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Air Force Museum, RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook, VIC 3027 Australia.
Recorded Info 61 3 92561300, fax 61 3 92561692 (25 km SW of Melbourne)

HISTORY OF THE RAAF

Nineteen hundred and ninety six marks the anniversary of the seventy fifth year of the Royal Australian Air Force. The space of a mere seventy five years might be regarded as insignificant in the eons of time but, in the history of aviation, it represents almost an era for it was only eighteen years before the birth of the RAAF that a man made the first venturesome flight in a heavier-than-air machine. The development of the RAAF has been quite remarkable. From a small, fledgling defence service relying heavily on Britain for equipment and technical "know-how", it has developed into one of the finest air forces for its size in the world.

Australia has always been an air-minded nation, so it was only natural that some of the great trailblazers of the air - men like Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith and Bert Hinkler - were from this country. Australians designed, built and flew flying machines as early as 1910, only seven years after the Wright brother's' sensational first flight at Kittyhawk, North Carolina, USA, late in 1903. Lawrence Hargrave had experimented with boxkites and rotary engines; and in July 1910, at Mia Mia, Victoria, John Duigan flew an aircraft which he and his brother, Reg, designed and built themselves. Duigan had never seen an aeroplane, let alone had a flying lesson (his aircraft is in the Technological Museum in Melbourne, Victoria).

At the turn of the century Australia had a population of less than four million and, with its vast outback and great distances separating the main cities, was particularly suited to the development of aviation. The exploits of the aviation pioneers captured the imagination of all Australians and the conquest of the air became a magnet to young men.

In 1909 the Australian Government offered a prize of 5000 pounds - a fortune at that time - to the inventor of a flying machine best suited for military purposes. Many enthusiasts entered a variety of wood and wire contraptions in the competition but none was accepted and the prize money remained in the coffers of the Treasury. Duigan's machine might have carried off the prize had the inventor not misinterpreted the conditions of the competition which called for a "poising" capability for the aircraft. He puzzled over the word "poise" and delayed his entry until too late. He was to learn to his bitter disappointment that "poising" merely meant turning in the air over a half-mile circle.

The next move by the Government came in 1911 when the Minister for Defence, Senator G.F. Pearce (RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, bears his name), returned from a fact-finding visit to England convinced of the need for a military aviation corps in Australia. He gained support for his recommendations and on 30 December 1911, the Government Gazette sought applications for "two competent mechanists and aviators" to form the corps. Several applications were received and two aviators were selected - Henry Petre (pronounced "Peter"), an English barrister, and Eric Harrison, an Australian from Castlemaine, Victoria, who was then working in England for the Bristol Aeroplane Company.

Petre, slightly built, and unpretentious by nature, was, however, adventurous and determined. He was 25 when Bleriot, the French air pioneer, crossed the English Channel, and this epic achievement impressed him so much that he abandoned his law practice and borrowed 250 pounds with the intention of building an aeroplane and teaching himself to fly. His brother joined him in the venture and they designed and built an aircraft which they named the Petre monoplane. The aircraft had warping wings (no ailerons) and the engine was mounted behind the wings. It took six months to build but Henry Petre crashed it on its maiden flight when he failed to correct a "dropped" wing in time.

Henry Petre, however, was not deterred. He borrowed another 25 pounds and learned to fly, then took a job as a pilot with the Deperdussin Aeroplane Company at Brooklands, England. He claimed afterwards that his experience flying Deperdussin monoplanes clinched for him the aviation job in Australia, as two Deperdussin monoplanes were on order by the Australian Government.

Petre arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, aboard the steamship "Omrah" in January 1913. He was sworn into the Australian Army as a lieutenant and began searching for a site for a flying school. He related the rest of the story in his own words when he made a return trip to Melbourne in January 1960 (he died, aged 77, in England on 24 April 1962):

"My salary was 400 pounds a year and the Australian Government accepted no liability for injury through accidents", he recalled. "I rode about on a motor cycle and inspected sites at Langwarrin, Cribb Point, Altona and Point Cook, all in Victoria, and at Canberra. Initially, I rejected them all for various reasons, but finally selected Point Cook as it was not far from the Army headquarters in Melbourne and, being on the coast, had access by sea as well as land".

At Point Cook (originally spelt "Cooke", named for a crew-member of HMS "Rattlesnake" which carried out the original survey of Port Phillip Bay), 734 acres of grazing land were purchased from a Mr George Chirnside for approximately 6040 pounds.

Lt Harrison returned home from England with two mechanics in the "Otway" on 25 April 1913 - two years to the day before the ANZAC landing on Gallipoli. Five aircraft also were shipped to Australia. They were: Nos. 1 and 2, BE2a; No. 3, Bristol Boxkite; No. 4, Deperdussin (school type); and No. 5, Deperdussin (taxi). The total value of the aircraft and spare parts was approximately 14,031 pounds.

Henry Petre recalled: 'We erected tents and I designed a large tent as a hangar. Later, I designed two wooden hangars and these were built close to the sea. Harrison and I and four trainee pilots, Lt R. Williams (later Air Marshall Sir Richard Williams), Capt T.W. White (later Sir Thomas White, High Commissioner in London), Lt G.P. Merz and Lt D.T.W. Manwell were the original members of the officers' mess."

The aircraft were test flown at Point Cook in March 1914. On 12 March the first crash occurred. The aircraft was on of the Deperdussins (CFS 4) flown by Petre, who escaped injury.

The first course began flying at Point Cook on 18 August 1914, and was completed fourteen weeks later - on 28 November. The first flight, as recorded in a common notebook, now a revered museum piece at Point Cook, was made by Harrison alone in the Boxkite, lasted ten minutes and the maximum height was 200ft.

The first student to begin flying training was Lt Merz - at 5:50pm on 18 August. Harrison was the instructor and they spent five minutes in the air, climbing to 100ft. Manwell then went for his first instructional flight - at 6pm. The following day - 19 August - Williams had his first flying lesson, followed by White on 27 August. The little handwritten notebook records faithfully that Manwell was the first student to fly solo - for five minutes in the Boxkite on 2 September. When Manwell landed, Williams took over the Boxkite for his first solo flight. Subsequently, Williams was the first of the four students to qualify for his "wings" - on 12 November. He had logged a total solo flying time of 7 hours 27 minutes. The four graduates had to pay for their flying brevets ("wings"). They cost 3 shillings and 6 pence.

