He became a fighter ace in World War II, credited with eight aerial victories, and led combat formations at squadron and wing level.

Achieving victories in all three types, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after shooting down three German aircraft during a single sortie in February 1941.

Finding its Gloster Meteors to be outclassed by communist MiG 15s, he controversially took the RAAF squadron out of its air-to-air combat role in favour of escort duty and local air defence.

Returning to Australia, he held senior administrative and training posts before taking charge of RAAF Base Canberra in 1957.

[3][4] On 21 July 1937, Steege joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), undergoing flight instruction on Avro Cadets and Westland Wapitis at No.

3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, flying Hawker Demon biplane fighters.

[2][6] Steege and the squadron participated in several exercises with the Australian Army, undertaking reconnaissance, spotting for artillery, and practising ground-attack missions.

11 Squadron, which operated two RAAF Supermarine Seagulls, and two Short Type C flying boats requisitioned from Qantas Empire Airways.

11 Squadron became the RAAF's first unit to be based in Papua New Guinea, when the flying boats, accompanied by Steege in a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, flew to Port Moresby to undertake maritime reconnaissance in the region.

[2] On 15 July, the squadron departed Sydney for the Middle East to support the 6th Division in the Western Desert campaign against Italian forces.

He was among a patrol of Gladiators that came upon a dozen Italian Fiat CR.42s that were strafing British troops near Tummar West; in the ensuing combat, Steege was credited with one of three CR.42s shot down without loss by the Australians, as well as a "probable".

[20] On 10 February, the squadron advanced to RAF Station Benina, Libya, to take over the air defence of Benghazi, which had been occupied by the 6th Division.

[21] German aircraft started appearing at this time, as the Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel, supported by a Luftwaffe contingent, arrived in North Africa to reinforce the Italians.

[22][23] Steege was flying a Hurricane on 18 February when he shot down three German Junkers Ju 87 Stukas in a single sortie near Mersa Matruh to become his unit's second ace.

[13][25] He was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross for his "unfailing courage" and destruction of enemy aircraft; the award was promulgated in The London Gazette on 8 April.

[28] Well, the Italian Air Force in North Africa fought honourably and their fighter pilots had quite a bit of dash [...] But the Germans wouldn't dogfight.

The combined unit relocated to Amman in Transjordan on 29 June and undertook its first operation the same day, when the Hurricanes attacked Vichy French airfields and infrastructure as part of the invasion of Syria.

[1][32] By December 1941, it was at nominal strength and equipped with P-40 Kittyhawks; it commenced combat operations out of Gambut and El Adem, Libya, and began registering victories in February 1942.

[40] In January 1944, the wing took part in the two largest raids mounted by the RAAF to that time, each involving over seventy aircraft attacking enemy camps and depots at Lindenhafen, New Britain.

[37][42] The fighters' main duty was providing cover for Allied shipping; they also carried out bomber escort, ground attack and anti-shipping missions.

[42] In mid-April, the wing escorted the largest Allied convoy in the South West Pacific to that date, eighty ships carrying 30,000 personnel that had embarked from Finschhafen, on the final leg of its journey from the Admiralties to Aitape.

81 Wing undertook offensive sweeps and ground attacks against targets in West Papua, and dive bombed Japanese airfields on Halmahera.

[54] One of his first actions, following discussions with the US Fifth Air Force, was to take the Australian unit out of its air-to-air combat role, and curtail its operations in "MiG Alley", the area between the Yalu and Chongchon Rivers on North Korea's border with Manchuria.

His decision caused controversy as some UN commanders believed that proper training and tactics would have allowed the Meteor to remain competitive as a fighter, and for the Australian pilots the change of role amounted to a loss of prestige.

[55][56] Steege flew few missions in Korea, a fact seized upon by Air Marshal Sir Cecil Bouchier, a senior RAF officer who had championed the Meteor and considered the action precipitate.

Morale suffered and it was not until after Steege's departure on 26 December that another offensive role was found for the Meteors, specifically ground attack.

[61][62] Steege was promoted to acting group captain in May 1958 (substantive two months later) before becoming a senior planner at the SEATO Military Planning Office, Bangkok, in December 1958.

[2][24] Promoted to air commodore, he was appointed Officer Commanding (OC) RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, in November 1964.

[24] After leaving the RAAF, Steege served as a consultant to several aerospace defence firms, including Martin Marietta Overseas Corporation, which he joined in 1983.

450 Squadron in later years; as a guest at the 1994 RAAF History Conference in Canberra he discussed the challenges of establishing the unit in the Middle East in 1941.