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Air Force Association - SA Division

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Air Force Association - SA Division

Air Force Association (SA) is the peak veterans organisation for RAAF and ex-RAAF members in SA. Advocacy. Assistance. Camaraderie. Commemoration and Heritage.

Who we are:

Nationally, the Air Force Association is a federation of seven separate Divisions, one in each state and the ACT. The federation has a governing Board of the Air Force Association. As one of the oldest veteran support organisations, the AFA has been influential in advocating for ex-RAAF members’ needs resulting from service in World War 1, World War 2, post war Southeast Asia, peaceke

eping operations and in more recent years, the high operational tempo of today’s modern Air Force. In South Australia, the AFA SA Division comprises four branches committed to supporting the welfare of current and ex-serving RAAF members and their families and ensuring the legacy of their service for generations to come. With a Headquarters branch based at Torrens Parade Ground, the AFA SA is uniquely positioned to interact with other veterans organisations, advocate the South Australian Government and coordinate Air Force ceremonies at the Air Force Memorial located adjacent to the Torrens Parade Ground Drill Hall. There are three suburban based branches:

• Mitcham
• Elizabeth / Salisbury
• Ubon

What we do:

1. At the Federal and State Government levels, we provide an authoritative and influential voice in representing exAir Force members’ needs on veterans issues. We work with our national Board, state and federal veterans authorities and other veterans support organisations in ensuring the needs and interests of those who have served in the Air Force and their families are met. We also assist Air Force veterans in interpreting veteran policy and entitlements supporting them in their development of compensation claims and appeals.

2. We appreciate ex-serving members and their families of various ages will require assistance and support at times and can be there for them when needed.

3. We hold various events, functions and activities across Adelaide providing avenues for our broader Air Force family to remain connected. While these activities are popular with our aged members, we also place much importance on bringing our younger veterans together with our older members to share stories, support each other, provide mentorship and foster values.

4. Recognising the importance of commemorating the deeds of those who have served before and fostering the legacy they have left for generations to come, we partner with RAAF Edinburgh and other stakeholders in conducting Air Force specific ceremonies, the preservation of Air Force heritage and educating South Australians on the Air Force story and South Australia’s contribution to that story. Our Priorities :

• To provide advocacy in partnership with the broader veterans support community
• To provide better representation and support for the Air Force Family
• To gain recognition as a respected, effective and leading ESO
• That South Australia has a better understanding of the Air• Force story and the state’s contribution to that story

We recognise the Air Force Family comprises those who have served or are serving in the Air Force and their respective family members. Air Force Association (SA) - Committed to our Air Force veterans and their families

01/09/2026

1 September 1942: Formation of No 464 Squadron

Did you know that on this day in 1942, No 464 Squadron was formed in England?

No 464 Squadron was officially formed on 1 September 1942 at RAF Feltwell, Norfolk in the United Kingdom, as an Article XV squadron under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Equipped with Lockheed Ventura light bombers, the squadron joined No 2 Group of Bomber Command. After work up training over the next three months, 464SQN conducted its first operational mission on the Phillips radio factory at Eindhoven in the Netherlands on 6 December 1942. While losing three aircraft, the strike inflicted significant damage and became a precedent for the units further role in precision strike operations.

Although a RAAF squadron of the RAAF, its personnel were drawn from many countries and upon formation only about 30 per cent were Australian a figure that later grew to over 50 percent as the war progressed.

The unit converted to Mosquitoes in July 1943. In February 1944, it conducted the famous Jericho Raid on the Amiens Prison in France; a precision strike designed to release members of the French Resistance held prisoner there. On 14 July 1944, it conducted a raid on a SS Barracks at Bonneuil-Mantours. 464SQN also conducted several attacks on Gestapo headquarters in Denmark.

The squadron’s most intensive period of operations was around the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, when it was tasked to attack German transport infrastructure such as trains, road and rail junctions, bridges, motor convoys and concentration areas.

No 464 Squadron disbanded on 27 September 1945 after three years of distinguished service. It is credited with having attacked 2,353 separate targets and conducted over 3,000 sorties during the war. In so doing, it lost 102 personnel killed in action, 33 of whom were Australian.

Lest we forget

Images courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain)

31/08/2026

31 August 1937: South Australian RAAF airmen attempts to rescue two airmen from a burning aircraft.

Did you know that on this day in 1937, South Australian Aircraftman William Simpson McAloney attempted to rescue two stranded aircrew in a burning crashed aircraft in an action that would see him awarded the Albert Medal for bravery?