It is difficult for airmen today to appreciate the danger and frustrations which faced those pioneers of aviation. One of the Deperdussins was so poor aerodynamically that it could barely be coaxed into the air, and the members of the Central Flying School (as Point Cook was then known) jokingly referred to it as the "Dirty Dustbin". The aircraft were so prone to damage on the ground that flying could proceed only if the wind was down to a slight breeze. The wind speed was judged by a handkerchief held at arm's length.

The aircraft were primitive. The Boxkite, for instance, had only one "instrument" - a glass tube to enable the pilot to observe the flow of castor oil to the engine - lest the engine seize - and no fuselage skin. The pilot sat on an unsecured wooden seat exposed to the wind. The seat rested on a timber framework and was not anchored by screws or bolts. The rush of air on the pilot's face roughly indicated to him the angle of climb or descent and the engine note was his gauge of the "revs". There was no compass and no brakes and the parachute had not been perfected and was not in the military inventory. Later, a crude altimeter, known as a barograph, was added. Williams used to barograph to record a height of 1600 ft above sea level in the Boxkite - well above the accepted ceiling of 1100ft above sea level for the aircraft (it is fortunate that Canberra, 1800 ft above sea level, was not chosen as the site for the flying school, otherwise the aircraft would never have left the ground)!

This, then, was the calibre of the men who formed the nucleus of the Australian Flying Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force.

The "club" atmosphere of Point Cook was short lived. Australia acceded to Britain's request for trained airmen to be sent overseas for war service. Petre, then a captain, left Australia as commander of the "Half Flight" in April 1915 to fight in Turkish-occupied Mesopotamia (Iraq). The flight comprised of four trained officer pilots and 41 other ranks. The flight merged into No. 30 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. Petre went on to win the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and Military Cross (MC) and, later in the war, returned to England. Merz was killed by Arabs when his aircraft was forced down with engine trouble near Basra on 29 July 1915, thus becoming the first Australian airman of the thousands who have followed him to die in battle. A street at Point Cook bears his name.

Australia resisted Britain in her policy to absorb all Dominion pilots into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and established the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) - the only Dominion to do so. Men were partially trained in Australia, then sent to England to complete their training before joining one of the four operational squadrons of the AFC serving overseas - Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Squadrons. No. 1 Squadron, with 28 officers and 181 other ranks, sailed in the "Orsova" for Egypt on 16 March 1916, and was in action three months later. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Squadrons fought in France against fierce opposition. Altogether the AFC operated eight squadrons; four for training purposes only.

The first Australian airman to win the Victoria Cross (and the only one to do so during World War I) was Lt F.H. McNamara of No. 1 Squadron, who rescued a squadron colleague, Capt D.W. Rutherford, whose BE2c aircraft was downed in enemy territory in Palestine on 20 March 1917. Although wounded, McNamara in a single-seat Martinsyde landed beside the crippled machine and took Rutherford aboard. The Martinsyde crashed on take off, so they set it on fire and ran back to Rutherford's BE2c and between them managed to start its engine. They scrambled aboard and staggered into the air, with enemy cavalry charging and firing on them, and flew to safety. McNamara later rose to the rank of air vice-marshal in the RAAF.

Although at the end of World War I the squadrons of the AFC were disbanded, there continued a keen interest in military aviation, both by the Australian defence services and the public. The AFC was replaced by the Australian Air Corps, which manned the Point Cook airfield, more or less on a caretaker basis. Meanwhile, the Army and the Navy were taking a serious look at the achievements of Australia's early aviators and were trying to assess the future of military aviation. There was now no longer any doubt that Australia would have a permanent aviation force; the only doubt then was in deciding the controlling service - the Navy or the Army.

In April 1918, Lt Gen J.C. Legge, Chief of the General Staff, in a memo proposing the setting up of a permanent military air force for Australia had stated: "A sufficient air service can go far toward breaking the strength of an attack, or increasing the value of an inferior defending force if it can master the air service of an enemy". He declared that 1000 aeroplanes would cost less than one battle cruiser.

Although the division of opinion between Army and Navy was ferocious and continuous, it did not prevent Mr George Swinburne, Chairman of the Defence Department's Board of Business Administration, reporting that the board recommended "the formation of an Australian Air Corps for both the Army and Navy under one administration and with central control". An event which no doubt had significant bearing on the future planning was the decision by the British Government to form an autonomous air service, and which resulted on 1 April 1918 in the formation of the Royal Air Force.

The hundreds of young Australian airmen who had flown with such dash and courage over the battlefields were anxious to put their talents into a permanent effort. Some went into the "barnstorming" business - flying from town to town on joy-riding sprees. Others formed the nucleus of the airlines, while the more intrepid braved the vast oceans to thrill the world with their daring and courage - men like the brothers Ross and Keith Smith, who, in 1919, flying a Vickers Vimy, pioneered the air route from England to Australia. This epic flight earned them 10,000 pounds prize-money from the Commonwealth Government - and each received a knighthood.

But the obvious need was for a permanent air force. Britain came to the rescue with a generous gift of 128 aircraft (DH9, DH9A and SE5a and Avro 504K types, plus spares and technical equipment). Prime Minister W.M. Hughes backed those agitating for an air force by stating: "I am a fanatic in my belief in aviation". He was well aware of the vulnerability of Australia's 12,000-mile coastline and aircraft seemed to be the only solution. The Government was quick to act and in 1920 the Military Board set up an Air Corps with Lt Col Richard Williams, DSO, in command. It was, therefore, a happy coincidence that Williams, who had been the first man to gain his "wings" at Point Cook and who had led No. 1 Squadron with such credit during the war, should be the first commander of the new air corps. The original Air Board consisted of four members. They were Wing Commander R. Williams, Director of Operations and Intelligence; Wing Commander S.J. Goble, Director of Personnel and Training; Captain (later Squadron Leader) P.A. McBain, Director of Equipment; and Mr A.C. Joyce, Finance Member.

Williams never wavered in his fight for an Australian air force with autonomous command. The first Air Board had no trouble in drawing up plans for the provision of air components for both the Army and Navy, but it was very firm in pointing out that the control of the Air Service must be vested within a single authority. The air force's future was sealed when Prime Minister Hughes placed on the estimates a "sufficient sum for the building up of an efficient air force". The sum turned out to be 500,000 pounds, with an additional 100,000 pounds set aside to foster civil aviation.

The estimates allowed for the air force to be under the direction of the Minister for Defence, who would be assisted by an Air Council consisting of a naval member, a military member, two members of the Air Board (one each of these to be nominated respectively by the naval and military members), and the Controller of Civil Aviation. The new Air Board was constituted on 9 November 1920, with Williams as First Member, Goble as Second Member, Captain McBain as Director of Equipment, and Mr Joyce as Finance Member. Mr P.E. Coleman was Secretary.

