No. 10 Stores Depot RAAF

Aerial view of 10 Stores Depot Merredin September 1949

Brief History

No. 10 Stores Depot was formed in nucleus at No. 4 Stores Depot RAAF, at Maylands, on 1 Jan 1943. The initial strength was two officers and 29 airmen, with some moving to Merredin on 9 Feb 1943, from which date No. 10 Stores Depot became a separate unit. The Depot was established on 32 hectares adjoining the northern side of the town which is located on the Great Eastern Highway and the east-west railway. The site was within easy distance of the town centre. An early task was providing security for the storage of aviation fuel in 200 litre (44 gallon) drums. These were scattered at selected points around the area for safety, but this also made them harder to guard.

Two igloo and two Bellman hangars were erected. Personnel accommodation during this time was mainly in tents with some in local farmhouses. It was more than six months before all of the buildings, hangars and barracks huts were completed, making the Depot a self contained unit.

No. 10 Stores Depot became involved in one of the RAAF's wartime mysteries. On 27 Aug 1941, a 25 Squadron Vultee Vengeance A27·295, flying out from Perth on a navigation exercise crashed some 80 kilometres east of Narembeen. The pilot parachuted to safety and was found five days later. but the second crewman, disappeared. 10 Stores Depot provided staging support through its landing ground for aircraft joining the search, including six Tiger Moths on 5 September. On 15 September, 10 Stores Depot provided a party for the ground search. Despite locating the crashed aircraft several weeks after and mounting a further huge air and ground search over several weeks, the body of Flight Sergeant King was never found.

No. 10 Stores Depot was finally disbanded on 28 Sep 1954, when the site was handed over to Headquarters Western Area, Pearce, to arrange the final disposal. Disbandment was promulgated as being 1 Oct 1954.

Unit Personnel

• Oswald Francis Williams 29 May 1942 - 5 May 1943
• Stewart Chandler Mack 1 Jan - 10 May 1943
• Dora Terry 14 Aug 1944 - 14 Mar 1946
• Stanley Reginald Nail 2 Oct 1944 - 10 Jan 1945
• Bernice Lydia Hand 22 Oct 1944 - 28 Jan 1945
• Reginald William Jordan 5 Dec 1944 - 18 Oct 1945
• Stewart Leslie White 14 Jun - 17 Aug 1945
• Joseph Charles Colton 25 Nov 1947 -18 Mar 1948
• Sydney Roy Smith 23 Apr - 2 Sep 1946

Notes

Content has come from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Volume 6 Logistics Units - Australian Government Publishing Service - 1995

External Links

Stanley Reginald NailStanley Reginald Nail