No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF
No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF | |
---|---|
No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School (No. 1 EFTS) was a
History
Flying instruction in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) underwent major changes following the outbreak of World War II, in response to a vast increase in the number of aircrew volunteers and the commencement of Australia's participation in the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). The Air Force's pre-war pilot training facility, No. 1 Flying Training School at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria, was supplanted in 1940–41 by twelve elementary flying training schools (EFTS) and eight service flying training schools (SFTS).[1][2] The EFTS provided a twelve-week introductory flying course to personnel who had graduated from one of the RAAF's initial training schools. Flying training was undertaken in two stages: the first involved four weeks of instruction (including ten hours of flying) to determine trainees' suitability to become pilots. Those that passed this grading process then received a further eight weeks of training (including sixty-five hours of flying) at the EFTS. Pilots who successfully completed this course were posted to an SFTS in either Australia or Canada for the next stage of their instruction as military aviators.[1][3]
No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School was formed as No. 2 Flying Training School in
No. 2 Flying Training School's first thirteen de Havilland Gipsy Moth training aircraft were delivered to Parafield on 16–17 December 1939.[4][7] The unit was renamed No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School (No. 1 EFTS) on 2 January 1940.[6][4] The first eight-week flying training course began on 8 January with twenty-three students; another joined a week later.[8][9] According to the unit operations book, limited flying was possible owing to the number of available parachutes but, on 19 January, "permission was granted to continue training without them until supplies were forthcoming".[8] The second flying course began on 5 February.[10] An instructor and his cadet were killed in a crash on 19 March.[4] No. 1 EFTS's complement of aircraft was augmented on 20 April with the arrival of six de Havilland Tiger Moths.[11]
The school's inaugural EATS course, consisting of twenty-four students, commenced on 29 April 1940; all but one of the students graduated.[12] Five more Tiger Moths arrived on 25 June.[13] On 22 July, three aircraft belonging to the South Australian Aero Club were pressed into service, and training by the club ceased.[14] No. 1 EFTS received three CAC Wackett Trainers on 26 June 1941.[15] On 2 August 1941, control of the school was transferred from Southern Area Command, which had been formed in March 1940, to the newly established No. 1 (Training) Group.[16][17] As of December 1942, No.1 EFTS had 116 students under instruction; a total of 1,184 trainees—81 air cadets and 1,043 EATS students—had passed through the school.[4][18] A year later No.1 EFTS had eighty-five students under instruction and a total of 1,628 had passed through.[4][19]
No. 1 EFTS relocated to
Commanding officers
No. 1 EFTS was commanded by the following officers:[4]
From | Name |
---|---|
6 November 1939 | Squadron Leader F.J.B. Wight
|
25 November 1940 | Wing Commander R.S. Brown
|
4 May 1942 | Wing Commander Kilby |
3 July 1942 | Squadron Leader R. Williams |
7 December 1942 | Squadron Leader W.O. Wedgwood |
7 June 1943 | Wing Commander H. Plumridge |
30 May 1944 | Wing Commander C.E. Martin |
References
Notes
- ^ a b Stephens (2006), pp. 67–70
- ^ Gillison (1962), p. 111
- ^ Gillison (1962), pp. 106–109
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k RAAF Historical Section (1995), pp. 15–16
- ^ "Goldfields Aero Club". Kalgoorlie Miner. Kalgoolie: National Library of Australia. 2 June 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ a b c Gillison (1962), p. 72
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 1
- ^ a b Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 3
- ^ "48 cadets by June". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 12 January 1940. p. 5. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 5
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 9
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), pp. 9, 17
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 13
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 15
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 37
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 41
- ^ Ashworth (2000) Volume 1, pp. 27–29
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 77
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 101
- ^ "Parafield flying school to move". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 12 May 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Ashworth (2000) Volume 2, p. 180
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 124
- ^ a b Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), pp. 125, 127
- ^ "Formation, organisation and movement – No. 1 Flying Training School". National Archives of Australia. pp. 64–65. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ Herington, Air Power Over Europe, pp. 283–285
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45), p. 132
- ^ Royal Australian Air Force (1944–47) p. 1
- ^ Stephens (1995), pp. 12–13
- ^ a b AWM, Squadrons, Formations & Units of the Royal Australian Air Force and Their Deployment, p. 19
Works consulted
- Ashworth, Norman (2000). How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War: Volume 1. Canberra: Air Power Studies Centre. ISBN 0-642-26550-X.
- Ashworth, Norman (2000). How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War: Volume 2. Canberra: Air Power Studies Centre. ISBN 0-642-26551-8.
- Australian War Memorial (AWM) (1995). Squadrons, Formations & Units of the Royal Australian Air Force and Their Deployment. Canberra: Unpublished monograph held by the AWM Research Centre.
- Gillison, Douglas (1962). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942. Canberra: OCLC 2000369.
- Herington, John (1963). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume IV – Air Air Power Over Europe 1944–1945. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 3633419.
- RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 8: Training Units. Canberra: ISBN 0-644-42800-7.
- Royal Australian Air Force (1939–45). Unit History Sheets: Nos. 1–7 Elementary Flying Training Schools. Canberra: National Archives of Australia.
- Royal Australian Air Force (1944–47). Unit History Sheets: Care and Maintenance Unit Tamworth. Canberra: National Archives of Australia.
- Stephens, Alan (1995). Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0-644-42803-1.
- Stephens, Alan (2006) [2001]. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: ISBN 0-19-555541-4.