The part to be played by Williams throughout the formative years of the RAAF was apparent at the first meeting of the board when he tabled a lengthy paper of his own on the formation of the new force and earned for himself the often-repeated title "Father of the Air Force". There was no doubt that the Air Board supported Williams in his contention that they would have to lean heavily upon the pattern set by the Royal Air Force. This early program, as well as the headquarters at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne, foreshadowed a flying school, recruit depot, stores depot and a non-technical training centre. These were considered necessary to back up a plan for two wing headquarters which controlled two fighter squadrons (for air defence), one each of float-seaplanes, flying boats and torpedo carriers (for Navy co-operation) and two reconnaissance squadrons (Army co-operation).

On 15 February 1921, the Air Board sent a recommendation to the Air Council that the "Australian Air Force" be formed as from 31 March 1921, and so the die was cast. The Air Council and the Minister approved, and there came into being the "Royal Australian Air Force" (the prefix "Royal" being granted in August the same year).

This formal blessing for the infant air force carried with it no assurance for an easy childhood, however, because to the continuing inter-Service contest for control was now added the growing realisation that aircraft were not cheap toys to be bought and played with by amateurs. This realisation of costs was an early warning which air planners today recognise as an even more acute problem. Those problems, coupled with the great Depression of the early 1930s, made certain that the RAAF did not lack growing pains.

Twenty-one officers and 130 airmen, belonging to either the Headquarters in Melbourne or to the Flying Training School and Aircraft Depot, both based at Point Cook, made up of the initial strength of the young service. Nevertheless, in its small beginnings, the RAAF was not short of aircraft. In addition to twenty Avro 504Ks, ten Sopwith Pups, six Fairey IIID seaplanes, as well as six Australian-built 504Ks, there were in reserve the 128 aircraft which the British Government had given to Australia in return for Australia's aviation contribution to the war. It meant that, for a period, the RAAF held the unique record of having more aircraft than men!

It was from the outset a down-to-earth, hard working Air Board which had to solve administrative problems equally along with the development of matters of high policy (the temptations of a hotel on the main road between Point Cook and Melbourne apparently proved a problem for some early members of the RAAF, because the first Air Board Order [No. 1 of 25 July 1922] put the Guiding Star Hotel at Braybrook out of bounds to members on duty)!

Although the Royal Australian Air Force, right from the beginning, was a separate entity, there had always been close bonds between its members and those of the Royal Air Force. A liaison office was set up in London to handle official matters with the British Government, but even more important was its task of day-to-day liaison with the RAF. The uniform of the Australian service was basically British, but the distinctive colour was chosen by Williams at a woolen mill in Geelong, Victoria. While the style was retained, the blue-grey cloth of the RAF was changed to a dark blue for the RAAF. As well as a permanent Air Force, the formation of an Air Force Reserve was decided, but there were practically no funds for pay or uniforms.

Despite the early financial setbacks associated with the development of the air force, aviation maintained its almost magical appeal. The Australian public had always sensed that its destiny was linked with the aeroplane. The veterans of the World War I sky battles, along with the enthusiasts who had gone to England and learnt to fly at their own expense, helped to provide and develop the appeal of aviation, and so either within the ranks of the RAAF or in the pioneering of new trails for civil flying the story of aviation was being unfolded continuously. At the same time many political leaders and community organisations were supporting military flying, claiming that it would aid in developing civil aviation (in 1915 the first aero club in Australia had been founded at Point Cook and in 1924 the first course for commercial pilots was established at Point Cook but under RAAF instruction).

It was the era of the personality, in which the symbol was an open cockpit and the pilot's scarf streaming in the cold wind. It built up the mystique which centered around every pilot; a mystique which has persisted even though most of today's pilots sit in enclosed and pressurised cockpits or flight decks. It was the era in which crowds waited hours for a lone aircraft to land after a record-breaking flight, to "chair" the crew triumphantly to a welcoming banquet. Wing Commander Goble and Flight Lieutenant I.E. MacIntyre circled the Australian mainland in a Fairey seaplane; Kingsford-Smith and Ulm crossed the Pacific; Hinkler and other Australians blazed their way across the newspaper headlines. It was the "golden hour" of Australian aviation.

The program of development which had been put forward in the 1922-1923 program for the RAAF envisaged a minimum permanent establishment, "to be attained gradually", of 108 officers and 791 other ranks. Gradually, very gradually, the expansion took place.

The Air Force was the "Cinderella" service in the funds allocated to it from the Defence Vote. In 1926 Australia spent 9 shillings per head of population on the Navy, 5 shillings on the Army and 1 shilling and 5 pence on the Air Force.

As was to be expected, the first RAAF flying was taken over by those World War I veterans of air battles who did not want to leave the arena, but on 31 January 1923, fourteen trainees began elementary flight training at Point Cook. There was never any shortage of recruits for the early courses, but no one could foresee in this keen interest the torrent of young men who would come forward for flying training during the period of the World War II Empire Training Scheme some twenty years later.

"Real estate" expansion also took place along with that of recruits and aircraft. No. 1 Squadron and No. 3 Squadron were formed at Point Cook on 1 July 1925, and a short time afterward the former moved to Laverton and the latter squadron moved to Richmond, N.S.W., where a site had been acquired. Today Richmond is one of the largest RAAF bases in Australia with more than 2000 personnel engaged in transport flying, major maintenance and the provision of domestic facilities.

Traffic between the British and Australian air forces, however, was not always one-sided. Right from its inception, the RAAF found that its trained personnel who had completed a short-service commission were proving attractive to the RAF, and by 1939, of approximately 500 who had undergone the RAAF cadet course, more than 150 had received short-service commissions in the Royal Air Force. One was Air Commodore I.H. Edwards, VC, who retired from the RAF in 1963. In fact, it was the RAF's request in 1934-1936 for more trained men which helped to bring home to Australia its own shortages - both of aviators and technicians.

Perhaps there was no great public awareness of the approach of the holocaust, but the late 1930s saw thinking Australians acknowledge an imminent threat from Japan which was building a massive naval force, including aircraft carriers, along with a commercial drive to the south. Secretly, Japan also was building a formidable air force.

