Formation of the Royal Australian Air Force, 1921

Fifty years ago the Commonwealth Gazette, No. 28, announced the formation of the Australian Air Force. The actual day the force began officially was Thursday, 31 March 192 1. The prefix Royal was subsequently approved by King George V in June and promulgated in the Commonwealth Gazette, No. 65, as being effective from 31 August 1921. Thus the year 1971 marks the Golden jubilee of the Royal Australian Air Force, the first Royal air arm formed in the British Commonwealth of Nations after the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918.

On 30 March 1921 Lieutenant-Colonel R. Williams was First Air Member of the Air Board, Australian Air Corps. Next day the 31st, Wing Commander R. Williams became First Air Member-Director of Intelligence and Organisation-of the Air Board for the newly-formed Australian Air Force. This distinguished officer, then only thirty, little realised at the time that he would witness the fiftieth anniversary of the force.

When the Royal Australian Air Force was formed, it was in the enviable position - which it has not since achieved - of having more aircraft than airmen. Inherited from the Australian Air Corps were twelve Avro 504K trainers and eleven Sopwith Pup scouts. Also six Fairey HID seaplanes had been ordered for naval co-operation and coastal reconnaissance. In addition, 128 aircraft-D.H.9A bombers, D.H.9 army co-operation machines, S.E.5a fighters, and Avro 504K trainers-were presented by the British Government in appreciation for the part Australia played in the 1914-18 War. By comparison, the personnel strength of 21 officers and 130 o&r ranks totalled only 151, as against 157 aircraft.

Although the initial personnel strength was small it included many decorated men from the Australian Flying Corps.

In addition to Wing Commander R. Williams, D.S.O., O.B.E., other officers in the General List were:
- Wing Commander S. J. Goble, D.S.O., O.B.E., D.S.C.;
- Squadron Leaders A. M. Jones, M.C., D.F.C.,
  - W. H. Anderson, D.F.C.,
  - H. J. T. Berryman, A.F.C.,
  - E. Harrison and
  - R. S. Brown, A.F.C.;
- Flight Lieutenants F. H. McNamara, V.C.,
  - A. H. Cobby, D.S.O., D.F.C.,
  - A. T. Cole, M.C., D.F.C.,
  - L. J. Wackett, D.F.C., A.F.C.,
  - H. N. Wrigley, D.F.C., A.F.C.,
  - H. F. Delarue, D.F.C.,
  - A. P. Lawrence, M.C., and
  - F. W. F. Lukis.

Heading the 'Q' List was Squadron Leader P. A. McBain, M.B.E.

In the beginning Point Cook was the only flying base used by the RAAF, which had its Headquarters at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, and a liaison office in London. Point Cook was established as No. 1 Station and comprised No. 1 Flying Training School, and No. 1 Aircraft Depot.

The latter unit also had sections at Fitzroy and Spotswood, Victoria. On 1 January 1922 Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Squadrons were tentatively formed, but this move was rescinded in July with the exception that No. 1 Squadron continued to operate on a cadre basis.

Meanwhile, on 16 June the first of six Avro 504K trainers, built at Mascot, New South Wales by the Australian Aircraft and Engineering Company, was tested by Squadron Leader F. S. Barnwell, famed designer of Bristol aircraft, who served with the RAAF between 1921 and 1923. The Avro order was the first production run in Australia for a locally-built military aircraft.

Wing Commander R. Williams, D.S.O., 0.B.E., who became the first Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Australian Air Force, in 1922.

Local aircraft development was again encouraged in 1923 when the RAAF laid plans to produce prototype machines under Australian conditions. Subsequently, Squadron Leader L. J. Wackett assumed command in 1924 of the Aircraft Experimental Station at Randwick, New South Wales. This unit operated until 193o by which time five prototypes had been produced by Wackett: the Warbler, a non-service monoplane built for the Australian Light Aeroplane Competition in 1924; Widgeon I and II amphibians of 1925 and 1928 which were built from civil aviation funds; Warrigal I trainer of 1929; and Warrigal 11 two-seat fighter of 1930.

In 1924 the RAAF completed the first round-Australia flight in a Fairey IIID seaplane, A10-3, flown by Wing Commander Goble and Flight Lieutenant I. E. McIntyre. This epic pioneering flight was made to survey the Australian coastline for defence planning. At the time the flight was acclaimed as 'one of the greatest achievements in the history of aviation', and won the Britannia Trophy for 1924.

