64 HISTORY OF THE R.A.A.F. A Proud Record of Half a Century By AIR COMMODORE D. W. KINGWELL, C.B.E., D.S.O. (Read at a meeting of the Society on 25 March 1971.) Australia has always been an air-minded nation. It was the first of the Dominions to follow Britain in consti­ tuting a separate Air Force. But, even long before this was achieved, there had been strong national support behind demands for the setting up of a unified air command. The R.A.A.F. was formally constituted in 1921—only three years after the Royal Air Force—^but Australian squadrons, years before that, had fought overseas in World War I alongside the men of the Royal Flying Corps in Egypt and in France. Australia with its great distances and relatively sparsely populated areas separating the major cities was peculiarly suited for the development of aviation. At the turn of the century air-minded Australians were thinking of the conquest of the air. Lawrence Hargrave had been experimenting with his box-kites, and aviation pioneers such as Houdini and Duigan had convinced the public that manned flight was more than a dream. THE BEGINNING In 1911 the Government was considering a plan for the introduction of an Aviation Corps for the Australian Army, and then in 1913 Lieutenant Eric Harrison (an Australian who had gone to England to learn to fly) and Henry Petre received their commissions in the Australian Military Forces as aviation instructors. With them from England they brought a Bristol Box-kite, two Deperdussins and two BE2As; as well, a number of mechanics made the journey. Meanwhile, a site at Point Cook, about 16 miles west of Melbourne, had been secured for the setting up of an establishment for flying training, and the first military flight there took place on 1 March 1914. The pattern for the sending overseas of Australian air con­ tingents was set on 30 November 1914, when a smaU air 65 expedition was sent to New Guinea. In the following February, Australia agreed to a request from the Viceroy of India for pUots and aircraft to operate in the Tigris Valley against Turkey, and a force of four officers and about 40 men—the famous "half flight"—sailed from Aus­ tralia in April, 1915, and operated alongside Townshend's army before joining the Australian Flying Corps in Egypt in 1916. SERVICE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Meanwhile, more Australians were being trained, and in March of 1916, No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (28 officers and 181 men) sailed for Egypt and was in action by June. It was to be joined by three more squadrons of the A.F.C., which were to see service in Palestine and in France. One pilot, F. H. McNamara (later to be Air Vice-Marshal in the R.A.A.F.) won the Victoria Cross for rescuing a fellow aviator downed in the desert. Although at the end of the 1914-1918 war the squadrons of the A.F.C. were disbanded, there continued to be a keen interest in military aviation, both by the public and Aus­ tralian services. FIRST AIR BOARD FORMED An early—and temporary— Air Board of four members was charged with the task of preparing an air policy. The Navy nominated Major S. J. Goble (later Air Vice-Marshal Goble, C.B.E., D.S.O., D.S.C., who had flown with the Royal Navy Air Service) and Captain W. Nunn (Vice- Admiral Nunn, C.B., C.S.I., C.M.G., D.S.O.), while the Army was represented by Brigadier-General T. Blamey (Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, K.C.B., C.M.G., C.B.E., D.S.O.) and Lieutenant-Colonel R. Williams. (Ah Marshal Sir Richard Williams, K.B.E., C.B., D.S.O.). Williams, an Australian army officer who had leamed to fly at Point Cook, and who commanded No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East, looked to the future and saw the answer to Australia's problems of distance and defence. He never wavered in his fight for an Australian Air Force, and an Air Force with an autonomous command. £500,000 SET ASIDE FOR MILITARY AVIATION The Government set aside £500,000 for mUitary avia­ tion and an additional £100,000 for civU aviation. It 66 allowed for the "Air Corps" to be under the direction of the Minister for Defence, who would be assisted by an Air Council consisting of a naval member, a mUitary mem­ ber, two members of Air Board (one each of these to be nominated respectively by the Navy and Military members), and the Controller of Civil Aviation. The new Air Board was constituted on 9 November 1920, with WUliams as First Air Member, Goble as Second Air Member, Captain McBain as Director of Equipment, and Mr. Joyce as Finance Member; Mr. Coleman was Secretary. BIRTH OF THE R.A.A.F. On 15 February 1921, the Air Board sent a recom­ mendation to the Air Council that the "Australian Air Force" be formed as from 31 March 1921, and so the die was cast. The Air CouncU and the Minister approved, and so came into being the "Royal Australian Air Force" (the prefix Royal being granted in July the same year). This formal blessing for the infant Air Force carried with it no assurance for an easy chUdhood, however, be­ cause 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. All these early problems, coupled with the great depres­ sion of the early 1930's, made certain that the R.A.A.F. did not lack growing pains. Twenty-one officers and 130 airmen, belonging either to the headquarters in Melbourne or to the Flying Training School and aircraft depot, both based at Point Cook, made up the initial strength of the young service. MORE AIRCRAFT THAN MEN Nevertheless, in its smaU beginnings, the R.A.A.F. did not lack for numbers of aircraft. In addition to the 20 Avro 540Ks, 10 Sopwith Pups, 6 Fairey MK 3D seaplanes, as well as 6 "Australian made" 504Ks, there were in re­ serve the 128 aircraft (made up of DH9s, DH9As and SE5As) which the British Government had given to Aus­ tralia in return for Australia's war gifts of aircraft. It meant that for a period, the R.A.A.F. probably held the unique record of having more aircraft than men. As well as a permanent air force, the formation of an air force reserve was decided, but there were practically no funds either for pay or uniforms. 67 Despite all the early financial and technical setbacks associated with the development of aviation, the air main­ tained its urgent appeal. The Australian public has always sensed that its destiny is linked with the air. The veterans of the 1914-1918 sky battles, along with the enthusiasts who had gone to England and learned to fly at their own expense, helped to provide and develop the appeal of aviation, and so either within the ranks of the R.A.A.F. or in the blazing of the new traUs for civU aviation the story was continuously being told. ERA OF THE PERSONALITY It was the era of the personality, in which the symbol was an open cockpit and the pilot's scarf streamed out into the wind. It built up the mystique which centres around every pilot; a mystique which has persisted even though tomorrow's pUot may sit in an enclosed and pres­ surized capsule without protective clothing of any kind. It was the era in which crowds waited hours for a lone aircraft to land after some record-breaking flight, to "chair" the crew triumphantly to a welcoming banquet. Wing Commander Goble and Flight Lieutenant I. E. Mclntyre circled the Australian mainland in a Fairey seaplane; Kings- ford-Smith and Ulm crossed and recrossed the Pacific; Hinkler and other Australians blazed their way across the newspaper headlines. It was the "Golden Hour" of Australian aviation. PROGRAMME OF DEVELOPMENT The programme of development which had been put for­ ward in the 1922-1923 programme for the R.A.A.F. en­ visaged a minimum permanent establishment ("to be at­ tained gradually") of 108 officers and 791 other ranks. As was to be expected, the first R.A.A.F. flying was taken over by those 1914-1918 veterans of air battles who did not want to leave the arena, but on 31 January 1923, 14 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 World War II's Empire Air Training Scheme some 20 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 1929, and a short time afterwards, the former moved to Laverton 68 and the latter Squadron moved to Richmond, in N.S.W., where a site had been acquired. Today, Richmond is the second largest R.A.A.F. base in Austraha with over 2,000 personnel engaged in transport flying and major aircraft overhauls.