Meanwhile, the anticipated tapering off of the flow of British aircraft began to help the infant Australian aircraft industry which had begun its struggle for recognition. In 1927, de Havilland had started its Australian factory, and was manufacturing Moth aircraft. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd (CAC, which had been incorporated in 1936, was to develop the Wirraway from the basic North American NA33 design. Wing Commander L.J. Wackett, who had commanded a squadron during World War I, was convinced that Australia should have its own design and manufacturing organisation and, in 1924, he convinced the RAAF that he should open a "RAAF Experimental Section" at Randwick, N.S.W. With a devoted band of engineers and artisans, Wackett worked on propellers and engines and, more importantly, designed and built several land and seaplanes. The Widgeon II amphibian was one of his projects ("I proved its capability by flying it on a 9000-mile journey across and around part of the Australian continent in 1928", he said). Lack of funds closed the "experimental section", but Wackett continued with his designs and was later to become managing director of CAC. He was knighted for his service to aviation.

In 1934 the RAAF which had been ailing through the Depression years through obsolescent aircraft and lack of funds, had received a much-needed boost and a sharp rise in morale with the decision of the Government to purchase eighteen Hawker Demon fighters and twenty-four Supermarine Seagull V amphibians. Avro Anson bombers followed, and the creation of nineteen home defence squadrons was approved in principle. As international tension grew, it became all too clear that if war erupted Britain would be hard-pressed to support the defence of Australia 10,000 miles away. A big breakthrough for the RAAF occurred in 1938 when an order was placed for fifty Lockheed Hudson bombers from the United States. These, the first American-built aircraft in the RAAF inventory, were delivered early in 1940. They could not have arrived at a more critical time. It was also welcome news when, in 1939, the Australian and British governments reached agreement to build Bristol Beaufort bombers in Australia, both for the RAAF and RAF. These were built in Melbourne and Sydney, while in Sydney from 1939 the De Havilland Company was building Tiger Moths fitted with Australian-built engines. The Tiger Moth had been selected as the standard elementary trainer for the Empire Air Training Scheme. The Australian aircraft industry was booming.

At the invitation of the Australian Government, a former Chief of the Air Staff, RAF, Sir Edward Ellington, arrived in Australia virtually unannounced in June 1938 to report on the RAAF (the Chief of the Air Staff, AVM Williams, read of the visit in the "argus" newspaper in Melbourne). The report was critical of flying discipline and also criticised the selection of the Wirraway aircraft as Australia's choice as a fighter. The report led to bitterness between the Government and Air Board and Williams, as Chief of the Air Staff, bore the brunt of it.

Williams had been Chief of the Air Staff for many years - alternating with Goble in the appointment since 1921 - a period when there was generally apathy towards defence in Australia. After all, every schoolboy had been told that the ANZACs fought and died in World War I so that Australia would remain free. It had been a war to end all wars. The world depression had hit Australia hard and money was scarce. Most Australians believed that defence was an expensive luxury.

Nevertheless, the Ellington report shocked the Government and in December 1938, it announced that Air Force expenditure for 1938-39 would be increased from 12,512,00 pounds to 16,440,000 pounds.

The front-line potential of the force would be raised from seventeen squadrons with 198 aircraft to eighteen with 212. Williams, then air vice-marshal , was sent to England for two years and Goble, then an air commodore, became Acting Chief of the Air Staff, with acting rank of air vice-marshal. Despite Ellington's criticism of the Wirraway, the first of those aircraft was delivered to the RAAF on 10 July 1939.

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and two days later Britain declared war on Germany. Australia immediately followed Britain and for the armed forces, of course, that meant rapid mobilisation. The RAAF had eighty-two Ansons, fifty-four Demons, seven Wirraways, twenty-one Seagulls and eighty-two trainers.

The RAAF's squadrons were dispersed as follows:

To meet the demands of war the RAAF had 246 aircraft, of which only 164 were operational machines. The Permanent Air Force contained 310 officers and 3179 airmen. There were thirty-six general duties (aircrew) officers in the Citizen Air Force and 158 officers on the Reserve.

A detachment of No. 10 Squadron had been sent to England in 1939 to take delivery of Short Sunderland flying-boats. Australia offered the squadron's services to England and No. 10 Squadron remained in Britain for the remainder of the war. It was the first squadron of any Commonwealth country to go into action, and established a proud record.

The RAAF "came of age" as a fighting force during World War II. At the height of the war the service had expanded to a strength of 20,000 officers, 144,000 airmen and 18,000 airwomen. It had 3037 operational aircraft and 2808 trainers. RAAF members served in every theatre of operation.

Compared with the might of the German air force, military planners in Britain realised the serious shortcomings of the RAF and the inadequacies of the air forces of the Commonwealth. Thousands of aircraft had to be built and hundreds of thousands of aircrew and ground-staff had to be trained in a hurry lest the Empire be crushed. Nervous eyes were also turning to the map of Japan. That country posed a serious threat in the Pacific region.

Clearly a gigantic effort was needed by the British Empire if it was to gain control of the air. The answer was the Empire Air Training Scheme, a masterpiece of planning which will be recorded in history as a classic example of co-operation between allied nations. The E-A-T-S (as it was commonly known) was designed to provide a staggering total of 50,000 trained aircrew every year as long as there was a need - 22,000 from Britain, 13,000 from Canada, 11,000 from Australia and 3,300 from New Zealand. The flood of young Australian men to become members of aircrew was so great that an aircrew "reserve" had to be introduced. Throughout the country committees were set up to instruct boys in basic air force subjects - Morse code, physics, mathematics, for example - until they turned 18 and were eligible to join the RAAF. Training on such a tremendous scale obviously could not be handled in Britain alone with its frequent bad weather and congestion of airfields. It was, therefore, agreed to train the majority of men in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Rhodesia. On completion of the training the men were to go to England to join RAF or Dominion squadrons under RAF operational control. Australians were to wear their own distinctive uniforms and to receive Australian rates of pay. The EATS, originally planned to end in March 1943, was extended to March 1945, but ultimately closed nine months ahead of schedule when in June 1944, the British Air Ministry was able to request the cessation of all operational drafts. The balance of air power then lay heavily on the side of the Allies.

The achievements of the Empire Air Training Scheme were brilliant. Under the scheme the RAAF alone formed 17 squadrons in the United Kingdom and Middle East and as well provided thousands more aircrew for RAF, RCAF and "free" foreign squadrons. The RAAF trained 27,287 aircrew in Australia and provided elementary training for an additional 10,351 pilots, navigators and wireless operators/air gunners who were sent to Canada to finish training, and nearly 700 initial trainees who went to Rhodesia for further tuition.

