Actions

Difference between revisions of "No. 4 Service Flying Training School RAAF"

From Our Contribution

(→‎Trainees)
(→‎Unit personnel)
 
(39 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 23: Line 23:
  
 
===Unit personnel===
 
===Unit personnel===
−
*[[Clifford Stanley Douglas]] 10 Mar - 26 Jun 1941
+
* [[Millie Elizabeth Treloar]]
−
*[[William James (Jim) Morcombe]] 9 Feb - 28 May 1942
+
* [[ Harry Beard]] 22 Sep 1940 - 15 Jan 1945
−
*[[James Winning Cunningham]] 14 Dec 1943 - 13 Jun 1944
+
* [[Robert Alexander MacLean]] 18 Dec 1940 - 28 Jul 1941
−
*[[Laurence Harold Smith]] 31 May - 27 Jun 1945
+
* [[Edward Stanley Yates]] 8 Feb - 1 Mar 1942
 +
* [[Doreen Elsie Trainor]] Feb 1942 - 22 May 1944
 +
* [[Edward Trayton Elvish]] 2 Mar 1941 - 4 Jan 1942
 +
* [[Oswald Francis Williams]] 11 Mar 1941 - 5 Dec 1941
 +
* [[Reginald Thomas Blackman]] 14 Mar 1941 - 19 May 1942
 +
* [[Edith Lillian Madgwick]] 16 Apr 1942 - 4 Sep 1943
 +
* [[Allan George Cucel]] 27 Apr 1941 - 4 Jan 1942
 +
* [[Ronald Victor Marshall]] 28 Apr 1942 - 31 Oct 1942 & 25 Feb 1943 - 20 Jan 1945
 +
* [[Frederick Walter Miller]] 28 Apr 1942 - 31 Oct 1942 & 25 Feb 1943 - 26 Dec 1945
 +
* [[Eric William Mills]] 26 Jun - 11 Nov 1942
 +
* [[Keith Robert Mills]] 31 Jul 1942 - ?? 1943
 +
* [[Douglas Walter Buckingham]] 31 Jul 1942 - 23 Jan 1943 & 30 Auf 1943 - 17 Aug 1944
 +
* [[Ernest John Allen]] 2 Aug 1942 - 18 Jan 1943
 +
* [[Stanley Reginald Nail]] 2 Aug - 10 Oct 1942
 +
* [[Alwyn Raymond Liddell]] 13 Aug 1942 - 10 May 1943
 +
* [[Dora Terry]] 26 Aug 1943 - 25 Jul 1944
 +
* [[John Newell Ellis]] 28 Aug 1942 - 9 Feb 1943
 +
* [[Phillip Herbert Martin DFC & Bar]] 23 Nov 1942 - 22 Mar 1943
 +
* [[Clarence Albert Curtis]] 26 Nov 1942 - 7 Jan 1943
 +
* [[James Winning Cunningham]] 14 Dec 1943 - 13 Jun 1944
 +
* [[Harold Morgan]] 21 Dec 1942 - 23 Aug 1943
 +
* [[Edward John Williams]] 27 Oct 1944 - 10 Feb 1945
 +
* [[Laurence Harold Smith]] 31 May - 27 Jun 1945
  
 
===Trainees===
 
===Trainees===
−
*[[Roy Joseph Smith]] 2 Jun 1941 - 19 Sep 1941 - Course no 11
+
* [[Clifford Stanley Douglas]] 10 Mar - 26 Jun 1941
 +
* [[Gerard Henzell Straughan Hemy]] May - Jun 1941 RAAF Air Navigation School
 +
* † [[Frank Keith Morcombe DFC]] 2 Jun 1941 - 21 Sep 1941 - Pilot No 11 Course
 +
* [[Roy Joseph Smith]] 2 Jun 1941 - 19 Sep 1941 - Pilot No 11 Course
 +
* † [[William James (Jim) Morcombe]] 9 Feb - 28 May 1942
 +
* [[Tom Shelley Griffiths]] 31 Jul 1942 - 19 Jan 1943
 +
* [[William John (Jack) Hart MID]] 21 Sep 1942- 21 Jan 1943
 +
* [[Alfred Arthur Shepherd]] 26 Oct 1942 - 5 Feb 1943
 +
* [[Colin Lindsay Ottaway DFC]] 18 Jan - 14 May 1943
 +
* [[Alfred William Walker]] 12 Mar - 12 Apr 1943
 +
* † [[Greer Winton Ottaway]] 14 Mar - 1 Jul 1943
 +
* [[Ernest Gordon Martin]] 26 Oct 1943 - 12 May 1944
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Latest revision as of 21:01, 31 May 2024

4 SFTS.jpg
A trainee pilot boarding his Anson at Geraldton


Brief History

No. 4 Service Plying Training School (4SFTS) was formed at the 6 Mile Aerodrome, Geraldton in February 1941 as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The function of the School was to provide intermediate and advanced flying training for RAAF personnel who had completed their elementary flying training at both Perth and Cunderdin. The base at Geraldton was still under construction when flying commenced at the School on 10 March 1941. Aside from the lack of ground facilities, problems were encountered with the serviceability of aircraft as all of the Anson aircraft came from other units, who had disposed of their oldest air frames. As a result only limiting flying training occurred in the early days of the School. In November 1941, eight of its Ansons took part in the search for survivors from HMAS Sydney.


Every 28 days an intake of 60 or so pupils arrived at the School from Cunderdin, spending approximately four months at the School before 50 or so would graduate. The course was broken into an intermediate and an advanced course, each of eight weeks duration. As with most Service Flying Training Schools, a primary concern was the accident rate, which caused a loss of flying hours, aircraft and, at times, airmen. This School existed for 22 months before a flying fatality occurred, but eventually eight airmen perished and four more were injured in flying accidents.


With the Japanese entry into the War, and their attacks on north-western Australia, Reserve squadrons were formed in all twin engine training units, including 4SFTS (Nos. 68 and 69 Reserve Squadrons) as a precautionary measure. Apart from occasional searches to sea, they were never called for active duty. Flying training continued throughout 1943, although by the end of the year the number of operational sorties was minimal. Throughout 1944 flying was further reduced and from January 1945, the total disbandment of the unit was commenced, and was completed in May 1945. With over 1,000 trainees successfully passing through the School, and an enviable flying safety record, 4SFTS had fulfilled its role.

Unit personnel

Trainees

Notes

Content has come from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Volume 8 Training Units - Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995.


External Links

Retrieved from "https://www.birtwistlewiki.com.au/index.php?title=No._4_Service_Flying_Training_School_RAAF&oldid=68591"