This book celebrates 75 years of Air Force cadet activity in Australia, 1941-2016. The organisation has had a tremendous impact upon the lives of tens-of-thousands of Australians over our 75 year history. Since 1982 it has enhanced the lives of young women as well as men. The book begins in WWII with the need to pre-train capable and committed "keen lads". Over 30,000 Australian boys were air cadets 1941-1945 with almost 13,000 going on to active service in the war. Air Force cadets survived into peacetime to become an aviation focussed youth development organisation, providing flying training in a military atmosphere with the aim of inspiring cadets to join the RAAF. There are currently over 8,000 Air Force cadets and adult staff around Australia. Aviation centred youth development in a RAAF service environment remains our central focus.

This book celebrates 75 years of Air Force cadet activity in Australia, 1941-2016. The organisation has had a tremendous impact upon the lives of tens-of-thousands of Australians over our 75 year history. Since 1982 it has enhanced the lives of young women as well as men. The book begins in WWII with the need to pre-train capable and committed "keen lads". Over 30,000 Australian boys were air cadets 1941-1945 with almost 13,000 going on to active service in the war. Air Force cadets survived into peacetime to become an aviation focussed youth development organisation, providing flying training in a military atmosphere with the aim of inspiring cadets to join the RAAF. There are currently over 8,000 Air Force cadets and adult staff around Australia. Aviation centred youth development in a RAAF service environment remains our central focus.

Eighth in a series of tenvolumes produced for the 75th anniversary of the RAAF. Provides information about the history and operations of training units such as the Air Navigation schools, Bombing and Gunnery schools, and Operational Training units. Includes a chronology and a list of commanding officers for each school or unit.

First in a series of ten volumes produced for the 75th anniversary of the RAAF. Provides information about the current operational bases of the RAAF, and the WWII operational base units which played an important role in keeping Allied aircraft operating from remote localities. Describes previously unrecognised organisations such as the Volunteer Air Observer Corps, and RAAF maritime sections, wireless units and signals units.

In this book we follow the brave deeds of our 7 Wing air cadets who died in service, and although saddened by their loss, we take pride in their achievement. Writing this book has been a journey of privilege and discovery. Finding the names of the 48 cadets who died in service ensured they would not be forgotten, but what of their lives? For the sake of commemoration, heritage, and their sacrifice, there was a compelling need to put faces to the names and stories to the names. Thus began an intensive and sometimes forensic search that has reaped great rewards. The stories that unfolded from seventy year old files never ceased to amaze. Of the 48 Honour Roll cadets, 32 died in WWII, 3 in the Korean War, 6 in the Vietnam War, and 7 post-1945. Many of these cadets never reached their 21st birthday, but their experiences were extraordinary, although ultimately tragic. One of the most tragic cases is that of Beaufighter pilot Billy McGuigan who belonged to ATC 76 Squadron Fremantle, was shot down in the Celebes Islands, taken POW, and then killed just before the end of the war. In WWII, Lancaster air gunner Edward Charman was killed in 1944 on 11 November ¿ Remembrance Day. In another coincidence, ATC 79 Squadron cadet Ronald Sharpe joined the Royal Australian Navy and was crew on HMAS Australia when it was attacked by a Japanese dive bomber. Ronald was seriously wounded and died the next day on 21 October 1944 ¿ Trafalgar Day. Then in the Korean War, 77 Squadron Meteor pilot John Halley was shot down while ground strafing. It was his 77th sortie. In Vietnam, 7 Wing lost six cadets, five of whom were in the Australian Army and one in the Navy. Corporal Peter Clements from 12 Flight Christian Brothers College (CBC) was commander of an armoured personnel carrier at the iconic Battle of Long Tan, and received mortal injuries. Also from CBC, Ray Hunt was a crewman on HMAS Hobart, and was killed by friendly fire in June 1968.

At the outbreak of World War II, somewhat by accident — and just as the first shots of the war were fired — young Australian airmen from the Royal Australian Air Force were engaged in operations that would become known collectively as the Battle of the Atlantic. Arguably lesser-known than air campaigns in other theatres, large numbers of Australians who volunteered for service with Royal Australian Air Force, found themselves fighting in this battle. Australians were there at the outbreak and many would go on to fly some of the final missions of the war in Europe. This book captures some of the experiences of the Royal Australian Air Force members who served with Coastal Command and, through the weight of numbers alone, stories of the Sunderland squadrons and the Battle of the Atlantic dominate the narrative. Being critical to Britain’s survival, the battle also dominated Coastal Command throughout the war but Australians served in a surprising variety of other roles. The nature of many of those tasks demanded persistence that could only be achieved by large numbers of young men and women being prepared to ‘do what it took’ to get a tedious and unrewarding job done. Over 400 did not come home.