the "courage and skill" he displayed during assaults on Japanese installations, pressed home in the face of severe anti-aircraft fire.

77 Wing, and by the end of the war was an acting group captain on the headquarters staff of the Australian First Tactical Air Force at Morotai.

[22] Returning from England in 1952, he was made CO of Central Flying School at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria, and went on to hold staff appointments at Headquarters Training Command from 1953 to 1957.

82 Wing at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, from February 1957 to July 1960, flying English Electric Canberra jet bombers.

As DCAS, after plans to acquire such a heavy-lift capability had languished for eight years, Read was able to finally give the go-ahead for their purchase.

[30] He led a team to the United States in May 1970 to review a proposal to lease two squadrons of McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms to provide an interim strike force for the RAAF, pending delivery of the long-delayed General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber.

According to the official history of the post-war Air Force, Read's decision to take up the F-4E offer, over competing Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer and Grumman A-6 Intruder options, "delighted RAAF senior officers and aircrews".

[31] In March 1972, Air Marshal Sir Colin Hannah resigned as CAS one year short of his planned three-year term, to become Governor of Queensland.

82 Wing, Group Captain Jake Newham, to operate the F-111 with great caution initially, well within limits, lest the controversial aircraft suffer greater damage to its reputation through early attrition.

In the words of historian Alan Stephens, "The seemingly interminable round of committee meetings which followed the Tange reorganisation made management very difficult, to the extent that Air Marshal Read often felt he was fighting against the system rather than working with it".

[36] Read retired from military life on 20 March 1975 and was succeeded by Air Marshal James Rowland, who later became Governor of New South Wales.

Considered disdainful of bureaucracy and some of the trappings of high office, Read refused to sit for the traditional portrait painted of former Chiefs of the Air Staff.

[3][37] As CAS during the Whitlam Labor government, which was generally antipathetic to imperial knighthoods, he was not raised to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) until the 1976 Queen's Birthday Honours, after the Liberal Party under Malcolm Fraser had been returned to power.

[38][39] Originally from Vaucluse, in Sydney's east, by 2010 Read was living in Safety Beach, on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.