Bill McAloney was born on 1910 in Rose Park, an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. He was educated at the Thebarton Technical High School and the Adelaide School of Mines. Gaining employment as a car mechanic, he worked for the Adelaide Car Company before opening a garage of his own at Wirrulla on the Eyre Peninsula in western South Australia.

In mid 1936 he joined the RAAF as an Aero Engine Fitter with the rank of Aircraftman and was initially posted to 1 Squadron at Laverton, Victoria. On this day in August 1937, he accompanied one of three Hawker Demon biplane fighter-bombers on a formation flight to Hamilton, where the aircraft were to form a static ground display at the local agricultural show before returning to base. Shortly after 315pm, the aircraft prepared to depart. As the second aircraft took off, it stalled while attempting a climbing stall and crashed from a height of 200 feet. The fuel tank burst on impact and the Hawker Demon began burning fiercely.

AC1 Bill McAloney, positioned in the third aircraft and yet to take off, jumped out of his aircraft and rushed to the rescue. He suffered severe burns himself before being knocked down unconscious when one of the wing fuel tanks exploded finding himself having to be rescued from the flames by onlookers. He was hospitalized for one month recovering from the injuries.

Although McAloney was unsuccessful in rescuing the aircrew, the court of inquiry into the incident, noted his "conspicuous gallantry" and the coroner publicly commended McAloney's actions. In February 1938, Bill McAloney was awarded the Albert Medal for Gallantry, the higest civil award for bravery at the time, for his bravery on the day.

McAloney returned to service in the RAAF and rose through the ranks to Warrant Officer and then being commissioned during World War 2 seeing service in the Southwest Pacific and Australia. In 1948 he received a permanent commission as an engineering officer and continued to serve becoming a Wing Commander, and the Commanding Officer of the Aircraft Research and Development Unit before eventually retiring in 1967. He passed away in 1995.

The award of McAloney's Albert Medal is unique, as he is the only member of the RAAF to receive the decoration. The award also proved to be the last Albert Medal bestowed upon a living Australian, with all such subsequent presentations until the medal's discontinuation in 1971 being posthumous. In 1971, the Albert Medal was superseded and replaced by the George Cross. McAloney was among the six living Australian recipients who received the George Cross from the Queen.

In recongition of McAloney's courage and award, a street is named after him at RAAF Based Edinburgh.

Photos courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital online collection (copyright expired, public domain) and National Archives Australia.

29/08/2026

29 August 1951: 75th anniversary of WOFF Ron Guthrie becoming first RAAF pilot to eject from an aircraft in combat after being shot down over North Korea

Did you know that 75 years ago on this day in 1951 WOFF Ron Guthrie flying a No 77 Squadron Meteor became the first RAAF pilot to eject from an aircraft in combat after being shot down over North Korea?

Guthrie joined the RAAF at the tender age of 18 in 1943 and qualified as a pilot at age 19. He served in Australia during the war flying the Fairey Battle aircraft at an aircrew training school. At the end of the war, he was posted to an aircraft storage disposal unit where he was able to fly a wide variety of RAAF aircraft. He then briefly served as as an Air Traffic Controller before being posted to fighter pilot duties serving initially with No 76 Squadron flying Mustangs and then No 75 Squadron at RAAF Williamtown where he flew the Vampire. Posted to 77 SQN in Korea in mid 1951, he was one of the few 77 SQN pilots with fast jet experience and in the transition to the Meteor, completed 14 combat missions in Korea up until 29 Aug.

On this day in 1951, Guthrie was flying Meteor A77-721 in a mixed formation of eight 77SQN Meteors and 16 USAF Sabres at about 10,000 meters altitude on a fighter sweep. They sighted a formation of 12 MiG-15’s at altitude and broke formation to engage in a fierce dogfight. Several Meteors incurred significant damage while at the same time engaging the enemy aircraft.

SQNLDR Wilson, a 77SQN Flight Commander, was struck by cannon fire and broke off the engagement nursing his damaged Meteor home, where it was found that his port aileron had been almost shot away.

Guthrie was not so lucky. His aircraft was struck causing it to enter a nose-down dive at 36,600 feet. With all controls gone, he decided to eject using the Martin Baker seat with which the Meteor was fitted. It was actually the first time that a Martin Baker seat had been used in combat, and his altitude is still the record for the highest combat ejection in the RAAF. The ejection altitude has only been exceeded in the RAAF by peacetime ejections at 38,000 feet from two Sabre jets involved in a midair collision in 1960.

