WHILE this year marks the centenaries of the Gallipoli campaign and the Kangaroo Recruitment March from Wagga Wagga to Campbelltown, it also brings the 75th anniversary of the tenure of the Royal Australian Air Force in Cootamundra, NSW, during World War II.
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From 1940 to 1946, Cootamundra hosted a RAAF Base, but until now, no monument had been erected to acknowledge this important slice of the town’s history.
Cootamundra Local History Society Inc plans to remedy this omission with the unveiling of a memorial at 10am on Wednesday, April 29.
Group Captain Ross Jones, Senior Australian Defence Force Officer at RAAF Base Wagga, will unveil the memorial, with CLHS vice president and instigator of the memorial, Patricia Caskie.
The impressive memorial will stand four metres high, topped by a steel-crafted Avro Anson (the type of aircraft used to train navigators at Cootamundra) and signage giving a history of the RAAF’s years in the town.
Cootamundra aerodrome was taken over by the RAAF in 1940 as No 1 Air Observers School (No 1 AOS), to train navigators and the unveiling date commemorates the 75th anniversary of the first intake of air observer (navigator) trainees on April 29, 1940.
An estimated 2,630 air observers men passed out from No 1 AOS in Cootamundra.
The most notable of those trainees was the late Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon E. Gough Whitlam AC QC.
Leading Aircraftman Whitlam trained in Cootamundra during 1942.
At the height of its operation, No 1AOS numbered more than 1,000 RAAF personnel.
These included the support staff required to turn out qualified air navigators – from pilots and lecturers through to cooks and guards.
During the tenure of the RAAF in Cootamundra, there was close interaction between townspeople and the airmen, including a number of purpose-formed clubs for off duty airmen [music, dancing and teetotal refreshments]. Local and district residents opened their homes – and their hearts – to the young men far from home.
There were at least 60 RAAF marriages between 1940 and 1946, a proportion of them involving Cootamundra brides.
A number of young RAAF men from No 1 AOS died during training. Some are buried in the war and general sections of Cootamundra Cemetery, while the remains of others were returned to their homes and families.
Almost 10,000 men of the RAAF completed advanced training in Britain and Canada.
Australian aircrews flew with Australian and British squadrons (RAF) in Coastal, Fighter and Bomber Command.
Many crews were lost in combat, particularly those with Bomber Command.
