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 -
FLYING OFFICER DENIS MALACHI KELLY Wireless Air Gunner 1 W.A.G.S Course 2
After completing his Air Gunners course Denis sailed to the UK via America. He was posted to Llandwrog in north-west Wales for further training. He crewed up at RAF Lichfield with an Australian pilot named Tom Davis. Denis joined the 467 Squadron at Waddington and began flying operations in late April 1944. On the 18th July 1944 the crew flying in a Lancaster aircraft attacked Revigny, in France. On turning for home, the aircraft was hit by an upward firing ‘Schrage Musik’ cannon. The Lancaster caught on fire. Denis Kelly bailed out but sustained injuries on landing to his legs and spine. Denis spent the next three months evading capture behind enemy lines. Read more about Denis and his remarkable story of survival in his FEATURE STORY.