It took almost 28 minutes for Guthrie to land via parachute. Landing in farmland, he was quickly beset by North Korean soldiers, one of which he shot with his pistol, only to then be captured. He spent the next two years as a prisoner of war managing to escape once only to be recaptured. Meanwhile, his squadron, who could not confirm seeing him bail out, only learned of his successful bail out months later at a UN sponsored prisoner of war exchange of information initiative.

Guthrie served two years as a POW in a North Korean / Chinese POW camp finally being released in September 1953. After the Korean War, Guthrie returned to the RAAF as a Flying Instructor retiring as a Squadron Leader in 1980.

Guthrie's experiences are retold in the excellent book "Escape from North Korea."

Photos of WOFF Ron Guthrie courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (public domain, copyright expired)

28/08/2026

28 August 1952: First flight of a RAAF Jindivik pilotless aircraft

Did you know that on this day in 1952, the Jindivik pilotless aircraft had its first flight at Woomera?

In 1948, the British Government identified a requirement for a high-speed pilotless target aircraft for its expanding guided missile program. The Jindivik, an Australian designed/built aircraft, was developed in response with the Government Aircraft Factory commencing production of a prototype in 1950. Initially, 12 Mk 1 Jindiviks were constructed between 1950 and 1953. In Australia, the aircraft was given the RAAF identification prefix of A92 and appropriately named Jindivik, an aboriginal word for ‘hunted one’.

The first Jindivik Mk.1 (A92-1) was delivered in October 1951.
However, it was not until 28 August 952, that the Jindivik Mk 1 aircraft (A92-5) flew for the first time at Woomera. It was the first of many flights with the Jindivik playing an important role in the weapons research conducted at Woomera for several decades.

The Jindivik was remotely controlled at Woomera by the RAAF or Defence Science elements either from a ground station or by a controller in another aircraft. Take-off was executed under normal engine thrust from a recoverable trolley and a controlled landing was made on a single retractable skid.

12 Mk1 aircraft were produced before a modified version, Mk.2 began entering service from late 1953 after the first Mk 2 (A92-21) flew on 11 December 1953.

The program continued with the aircraft being further developed as a Mk 2 and Mk 3 model. Over 500 Jindiviks were produced between 1952 and 1986 with versions exported to Britain, Sweden and the US. The RAAF / RAN operated more than 182 Jindiviks.

Meanwhile, the Pika, was developed as a piloted proof of concept version of the pilotless MK 1 Jindivik. The first Pika (A93-1) flew at Woomera in November 1950. Commensurate with it being a proof of concept aircraft for the Jindivik, only two Pika aircraft were produced and flown.

The Jindivik was a remarkable aircraft of its time and represented one of the highpoints of Australian aerospace research, test and development and manufacture. With more than 500 produced, it has been the most successful indigenous Australian aircraft design thus far. It is also remarkable with the use of unmanned aerial aircraft these days that Australia developed and used such a successful unmanned aerial aircraft 80 years ago for test and development purposes.

The Jindivik remained in use in Australia until 1998 and with the RAF until 2004.

Images courtesy of the National Australian Archives and Department of Defence

27/08/2026

27 August 1942: SQNLDR Pete Turnbull DFC, Commanding Officer of No 76 Squadron, killed in action.

Did you know that on this day in 1942, the noted air ace SQNLDR Peter Turnbull DFC was killed in combat at Milne Bay?

Joining the RAAF in 1939, Turnbull deployed to the Middle East with No 3 Squadron (RAAF) where he excelled as a fighter pilot scoring nine aerial victories and was awarded the the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Posted to the Southwest Pacific in March 1942, he joined No 75 Squadron in Port Moresby flying Kittyhawk aircraft in the defence of Port Moresby where he scored another three aerial victories. In May 1942, he was appointed Commanding Officer of No 76 Squadron.

On 25 July, Turnbull and 76 Squadron arrived at Milne Bay to defend the area from an imminent Japanese attack. The units engaged in air defence missions and land and maritime strike throughout August. On 7 August, Turnbull crash landed on nearby Goodenough Island forced down by bad weather. On 25 August 75 Squadron and 76 Squadron Kittyhawks launched a devastating attack against Japanese barges heading for the northern shore of Milne Bay preventing Japanese forces from opening a northern offensive on Milne Bay.

