No. 26 Repair & Salvage Unit RAAF

Goodenough Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua 11 Apr 1945 AWM P01817.031

Brief History

No. 26 Repair and Salvage Unit was formed at Laverton, Victoria, on 20 August 1942, to repair and salvage aircraft, motor transport and other equipment, and to repair, maintain and modify equipment beyond the capacity of an operational squadron. The Unit began its first salvage job on 14 5ep 1942, when it dismantled a neon sign on the Garrick Theatre, Melbourne, and recovered approximately 14 tons of structural steel. Salvage of aircraft began in October 1942 with the recovery of Beaufort A9-61 at Lake Victoria.

On 3 Dec 1942 the unit moved to Werribee and then, in June 1943, it moved to Goodenough Island, New Guinea where it salvaged Beaufort, Kittyhawk, Beaufighter, Spitfire and Boston aircraft. On 7 Sep 1944 the unit moved to Noemfoor via Finschhafen and Biak on the USAT Sidney H Short. During December the unit changed its name to No. 26 Repair & Servicing Unit, and on 2 Apr 1945, embarked aboard the SS Clarence Roberts for Morotai. The Unit reached Morotai on 10 April 1945, before deploying to Tarakan in May. Work suffered due to confrontation with enemy ground troops. At one stage the Unit's advance party was only 100 yards (90 m) from the Japanese lines. With the end of the war in August there was little work for the unit and on 18 Nov 1945 it was disbanded.

Unit Personnel

• Francis Thomas Briggs 28 Aug 1944 - 12 Apr 1945
• Alfred George Playle 23 Sep 1944 - 29 Jun 1945

Individual Honours

Notes

Content comes from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Vol 7 Maintenance Units, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995