Volume 68 No 3 Wings Official Publication of the RAAF Association SPRING 16 EDITOR COVER Editor Kylie McQueen No 2 Squadron Contributing Editor Lance Halvorson Contributions to [email protected] Formed at Kantara, Egypt Wings Editor on 20 September 1916, the PO Box 129, Bondi Junction NSW 1355 ‘Second Squadron’ moved Web www.raafa.org.au to England in January 1917. The unit began training as DIVISION CONTACTS a single seat fighting scout unit at Harlaxton, as part of ACT 0428 622 105 [email protected] the 24th Training Wing, RFC. NSW 02 9393 3485 [email protected] After mobilisation in August QLD 07 5428 7305 [email protected] 1917, the squadron deployed SA 08 8227 0980 [email protected] to France in September 1917 TAS 03 6234 3862 [email protected] with the de Havilland DH-5 fighting Scout. VIC 03 9813 4600 [email protected] The nucleus of the squadron came from pilots and WA 08 9311 4445 [email protected] mechanics from the pioneer ‘First Squadron’ in Egypt and only a relatively small percentage of pilots NATIONAL EXECUTIVE under training came from Central Flying School in Australia. Reinforcements necessary to build the unit President Brent Espeland AM up to RFC personnel strength were recruited from Vice President AIF volunteers in France, Britain and Egypt. Infantry Governance Bob Bunney provided the greatest number of student pilots, followed Advocacy & Entitlements Richard Kelloway OBE by engineers. By contrast, fewer recruits came from Communications & Media Lance Halvorson MBE the Light Horse. Secretary Peter Colliver Cover: Phil Crowther 03 9813 4600 Photos: RAAF [email protected] Bob Robertson Treasurer FEATURE JOIN THE RAAF ASSOCIATION The Second Squadron 10 Leading EW out of the Wilderness 24 Visit www.raafa.org.au and select “Become a RAAF Translating Technology and Innovation Association Member” and follow the prompts. Alternatively, call the telephone number for your State, listed above. into Capability 38 SUBSCRIPTIONS REGULARS Contact the Editor at [email protected] or subscribe online at www. National Council 8 raafa.org.au , click on “Wings Archive” and follow the prompts; pay Air Force Today 33 via BPay or funds transfer via your bank. A 12 month subscription is $28.00, incl GST, within Australia and AUD36.00 for Asia and Pacific Australian Air League 43 regional addresses. Briefing Room 45 History 48 ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION For Veterans 50 All content in this publication is copyright and may not be reproduced Last Flight 52 without written permission of the Editor. Views expressed are the opinions of the author/s and not necessarily those of the publisher, the CLOSING DATES FOR MATERIAL RAAF Association, the Royal Australian Air Force or the Department of Defence, unless specifically stated. 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Please consider the Product Disclosure Statement of the particular product before making (not applicable to travel and CTP) any decisions about the product. National Council President’s Message Solitary in the Ranks as T. E. Shaw, serving ‘solitary in the ranks’ (see the book of that name by H. Montgomery Hyde, Atheneum Books, 1978) It’s the first of March 1914 and Lieutenant Eric Harrison until a few months before his death in 1935. launches Australian military aviation as he guides his Lawrence’s work as a low ranking airman was to belie his Bristol Boxkite into the early morning air at Point Cook near influence. He socialized and corresponded with an astounding Melbourne. number of notable political and artistic figures, including In September 1915, the British Government asks the George Bernard Shaw, Robert Graves, Nancy Astor, Thomas Australian Government to send a complete squadron to Hardy, Noel Coward, E. M. Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, bolster the Royal Flying Corps and 1 Squadron Australian William Butler Yeats, John Buchan, and of course, Trenchard, Flying Corps is formed at Point Cook in January 1916. The Churchill, and Liddell Hart. Acting behind the scenes, he Squadron embarks for Egypt in March and, operating as 67 wrote detailed letters to Trenchard, pushing needed reforms. Squadron Royal Flying Corps, sees its first action on the 12th These caused the abandonment of petty requirements such of June 1916. as polished bayonets, spurs, swagger sticks, and puttees. His actions reduced kit inspections to one a month and ended the Initially operations are mainly reconnaissance missions over demand for airmen to button the top two buttons of a coat. the desert but as the year turns into 1917 the Squadron These changes delighted airmen. also carries out bombing and strafing, photography, ground support and liaison with some irregular forces. These were the He was instrumental in persuading Parliament to abolish formative days of joint land and air operations and perhaps use of the death penalty for cowardice in battle. He set up surprisingly operated along sophisticated doctrinal lines. This the “Seven Pillars Trust,” assigning to it the copyright and was especially the case with Lawrence of Arabia’s forces. substantial income from Revolt in the Desert. The trust paid thousands of pounds into funds to educate the children of Lawrence’s involvement in airpower is not the stuff of his fallen RAF officers. After his death the trust was renamed the depiction in history. The public knows him as an Englishman Lawrence of Arabia Educational Fund. It still exists. Lawrence, in flowing white robes and riding a camel, leading sweeping the world’s most experienced practitioner of irregular warfare, attacks across the desert. Yet Lawrence was always bound up wrote extensively to Trenchard with advice. with military aviation. His attraction to airpower first emerged in 1915, when he worked in British army intelligence in Cairo. He used powerful contacts to expose the cause of the crash of an RAF Iris III seaplane, with multiple deaths. The Michael Korda reports that the young Lawrence pioneered senior officer on board was unqualified to fly the airplane but aerial photography for mapmaking and intelligence. According regulations gave him the right to take the controls, which he to Korda, “He devised his own system of laying out aerial did.