Two days later on 27 August, SQNLDR Turnbull and another 76 Squadron pilot took off to find and attack two Japanese tanks that had landed with the main Japanese force. Finding the main Japanese force and the tanks, Turnbull dived into attack firing on the enemy but encountered heavy defensive fire. At about 200 feet altitude, his aircraft flipped and crashed killing Turnbull. An Australian Army patrol found his body still strapped in the wrecked aircraft eight days later.

Milne Bay’s No 3 strip was named Turnbull Field in his honour. It marked the furthest westward advance of the Japanese in the area, and was a lasting reminder of his remarkable courage and bravery.

Alan Rawlinson, fellow air ace and friend who served with Turnbull in the Middle East, remarked "He was one of the most outstanding pilots and personalities of the original 3 Squadron and was well known throughout the Middle East. His manner and sense of duty were an inspiration to all. Australia has lost one of its finest men."

Today we remember, SQNLDR Pete Turnbull DFC

Lest we forget.

Photos courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain).

26/08/2026

26 August 1945: Air Ace killed when test flying Beaufighter 2 weeks after the end of World War 2

Did you know that on this day in 1945, Squadron Leader Charles Crombie, DSO DFC died of injuries sustained when the RAAF Beaufighter he was flying crashed at RAAF Williamtown on a test flight?

Born in 1914, Charles Crombie was a jackeroo on his family’s property before enlisting in the RAAF in 1940. He underwent training in Australia, Canada and finally England through the Empire Air Training Scheme before being posted to No 25 Squadron (RAF) flying Beaufighters.

From June to November 1941 he completed 12 operational sorties over Germany before being posted to No 89 Squadron (RAF) flying Beaufighters in the Mediterranean from bases in Egypt and Malta. By the end of the year he had recorded six aerial victories. A further three victories were recorded through 1942 before he was posted in January 1943 to No 176 Squadron (RAF) in India flying Beaufighters.

On the evening of 19 January 1943, he intercepted a Japanese formation of four Japanese bombers near Calcutta which he proceeded to directly engage. Enemy gunfire from the bombers struck his aircraft causing the starboard engine to catch fire. Despite the predicament he pressed on destroying one of the aircraft. Ordering his rear navigator to bail out as the flames were worsening down along the fuselage of his aircraft, Crombie engaged the other aircraft destroying a second bomber and damaging a third. At this stage, his fuel tank exploded forcing Crombie himself to bail out with his clothes on fire.

For this action, Crombie was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Several months later, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his previous actions in the Middle East.

In September 1943, he returned to Australia taking up duties with No 5 Operational Training Unit (Beaufighters/Mosquitoes) where he flew with the future Australian screen legend Bud Tingwell. In September 1944, he was promoted to Squadron Leader and the position of Chief Flying Instructor.

On this day in 1945, only two weeks after the end of the war, Crombie was test flying RAAF Beaufighter A19-198 demonstrating a single engine approach when the engine operating suddenly faltered causing the aircraft to crash land short of the runway at RAAF Base Williamtown killing Crombie.

With 12 aerial victories all on Beaufighters, Crombie was one of the leading Beaufighter aces of the war and was known as an exceptional pilot. Fellow 5 Operational Training Unit instructor Bud Tingwell described him as "one of the best pilots in the air force." Survived by his wife and one-year-old son, his funeral was attended by all the personnel of No 5 Operational Training Unit. It was a tragic end to a distinguished airmen who had not only survived but excelled through multiple operational tours in the European and Pacific theatres only to perish two weeks after end of the war.

Lest we forget

Photos of Squadron Leader Charles Crombie DSO DFC and No 5 Operational Training Unit RAAF Beaufighters courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, Public domain)

25/08/2026

25 August 1918: Australian Air Ace, Jerry Pentland MC DFC AFC records his final two aerial victories of World War 1

Did you know that on this day in 1918, Australian Air Ace Jerry Pentland scored his final two aerial victories of the war bringing his total number of aerial victories to 23?

Alexander (Jerry) Pentland was born in 1895 in West Maitland, NSW, and was educated in Sydney and Melbourne. He enlisted in the AIF in March 1915. He served in the 12th Light Horse Regiment on Gallipoli in August and September 1915 before being repatriated to England suffering typhoid fever.

He volunteered for transfer to the Royal Flying Corp in early 1916 and after completing pilot training at Brooklands, Surry, where he earned the nickname Jerry, was posted to France with No 16 Squadron (RFC). Within several days he recorded his first aerial victory. He was again repatriated to England after breaking a leg playing rugby.