Soon after World War II began the Australian Government reorganised defence administration and the first Minister for Air, Mr J.V. Fairbairn (RAAF Base Fairbairn, Canberra, bears his name), was appointed on 13 November 1939. AVM Williams was by now on two years' exchange duty in England with Coastal Command and AVM Goble was acting Chief of the Air Staff. It had been expected in top RAAF circles that Williams would resume the post of CAS on his return. After all, he had served with distinction in World War I, he had "fathered" the RAAF in 1921 and had nurtured it through the difficult "between wars" period. He was dedicated to the RAAF and his country. It came as a shock to senior RAAF officers, therefore, when the Government, believing that what lay ahead was "far beyond the experience of senior RAAF officers", requested the British Government to release a Royal Air Force officer to take over as CAS. The RAF released Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett, 58, who was due to retire two years later. He came to Australia as CAS of the RAAF with effect 11 February 1940. Goble was subsequently appointed Australian Air Liaison Officer for the Empire Air Training Scheme in Ottawa, Canada. On Williams' return home he was promoted to air marshal and appointed Air Member for Organisation and Equipment. AVM (later Air Marshal Sir) George Jones, RAAF, of Melbourne, who had served as a pilot with the AFC during World War I, succeeded Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett as Chief of the Air Staff on 5 May 1942, and retained the appointment throughout the rest of the war and until January 1952, when he retired. He had command of the Service through the most critical time in its history - when the mainland of Australia was threatened with invasion.

At the outbreak of war the RAAF had only 12 squadrons available; yet on 20 September 1939 - only seventeen days after the declaration of war - Australia generously offered six squadrons for service with Britain, but the proposal was left in abeyance. Apart from the men of the RAAF's No. 10 Squadron already in England, 450 Australians were serving in RAF squadrons and they were the first Australian airmen to go into action. Altogether thirty Australians flew into the Battle of Britain. Fifteen of them were killed and, of the fifteen survivors, three were killed in action after the battle, one died as a prisoner of war in 1942, one was killed in a flying accident in 1943, one died of natural causes 1943 and one was killed in a flying accident in Australia in 1947. It is not known how many are still alive today.

The Empire Air Training Scheme was introduced quickly and smoothly and the first RAAF graduates arrived in the United Kingdom late in 1940. The RAAF undertook to accept for training a total of 923 aircrew each four weeks, in addition to those sent to Canada. To cope with this training programme 3601 flying instructors were trained by the RAAF alone (there were twenty-seven flying instructors when the war began). A very extensive real estate program had to be implemented just to train aircrew. This involved the establishment of five initial training schools, eight service flying training schools for pilots, twelve elementary flying training schools, three air navigation schools, three air navigation schools, two air observer schools, three bombing and gunnery schools and three wireless operator-air gunner schools.

It had been agreed that eighteen RAAF squadrons would be formed in England and the Middle East under RAF control. Seventeen, in fact, were formed - twelve in the United Kingdom and five in the Middle East. One of the UK-based squadrons later went to the Middle East and two others returned to Australia in 1942 to help stem the Japanese tide.

Australian aircraft flew in every major operation mounted by Bomber Command. They saw the fires of Berlin and dozens of other major German cities, they saw the flak of the Ruhr ("Happy Valley"), they helped to knock out the railway systems and marshalling yards, ripped out U-boat pens and wrecked flying bomb sites. But the RAAF paid a dreadful price - 3,486 men killed in Bomber Command alone.

One of them, Flight Sergeant R.H. Middleton, flying a Short Stirling bomber with an RAF squadron, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross when, in November 1942, he nursed his crippled bomber from Turin, Italy, across the Alps to England where five of his seven crewmen colleagues parachuted to safety. The other two drowned in the sea and Middleton died alone in his aircraft when it crashed into the sea.

When the European war ended, 15,000 Australians had been involved in the air war against Germany and Italy. They had flown 31 million operational miles on 65,841 sorties. They had sent thirty-five enemy ships or submarines to the ocean floor and probably destroyed or damaged a further 206 vessels. RAAF men had destroyed or damaged 109 enemy aircraft and probably destroyed or damaged a further 238. RAAF bombers had dropped 65,000 tonnes of bombs.

In all, 6,636 RAAF men died in action against Germany and Italy - one fifth of the entire Australian war deaths in all services and campaigns of the war. Approximately 12 percent of the total of Australia's war deaths occurred in Bomber Command alone. The highest casualty list of all RAAF squadrons was suffered by No. 460 Squadron which operated Vickers Wellington and the Avro Lancaster bombers from England. The squadron lost 1019 men killed.

Perhaps the part played by the RAAF in the Pacific and Far East was more familiar to most Australians as it was closer to home.

After the Japanese launched their first and simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour (Hawaii) and the east coast of Malaya on 7-8 December 1941, the Australian Government approved a plan (March 1942) to expand the RAAF to 72 squadrons. Under the original "Z" Plan of 1939, the RAAF expansion targets had been set at 32 squadrons, but the entry of Japan into the war, and the emphasis now placed on the Pacific region, made expansion vital to RAAF effectiveness.

The lack of aircraft from overseas was becoming acute, even though it was hoped that Australian squadrons forming in 1943 would have Australian-made Beauforts and CAC Boomerangs, and to those, from 1944 onward, could be added Bristol Beaufighters and DH Mosquitoes.

Australia had four squadrons - Nos. 1, 8, 21 and 453 - operating in Malaya in 1941, and their Hudson bombers and Brewster Buffalo fighters were immediately thrown into the war against the Japanese. They were outnumbered by the Japanese and suffered heavy losses. At great cost Hudsons of No. 1 Squadron attacked Japanese transports off the east coast of Malaya before being forced to retire to the East Indies. No. 75 Squadron's Curtis Kittyhawks provided air cover for Port Moresby until US fighters came to their aid and, although only one of the 25 Kittyhawks returned to Australia, the Japanese lost 40 aircraft. At Lae, on 22 March 1942, RAAF Kittyhawks inflicted the first serious setback experienced by the Japanese when the Kittyhawks, operating from Port Moresby, attacked Lae airfield and destroyed twelve aircraft and damaged another five.

The RAAF's second and last VC of World War II was awarded posthumously to Flight Lieutenant W.E. ("Bill") Newton, from Melbourne, Victoria, who, with great determination, led attacks with Douglas Boston aircraft against the Japanese in the South-West Pacific.

As the war developed, the drain on RAAF resources became more desperate and in October 1943, the War cabinet reviewed the Australian war effort, particularly in respect of manpower. As a result, a limit was placed on the number of personnel, male or female, who could be recruited each month by the RAAF. Cabinet stressed that henceforth the Australian military effort be concentrated as far as possible in the Pacific, and that the Commonwealth part in the EATS should be related to the contemplated strength of the RAAF in the South-West Pacific area. At this time, the RAAF had 37 operational squadrons in existence, plus six transport squadrons. In addition, there were five reserve squadrons mobilised.

