No. 1 WAAAF Training Depot RAAF

Aug 1941 WAAAF Training Depot Parade Ground - AWM VIC 1 364

Brief History

No. 1 WAAAF Training Depot was first raised at Malvern, Victoria, on 6 May 1941. They were responsible for Training WAAAFs as teleprinter operators and in aircraft recognition as well as physical and vocational training. Needing to expand, the Depot moved to St Catherine's School, Toorak on 24 Mar 1942. Numbers or training courses conducted were then increased.

In January 1943, the Depot was moved again, this time to Preston, where a Physical & Recreation Wing was formed. With the end of the war in the Pacific on 15 August 1945, the Depot celebrated with a glass of ale and a cake which had been made a couple of years in advance for such a celebration. On 19 Oct 1945 the Depot was disbanded. A total of 9,854 women were trained at the Depot.

Trainees

• Helen (Nell) Hart 30 Nov 1941 - 5 Feb 1942
• Evelyn Yates 9 May - 13 Aug 1942
• Edith Lillian Madgwick 5 Sep - 24 Nov 1943

Notes

Content has come from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Volume 8 Training Units - Australian Government Publishing Service - 1995 pages 116 & 117