In June 1917, he returned to France serving with No 19 Squadron (RFC) flying the SPAD VII with which he would record nine aerial victories and become his preferred aircraft to fly during the war. On 16 August 1917, on a patrol he stopped an enemy truck convoy in its tracks by crippling its lead vehicle with machine-gun fire and reportedly engaged ten Albatross fighters single-handedly. By the time he had driven them off, four bullets had penetrated his leather flying suit without injuring him, while his plane had absorbed so much punishment that it had to be scrapped when he returned to base.

On 26 August he led a devastating raid on Baron Von Richthofen’s airbase destroying one aircraft in the air, multiple aircraft on the ground and then engaging an enemy train and two aircraft on his return to his base. For this action, he was awarded the Military Cross.

He was shot down in late 1917 crash landing his aircraft forcing him to again recover over a period of time. Returning to combat with No 87 Squadron (RFC), Pentland went on to record a further 13 victories where he became known for his aggressive tactics and seeking out and engaging enemy aircraft on his own. He recorded two aerial victories on 18 June when he engaged four German aircraft on his own on a solo patrol; an action for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Amongst his aircrew colleagues, he came to be known as ‘the Wild Australian’ for his reckless and aggressive action in his aircraft.

On this day in 1918, he recorded two aerial victories before again being short down himself effectively finishing his operational service in World War 1. His final tally of 23 aerial victories places him the fifth highest Australian air ace of World War 1 behind Robert Little, Stan Dallas, Harry Cobby and Roy King.

Employed in various pilot positions in the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and in civilian companies in Australia and New Guinea, Pentland again joined the RAAF in World War 2 seeing operational service in northern Australia and New Guinea flying search and rescue flying boat missions. It is believed he was the oldest operational pilot serving with the RAAF during World War 2.

He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1946 for his World War 2 Service – the citation reading "Squadron Leader Pentland has, at all times, displayed outstanding courage, initiative and skill, and these qualities, together with his excellent knowledge of New Guinea and its climatic conditions, have made his services invaluable, not only to the R.A.A.F., but to the U.S. Army Air Forces and the New Guinea Forces as well.”

After the World War 2, he became a trader and operated a coffee plantation in New Guinea before retiring to Palm Beach, New South Wales. He died on 3 November 1983 at Narrabeen, NSW.

Photos of Jerry Pentland MC, DFC, AFC courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain)

24/08/2026

24 August 1992: Air Marshal George Jones, former RAAF Chief of Air Staff and AFC air ace, passed away aged 95.

Did you know that on this day in 1992, former RAAF Chief of Air Staff and World War 1 Australian Flying Corps air ace, Air Marshal George Jones, passed away aged 95?

George Jones was born in 1896 in a rural community near Rushworth in central Victoria. Born into relative poverty as his father passed away before he was born, Jones left school at age 14 and moved to Melbourne where he gained a job as a motor mechanic. He enlisted in the AIF in June 1915 and embarked for Egypt with the 9th Light Horse Regiment later serving on Gallipoli. Transferring to the Australian Flying Corps as a mechanic in October 1916, he initially served with 1 Squadron. He applied for aircrew training and gained his wings in England in November 1917 before being posted to 4 Squadron (AFC) in France.

Over twelve months, Jones completed 150 operational sorties flying Sopwith Camels over the Western Front and recorded seven aerial victories thus, becoming an air ace. He was badly injured in combat suffering bullet wounds and burns forcing a three month break from operations to recover. In October, he led a flight of three aircraft in one of the largest aerial engagements of the war where he recorded two victories in the one sortie. He was subsequently awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for displaying the 'greatest daring and ability' in aerial fighting.

Jones joined the Australian Air Force and then the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921 and steadily rose through the ranks between the wars. As Director of Training, he had a key role in mobilising the air forces training system for the Empire Air Training Scheme for which he was subsequently promoted to Air Commodore and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. In 1942 he was a surprise selection for Chief Air Staff being promoted three ranks and jumping eight other more senior officers; an aspect that brought him in to conflict with his former mentor and friend AVM Bostock and substantial discredit upon the RAAF. Along with Bostock, Jones was one of two RAAF representatives at the signing of the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri in Sptember 1945.

Jones went on to complete ten years as Chief of Air Staff from 1942 to 1952; the longest continuous tenure of any head of the RAAF and second only to Sir Richard Williams in total time as the head. In 1953, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his military service. On this day in 1992, he passed away, the last surviving chief of any allied military service in World War 2 as well as the last AFC ace.

Photos of Air Marshal Jones courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain).