In 1944, the situation was again reviewed and Cabinet directed that quotas of Service personnel would be released to civil industry. The RAAF was to reduce its force by 15,000.

Meanwhile, from the Australian factories came Beaufort bombers, Beaufighters, Boomerangs, Wirraways, and finally CAC Mustangs and Mosquitoes. The flow was helped by Supermarine Spitfires from England, and Vultee Vengeance, Hudson, Consolidated Catalina, Consolidated Liberator and North American Mitchell aircraft from America.

From northern Australian and island bases, the RAAF, along with its Allies, pressed home attacks against the Japanese in a mounting scale until, as the land forces mounted invasion after invasion, the RAAF forces bit deeper into New Guinea and the East Indies - Rabaul, Goodenough, Aitape, Morotai and Borneo; RAAF Mosquitoes photographed Japanese bases as far as the Philippines; and RAAF Catalinas mined as far afield as Hong Kong harbour. The total strength of the RAAF serving in the Pacific theatre was 131,662, including 14,589 officers, while the first-line aircraft strength was increased to 3,187.

Total air force enlistments during the war were 189,700 men and 27,200 women. With the surrender of the Axis forces in 1945 the RAAF became the fourth largest air force in the world. Those bigger were the air forces of the United States, Britain and Russia. Moreover, every man and woman in the RAAF was a volunteer.

Official casualty figures released after the war disclosed the price the RAAF had paid. They were:

Decorations to RAAF men included two VCs, sixty-two Distinguished Service Orders (DSO) (four with bars), 1880 Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC) (118 with bars), 126 Air Force Crosses (AFC) and 401 Defence Force Medals (DFM) (two with bars). In addition, RAAF men received many foreign decorations and awards.

Australia had paid dearly for World War II but it could take some consolation from the fact that it had developed its fighting services, in particular its air force, to a high degree of sophistication and it had established an aircraft industry.

World War II saw the development of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force which was formed in April 1941 and disbanded in 1946. The WAAAF at first recruited women only for clerical and domestic musterings, but gradually this was expanded to cover a wide range of technical musterings, thus releasing thousands of men for operational duty. The Women's Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) was formed in 1951 but disbanded in 1977 upon becoming an integral part of the RAAF.

The RAAF Medical Service was expanded greatly during the war. Medical officers increased from a peacetime strength of only twenty-four to 620 and dental officers from eight to 129. The RAAF Nursing Service (now an integral part of the RAAF) was formed and reached a maximum strength of 492 sisters. Field medical units were developed and air ambulance and medical evacuation units were formed. Airfield construction units did excellent work under trying conditions building airfields throughout Australia and the Pacific.

The RAAF Air Training Corps was also born during World War II - in August 1941 - and was modelled on the RAF ATC. Boys aged between 16 and 18 years were encouraged to join the ATC to do pre-entry training for both air and ground musterings. To the credit of the corps a total of 6,704 aircrew and 5,285 ground staff members entered the RAAF.

Although the end of the war in the Pacific, in August 1945, came as an immense relief (the formalities of Japan's surrender were concluded between General MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander South-West Pacific, and the Japanese Government on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945), the rapid demobilization of men and women from the RAAF left a doubt in the minds of Permanent Air Force personnel as to the future of the service. Men and women were returning to civilian life at the rate of more than 20,000 a month and many distinguished wartime airmen and natural leaders were leaving the Air Force which they had served so well. It was a great period of uncertainty among the three armed Services in Australia. After such a bloody struggle over a great portion of the Earth, its skies and its oceans, it was unthinkable that there could be another war in the foreseeable future. The Australian Government certainly saw no threat when, in 1948, it fixed a figure of only 12,000 men for the post-war RAAF and brought into being an Interim Air Force as a stop-gap until a policy for a peacetime force could be drawn up.

Malayan Emergency

The Malayan Emergency was declared on 18 June 1948, after Communist Terrorists began cold-bloodedly killing people in authority in an attempt to overthrow the Government. Britain appealed to members of the Commonwealth for assistance and Australia offered No. 1 Squadron, equipped with GAF Avro Lincoln Bombers, and No. 38 Squadron, equipped with Dakota transports, as its air force contribution. The Lincolns, operating from RAF Tengah on Singapore Island, flew against the terrorists for eight years and returned to Australia in July 1958. Although the Emergency did not end officially until two years later, the Lincolns had done a magnificent job. They had dropped 16,000 tonnes of bombs (85 percent of the total bomb tonnage used in the emergency) with demoralising effect on the jungle bandits. No. 1 Squadron had flown 3,000 sorties. The Dakota squadron also made an outstanding contribution to the success of the Malayan operation, dropping supplies and carrying troops, frequently in hazardous conditions.

In the last two years of the Emergency, GAF Canberras of No. 2 Squadron carried out bombing missions and CAC Sabres of Nos. 3 and 77 Squadrons were engaged in ground attack work. The squadrons were based at Butterworth.

Berlin Airlift

Since World War II RAAF Dakota crews had been hard worked. They had taken part in the Berlin Airlift which defeated the Russian attempt in September 1948 to blockade Berlin. Dakota crews of No. 86 Transport Wing, had flown 6,000 hours during the airlift flying into Berlin 7,264 tonnes of supplies and carrying nearly 8,000 passengers.

Korean War

Several months after WWII some RAAF men were still serving overseas - with the British Commonwealth Occupation force in Japan - alongside their American allies. A fighter wing consisting of Nos. 76, 77 and 82 Squadrons equipped with Mustang fighters went to Japan from North Borneo in March 1946. Three years later Nos. 76 and 82 Squadrons were brought home to Australia, leaving No. 77 at Iwakuni.

It was still the sole RAAF squadron in Japan when the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950. The squadron's aircraft were being prepared for the sea trip home. They were immediately restored to operational readiness and No. 77 Squadron had the honour of being the first allied squadron to go into action with the Americans.

Using rockets and cannon, the Australians served in the ground attack role, moving from Iwakuni, Japan, to Pohang on the east coast of Korea in October 1950, and further north to Yonpo a month later as the Allies advanced northward. With China's entry into the war the allies were pushed south again and No. 77 Squadron established itself at Pusan, finally returning to Japan in April 1951, to re-equip with Gloster Meteor 8 fighters which the Australian Government had bought from Britain to replace the aging Mustangs. The twin-jet Meteor, however, was inferior to the Russian-built MiG 15 interceptors which the Chinese were using in increasing numbers. On their return to South Korea in July 1951, the No. 77 Squadron pilots operated from Kimpo, near the capital, Seoul, but found their Meteors were outclassed by the MiGs. So, in January 1952, after losing several Meteors, the squadron's role was switched from interception to ground attack. The Meteors proved to be excellent aircraft for the purpose and were concentrated mainly against enemy supply routes, although they also attacked permanent installations.

