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The War Ends. RAAF return to Australia
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| Total RAAF enlistments during the war were 189,700 men and 27,000 women. RAAF casualties by areas were: |
| Theatre
of Ops |
Killed or died |
Injured |
Total |
| Europe |
5,397 |
947 |
6,344 |
| Middle
East |
1,135 |
413 |
1,548 |
| Canada |
147 |
55 |
202 |
| India-Burma |
242 |
89 |
331 |
| Far
East |
136 |
44 |
180 |
| South
West Pacific |
3,342 |
1,614 |
4,956 |
| Other
areas |
163 |
30 |
193 |
|
Totals |
10,562 |
3,192 |
13,754 |
| So ended the greatest, the most heroic, and yet to thousands of bereaved Australians the most tragic, phase of the RAAF's history. |
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| A ketch flying the flag of the Royal Australian Air Force? It might have looked odd to some people, but the ketch, formerly known as the Yalata was taken over by the RAAF from the Navy in Adelaide,
redesignated RAAF Ketch 06-11 and was attached to No. 52 Operational Base Unit in June 1944 as a general purpose 'launch'. |
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| Plotting aircraft movements in the operations room at a RAAF base in Northern Australia |
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| Preparing for another flight, crew members of this Martin Mariner of No. 41 Squadron, RAAF, take in the ensign and remove the pitot head covers watched by the aircraft captain, Flying Officer P. E. Wright (Wooloowin, Queensland). The second pilot, Flight Sergeant N. B. Noakes (Childers, Queensland) , is removing the ensign, and the rigger, Corporal G. W. Duffy (Cloncurry, Queensland), the pitot covers. The Squadron was based at Cairns from
mid-1944 to the end of the war. |
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| The graceful lines of the Boomerang are revealed in this flight close-up. The aircraft, piloted by Flight Lieutenant A. W. B. Clare, was from No. 5 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron based at Mareeba, Queensland, from June 1943 to November 1944. |
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| A pleasant smile, smartly uniformed, and highly efficient in their jobs. These two photographs are typical of the thousands of Australian women who flocked to join the ranks of the WAAAF during the 1939-45 War, and who made a vital contribution to the war effort at bases scattered throughout the country. |
The 1939-45 War saw the development of branches of the RAAF still doing fine work today.
The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (now Women's Royal Australian Air Force), was formed in April 1941. 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 RAAF Medical Service was expanded rapidly during the war. Medical officers increased from a peacetime strength of only 24 to
620 and dental officers from 8 to 129. The RAAF Medical Service began with one officer in 1921. In 1927 the Government decided that the Director-General of Army Medical Services would be responsible to the Air Board for the administration and control of RAAF medical and dental services.
However, in April 1940, War Cabinet directed that the
D.G.M.S. (Army) relinquish these responsibilities and Air Vice-Marshal V. (later Sir Victor) Hurley was appointed the first RAAF Director-General of Medical Services. In July 1940 the RAAF Nursing Service was established. In December 1940 members totalled 45 and five years later in December 1945 had expanded to 616. Field medical units were developed and air ambulance and medical air evacuation units were formed.
Airfield construction units, operating under trying conditions, built airfields throughout Australia and the Pacific. Radar units were established and sent to the fighting areas.
The RAAF Air Training Corps was also born during the 1939-45 War - in August 194 1. Boys aged sixteen to eighteen were encouraged to join the Corps to carry out 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.
The 1939-45 War not only saw the coming of age of the RAAF -it saw also the coming of age in Australia of the aircraft manufacturing industry. The development and performance of the industry was one of the finest achievements on the home front. Some 44,000 men and women produced
1,500 aircraft of different types (including Tiger Moths, Wirraways, Boomerangs, Beauforts, Wackett trainers, Beaufighters, Mosquitoes and Mustangs.) |
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The war was drawing to a close, and two members of the RAAF were able to spend a little more time than usual in a sport in which they excelled.
Warrant Officer Lindsay Hassett (later to become an Australian captain) and Squadron Leader S. G.
Sismey, walk out to the wicket at Lords on the second day of a test match between Australia and England to continue Australia's first innings.
The date was 21 May 1945. |
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| At last it is all over. Six abreast, these members of the RAAF march proudly through the streamer and confetti-littered streets of Melbourne in the Victory Parade
of 24 August 1945- Cheering crowds lined the route to give the 'boys in blue' a rousing reception. |
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