23/08/2026

23 August 1941: First RAAF Katakana Signals intercept personnel, including South Australian Ted Cook, complete training and deploy for the war becoming critical to allied intelligence in the Pacific theatre.

Did you know that on this date in 1941, the first RAAF Signals operators trained in the Japanese Katakana code completed training and deployed to Darwin for service during World War 2?

In early July 1941, nine skilled radio operators including seven from the RAAF, began a course at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, to learn the Japanese version of Morse Code. This involved learning the 71 symbols of the Kata kana syllabary used to write traditional Japanese as well as foreign words. They were all qualified radio operators and extremely proficient in international Morse code.

The RAAF members who completed the training travelled to Darwin via train and set up two intercept radios at the RAAF Darwin airfield. They worked in continuous 4-hour shifts intercepting Japanese naval "point to point" and "aircraft to ground" traffic from Japanese forces at Palau, Saipan (Marianas), Tokyo and Truk. Their intercepts were sent to the navy cryptology section in Melbourne where they were processed and analyzed.

The intelligence derived from the intercepts proved critical to the extent where the RAAF formed seven RAAF Wireless Units to perform the task throughout the Southwest Pacific theatre. Initially operating in northern Australia, the units continually moved forward through Papua and Guinea, the Dutch East Indies and then the Philippines. By late in the war, three RAAF Wireless Units were operating in the Philippines at the specific request of General Macarthur who understood the importance of the intelligence. Operating with the American forces, they became the most northerly based Australian land units in the Pacific war.

Included in the initial group was South Australian RAAF airmen Edward ‘Ted’ Cook who was born in Gladstone, South Australia, in 1910. He enlisted in the RAAF on 21 January 1941 only six months before he completed his training and was off to Darwin. While at Darwin, Cook suffered from heat and had to be hospitalized several times with furunculosis. In mid 1942, Cook was redeployed with others to Townsville to establish No 1 Wireless Unit before becoming an instructor to train new RAAF signals intelligence personnel. He completed his service being discharged from the RAAF on 11 September 1945 as a Sergeant.

Jack Brown, another South Australian who enlisted in July 1942, was also a wireless signals operator deploying to New Guinea and the Philippines with No 1 Wireless Unit and No 6 Wireless Unit. In 2006, his account of his time in the RAAF Wireless Units in World War 2, Katakana Man, won the 2005 RAAF Heritage Award and was later published by the RAAF.

Meanwhile, WGCDR Roy Booth was instrumental in establishing and developing the RAAF wireless units becoming the Deputy Director of the Allied Central Bureau, an organization charged with signals intelligence for the allies in the Southwest Pacific during World War 2.

Photos of RAAF wireless unit personnel courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain)

22/08/2026

22 August 1994: RAAF personnel deploy as part of United Nations (Rwanda) Force

Did you know that on this day in 1994, Australia deployed the first of its 300 personnel which included 17 RAAF members, to Rwanda as part of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR)?

In April 1994, ethnic violence broke out across Rwanda in central Africa following the death of the Rwandan and Burundi Presidents when their aircraft was shot down. The existing United Nations forces that were sustaining a peace agreement for an ongoing civil war were overwhelmed causing the United Nations to mobilise an enhanced United Nations peacekeeping force in August. The Australian Government committed a 300 strong ADF force comprising an ADF medical contingent that had 17 RAAF personnel.

On this day in 1994, a USAF C-5 Galaxy aircraft arrived at the Rwandan capital, Kigali, with the initial element of the Australian Medical Support Force on board. The medical contingent based themselves in the Kigali Central Hospital and although primarily charged with providing health care for the UN forces and staff of non-government air agencies, quickly found themselves treating the local civilian population.

As well as establishing a 35-bed hospital in Kigali, the medical element operated a Treatment Section at Butare several hours southwest of Kigali. Clinics were also held in outlying villages and in the sprawling refugee camps. The force encountered a great diversity of conditions and emergencies ranging from gunshot wounds, to car accidents to tropical diseases. Meanwhile, they themselves were harassed by local militia forces.

On 18 February 1995, the first contingent was replaced by a fresh 308 personnel (including 20 RAAF members) who stayed until August 1995. Some personnel in this contingent encountered particularly disturbing situations and incidents.

Photos of RAAF personnel on deployment with UNAMIR courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (AWM Licensed Copyright)

Address

Torrens Training Depot, Victoria Drive
Adelaide, SA
5000

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 2pm
Wednesday	9am - 2pm
Friday	9am - 2pm

Telephone

+61882270980

Website

http://www.afasa.org.au/

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