The Korean War ended on 27 July 1953. In three years No. 77 Squadron had lost 42 pilots (32 in Meteors) while flying 4,836 missions (18,872 individual sorties), destroying 3,700 buildings, 1,500 vehicles and six enemy aircraft. RAAF Douglas Dakotas of No. 30 Transport Unit (later to become No. 36 Squadron), also served in Korea, carrying passengers, mail and freight. In the medical evacuation role alone the Dakotas carried a total of 12,000 wounded troops out of Korea.

Malta

The strategic importance to Britain of Malta in the Mediterranean prompted the Australian Government, in March 1952, to agree to the contribution of a fighter wing equipped with RAF DH Vampires, for garrison duty there in support of the RAF. The men, of No. 78 Wing, left Australia in July that year and remained in Malta for two years. The wing took part in allied exercises over Europe and North Africa and represented the RAAF at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London in 1953.

Vietnam

Australia's air force commitment in the Vietnam conflict began in July 1964, when a flight of three DHC Caribou transports arrived at Vung Tau, 60 kilometres south-east of Saigon, to act as passenger and cargo carriers in support of the allied effort against the Viet Cong. The flight was named Transport Support Flight. In September 1964, three more Caribou were added to the flight and a seventh was added in May 1965.

On 1 June 1966, the flight was officially named No. 35 Squadron, under the operational control of the US Seventh Air Force. The Caribou was particularly suited to conditions in Vietnam; its short landing and take-off capability enabled it to fly into small airfields, and for many servicemen in remote areas the Caribou was the only link with the big base camps. They logged impressive figures as freighters; in three days alone in February 1968, the RAAF Caribou carried a total of 240,000 kilograms of supplies. In the first four-and-a-half years of operation the seven Caribou carried nearly 27,000 tonnes of freight, 3,750 tonnes of mail, 337,463 passengers and flew 47,307 sorties in 27,663 hours of flying.

Two other RAAF squadrons followed the Australian Caribou into Vietnam - No. 9 Squadron, equipped with Bell Iroquois helicopters, and No. 2 Squadron, with Canberra bombers. Each of these three squadrons earned its special chapter in the history of the Vietnam conflict - No. 35 for its outstanding work as a freight and passenger "airline"; No. 9 for its dangerous role of resupply and deployment and extraction of troops in enemy territory, and No. 2 for its extreme accuracy as a level bomber by day and night. The Canberra was the only Vietnam-based aircraft with a level-bombing capability.

No. 9 Squadron went to Vung Tau from RAAF Fairbairn, Canberra, ACT, in 1966. Eight aircraft and the squadron personnel sailed from Australia in HMAS "Sydney" on 25 May, and on arrival at Vung Tau began operating from pads prepared for them by a detachment of the RAAF's No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron. No. 9 Squadron, because of the nature of its work, made headlines on many occasions. Headlines like "Iroquois in Daring Rescue", "Chopper Rescue", "Helicopters Clash with Viet Cong", and "Vital Iroquois Jit in Viet Battle", told the stories of daring and heroism.

No. 9 Squadron expanded after it began operating in Vietnam and some of its aircraft were converted to gunships to provide light fire support during operations on or close to the ground. As medical evacuation aircraft the RAAF Iroquois responded immediately to calls for the evacuation of wounded from battle areas. These "dustoff" helicopters, as they were known in Vietnam, each carried a medical orderly to tend to the wounded on the way to hospital. The speed with which the helicopters could move men from the battlefields to the Australian Army hospital at Vung Tau proved to be a lifesaver for may troops in action.

No. 2 Squadron's eight Canberra bombers flew into Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, on 19 April 1967, after being withdrawn from RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia. The Canberra had already been flying with the RAAF for 12 years, but had seen only limited action (in Malaya) when it made its Vietnam debut. It quickly dispelled any doubts as to its usefulness in a Vietnam-type conflict. In fact, the Canberra, with its long-range and level-bombing capabilities, proved itself to be one of the finest aircraft in operation. During a visit to Phan Rang a few months after No. 2 Squadron's arrival, the Supreme Allied Commander in Vietnam, General William C. Westmoreland, said: "The RAAF has an elite Canberra squadron which has impressed me very much. Its discipline is superb and there is obviously a very high 'esprit de corps' within the squadron".

The statistics which No. 2 Squadron built up proved the efficiency of the aircraft and the air and ground crews. By mid-1970 - after three years of operation - No. 2 Squadron had destroyed 7,000 structures, 10,000 bunkers, 1,100 sampans and 36 bridges.

Apart from the three flying squadrons, the RAAF had other equally important commitments in Vietnam - RAAF pilots, at great personal risk, flew as forward air controllers (FACs) directing strikes by allied aircraft, and Lockheed Hercules transports from Nos. 36 and 37 Squadrons at Richmond, New South Wales, maintained a supply link with Australia.

Hercules transports, especially rigged as air ambulances, flew hundreds of sick and wounded from Vietnam to Australia. At Vung Tau, No. 1 Operational Support Unit backed up Nos. 35 and 9 Squadrons with administrative and domestic facilities while, in Saigon, RAAF officers and men worked beside their allies at Free World Headquarters and administered the RAAF's overall effort in Vietnam. Meanwhile, at Ubon, in Thailand, another RAAF squadron was making its own special contribution to the overall effort in Vietnam.

No. 79 Squadron, equipped with Sabre fighters operated at Ubon from 1 June 1962, to 31 July 1968, on airfield defence duty giving "top cover" to US squadrons flying out of Ubon against targets in Vietnam.

Australia began withdrawing its forces from Vietnam in May 1971, and the Canberras and some of the Caribou returned to Australia that year. The remainder of the RAAF elements were all home by early 1972. The RAAF casualties during the conflict were four killed in action, two missing (presumably killed) and 30 wounded in action. In addition, there were seven RAAF non-battle deaths. A total of 4,443 RAAF personnel served in Vietnam.

