Over 6,000 RAAF personnel were trained at 1 W.A.G.S Ballarat during WW2. Approximately 20% of the trainees died in action or on active service.
No. 1 Wireless Air Gunnery School [W.A.G.S] Ballarat was established on the 22nd April 1940 as part of the Empire Training Scheme. This scheme was to support RAF Bomber Command during WW2.
There were 58 Wireless Air Gunner Courses and 12 Navigator Courses conducted from 1940 to 1945.
The MEMORIAL ROLL commemorates to date 1,182 RAAF 1 W.A.G.S. trainees who were killed in action or on active service during WW2.
Fight Sergeant Dennis Leslie BAULDERSTONE 416112 .Courses 13 and 15
Flight Sergeant Baulderstone was aboard the Avro Anson AW878 when it crashed at Lady Julia Percy Island off Port Fairy, Victoria, Australia.
The aircraft had set off on a navigation sortie from its Mt Gambier base. He, together with 3 other crew members, were killed.
He was 22 years old.
The FEATURED STORY pays tribute to a person, and or event, connected to 1 W.A.G.S Ballarat.
The story commemorates the valiant RAAF 1 W.A.G.S trainees who served in WW2 in all theatres of war – those who lost their lives and those who returned.
The FEATURED STORY honours -
Of the 1,182 names on the Memorial Roll the following nine trainees Born in Ballarat completed their training at 1 WAGS and were KILLED in Action or on Active Service during WW2.
Flight Sergeant Lloyd George FREEMAN; Flight Sergeant Stanley Charles KITCHEN; Sergeant John McNEILL; Warrant Officer Herbert Gordon PARKER; Sergeant Maurice Bert PROVEN; Flight Sergeant Patrick Fraser STANLEY; Sergeant Donald Thomas THOMSON; Sergeant Robert Gordon TYLER and Sergeant Robert William WESTCOTT.
Of the 6,000+ trainees who passed through 1 WAGS the following trainees born in Ballarat completed their training at 1 WAGS and were DISCHARGED after serving in the RAAF during WW2.
Warrant Officer David Maxwell GRIBBLE; Squadron Leader Merrick Sadlier HOLGATE DFC
and Flying Officer Francis Noel Miller PETCH.
These are but a few and further research would be needed to discover more names.
Posters of these airmen have been commissioned by Integra, Lucas Ballarat, as part of Heritage Week 2023.
Go to READ MORE for their complete story.