The following year brought a new look to air defence when the Government authorised expansion plans and aircraft purchases. On 1 July 1925, No. 1 Squadron formed as a full unit and was followed by No. 3 Squadron on the 25th. Both squadrons were manned by permanent and Citizen Air Force personnel and were equipped with flights of D.H.9A and D.H.9 two-seaters, and S.E.5a single seaters. No. 3 Squadron moved immediately to Richmond, New South Wales, and No. 1 transferred to Laverton, Victoria, on 1 January 1928.

Fairey HID seaplane, A10-3: this aircraft, flown by Wing Commander S. J. Goble and Flight Lieutenant L E. McIntyre, made the first flight around Australia in 1024. The flight achieved world-wide acclaim, and won the Britannia Trophy for the year. Photo courtesy H. V. Leckie

New aircraft ordered in 1925 included two D.H. Cirrus Moth trainers, six Supermarine Seagull III amphibians, and a D.H-50A seaplane landplane. Trials with the Moths led to orders being placed in 1928 for thirty-four Gypsy Moths, including fourteen to be built in Australia. The Seagulls equipped No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight and were used to survey the Great Barrier Reef and New Guinea areas. Meanwhile, the D.H-50A seaplane, flown by Group Captain Williams and Flight Lieutenant McIntyre, had carried out a survey flight of 10,000 miles along the Australian East Coast and the Solomon Islands during 1926. Next year this aircraft was converted from a seaplane to a landplane and made a similar survey flight throughout the interior of Australia.

In July 1927 the Government approved the purchase of two twin-engined Supermarine Southampton Mk I wooden-hulled flying-boats. These impressive aircraft - the largest in Australia at the time - co-operated with four Royal Air Force Southampton Mk IIs which, in 1928, flew in formation from England to Singapore and Australia. It was in 1928 also that the first large order for a new front-line aircraft was placed when twenty-eight Westland Wapiti general-purpose two-seaters were purchased to re-equip Nos 1 and 3 Squadrons. The order was later increased to thirty-eight, and in the mid 1930S six ex-RAF Wapitis were also acquired.

During the year 1928 Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Salmond was invited to Australia to advise the Government on air defence developments. The subsequent Salmond Report recommended an expansion of the RAAF over a period of nine years. One outcome was the purchase in 1929 of eight Bristol Bulldog single-seat biplanes, the outstanding fighter of the period. These aircraft entered service with the Fighter Squadron at Point Cook in 1930.

The depression years between 1930 and 1933 curtailed expenditure for the defence forces and, at one stage, even the future of the RAAF seemed in doubt. One drastic move in 1932 was the paying-off of the seaplane tender H.M.A.S. Albatross which had been operating the Seagull III amphibians since 1929. These aircraft - three more had been acquired in 1927 - were then transferred to the cruisers H.M.A.S. Canberra and Australia.

Point Cook, Victoria, was the first, and only, base of the RAAF in 1921. This photograph was taken in later years, and shows a Fairey HID seaplane and D.H. Gipsy Moth trainers.

A Supermarine Southampton flying boat, complete with Australian flag, before delivery to the RAAF in 1927. Two of these coastal reconnaissance aircraft, A11-1 and A11-2, remained in service for over ten years.

The Duke of York (later King George VI) with RAAF officers at Point Cook when he visited Australia in 1927 to open Parliament House, Canberra.

By 1934 nations were commencing to rearm their defence forces because of the threatening war situation. In Australia the Government reactivated the Salmond Report.

Towards the end of the year the public saw the RAAF in action during an impressive flying display on 10 November at Laverton. This spectacular pageant was held as a climax to the Melbourne Centenary celebrations when C. W. A. Scott and T. Campbell Black won the Mildenhall to Melbourne Air Race in a D.H. Comet in two days, twenty-two hours, fifty-four minutes and eighteen seconds. Bulldog, Wapiti, and Moth machines provided most of the thrills at the air pageant, but these ageing aircraft were soon to be replaced by more modern types.

First of the new generation of RAAF machines were sixty-four Hawker Demon fighter-bombers and twenty-four Supermarine Seagull V amphibians, delivery of which began in 1935.

After their epic Pacific flight in 1928, C. E. (later Sir Charles) Kingsford Smith (right) and C. T. P. Ulm were granted the honorary ranks of squadron leader and flight lieutenant respectively. The famous Southern Cross is in the background.