Malaysia

At Air Base Butterworth in West Malaysia, opposite Penang Island, the RAAF maintained two CAC/GAF Mirage fighter squadrons - Nos. 3 and 75, backed up by No. 478 Maintenance Squadron, a Transport Support Flight and No. 4 RAAF Hospital. Butterworth, originally an RAF staging post, was occupied by the Japanese during World War II. Negotiations between the British and Australian governments after the war placed the base under RAAF control and, in 1955, the RAAF's No. 2 Airfield Construction Squadron began a two-and-a-half-year project which transformed the base into one of the finest in South-East Asia. The airfield proper was reconstructed and, in 1958, an RAAF fighter wing, No. 78, comprising two Sabre squadrons - Nos. 3 and 77 from Williamtown, New South Wales - and No. 2 Canberra bomber squadron from Amberley, Queensland, arrived. No. 2 Squadron later was withdrawn and moved to Vietnam and the two Sabre squadrons were replaced in 1967/68 by Nos. 75 and 3 Squadrons, equipped with Mirage interceptors. All RAF elements were officially withdrawn on 31 March 1970, and the RAAF withdrew in 19xx, handing over the base to Malaysia, with No. 3 Squadron returning to Williamtown and No. 75 Squadron moving to RAAF Tindal, Northern Territory. The RAAF still maintains a presence in Malaysia, with two P3C Orions

Australia

On the mainland of Australia there are two General Dynamics F111C strike squadrons at Amberley, Queensland, two McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet squadrons at Williamtown, New South Wales, and one at Tindal, Northern Territory. These aircraft are being exercised constantly and are at a high state of operational readiness. The two squadron maritime force of Lockheed P3C Orions at Edinburgh, South Australia, carries out regular reconnaissance patrols of Australia's coastal waters and the Indian Ocean, and exercises regularly with Australia's allies.

In the transport field, the RAAF operates Lockheed C130E and C130H Hercules and De Havilland Caribou transports. The RAAF regularly takes part in combined operations with the Navy and Army and in co-operation with Australia's allies in overseas exercises, particularly in the Pacific. The RAAF uses Pilatus PC9s for the training of pilots and HS748 aircraft for navigation training.

The need for rapid deployment over long distances demands flexibility in the RAAF's logistic support, backed up by an extensive technical service. To this end, maintenance squadrons are established to give direct support for the operational squadrons and training units, while major servicing is undertaken by aircraft depots. There are two aircraft depots in the RAAF, located at Richmond, New South Wales, and Amberley, Queensland. Contracts for specialised maintenance are let also to Australian industry.

As with the technical elements, the equipment requirements of the RAAF are met in the first instance at unit level, backed up by base stores. Bulk stores are held at three major stores depots.

World War II, especially in the pacific, emphasised the need for adequate airfields. RAAF airfield construction squadrons and works units built a lasting memorial to their skill and courage in landing strips still remaining throughout the islands and in Australia itself. Modern airfields at Darwin and Tindal in the Northern Territory, Learmonth in Western Australia, and at Cocos Island and Butterworth are post-war tributes to the skills of works squadrons now disbanded.

The ever-increasing complexities of modern aircraft and their weapons systems creates a constant demand for manpower with higher skills. Service training has to keep pace with the demands of technology. It is in this field that the dividends of the early introduction of specialist RAAF professional and technical training are being reaped.

RAAF men and women are given thorough training in their trade or profession. Pilots are trained at Pearce, Western Australia. Navigation and air traffic control training is carried out at East Sale, Victoria. Officer training is conducted at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, and at the Officer Training School at Point Cook, Victoria. Airmen and women are given their initial training at Edinburgh, South Australia.

Technical trade training is carried out at two main centres - the RAAF School of Technical Training at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, and the RAAF School of Radio at Laverton, Victoria. Almost every profession or trade found in the civilian community has its counterpart in the Air Force.

History has recorded the ability of the RAAF to give a good account of itself. Operations in World War II, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam and the Gulf War and operational exercises throughout the world provide evidence of this continuing tradition.

The Air Force Today

The nature of the Air Force is that it must update itself continuously to meet the requirements of the late Twentieth Century. The RAAF will continue to react to the changing requirements of the defence of Australia. The equipment used by the Air Force is extremely costly and generally takes a long time to acquire. The equipment being evaluated and acquired today will be in service for many years. The future of the RAAF, therefore, cannot be expected to be one of radical change.

The RAAF must maintain a capability, or a potential capability, with the ability to expand in all areas of military flying operations. It must be able to shoulder its share of the burden of defending this vast island continent against direct attack. It must maintain an ability to detect an enemy's intention and to react quickly to eliminate any threat. Such capabilities, together with the capabilities of the Army and Navy, give Australia a defence force which would cause any potential enemy to consider the consequences if it opted to take action prejudicial to Australia's interests. Deterrence is infinitely more desirable than having to react to an enemy's initiatives.

The F111C strike force is an essential part of this deterrent. The F111C, one of the most efficient strike aircraft in the world, is being kept up to date with modern technology. To preserve its effectiveness, it must be continuously improved. As a major part of this programme the RAAF has incorporated a reconnaissance capability for the F111C force. This has given the RAAF personnel the skills associated with the most modern technological developments in the reconnaissance field.

Australia must have a means to defend itself to the best of its ability. The F/A-18 currently gives outstanding service in the air defence role. Planned new missiles, radars, upgraded airfields and an aerial refuelling capability will greatly boost the RAAF's capability for quick and effective deployment and reaction.

Surveillance of the vast ocean area around Australia will continue to be an essential major contribution to the RAAF's ability to anticipate a threat. The law of the sea exclusive economic zone extends to 200 miles from the coast, making increased demands on P3C Orion long-range maritime surveillance resources. The Orion P3C is also among the best aircraft in the world for submarine detection.

Transport by aircraft is a vital part of any defence system, and especially so in Australia with its remoteness and vast distances. Apart from its around-the-clock defence role, RAAF air transport performs essential non-defence roles by aiding the community in national disasters, life or death medical emergencies and searches for people in distress at sea, to name but a few.

RAAF operations require a tremendous amount of support in the form of maintenance, equipment supply, communications, training and administration. As the equipment and procedures required by the RAAF to achieve its aims become more complicated, these support functions must maintain a capability to react to the needs of the operational air force. Development and improvement of the support component is a continuing and vital, if not obvious, activity of the RAAF.

Since 1921 the RAAF has won honours as a national air force in major conflict and has been capable of quick and effective action in smaller engagements. The RAAF has taken part in Antarctic research expeditions, been active in planning and in operational exercises with Australian treaty forces in South-East Asia and in the Pacific, represented the Australian people during independence celebrations of some of the emerging nations, and assisted in America in space research efforts. In short, it has been a relatively small, but very active air force in an age of air and space development previously undreamed of.

The RAAF today takes pride in its service. It has a history of endeavour and sacrifice which has won it a place in the hearts of all Australians, and a position of respect among the armed services of Australia's allies. The men and women of the RAAF today will not tarnish that record, but will carry on in the tradition - "Per Ardua Ad Astra" ("Through Toil To The Stars").

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