Air Force Association - National

03/10/2026

Members - for your consideration. See below

21/09/2026

21/09/2026

20/09/2026

14/09/2026

Battle of Britain Wreath Laying Ceremony with UK Consul Frank McGregor, Wing Commander Deanna Nott, Group Chaplain Cam Carroll.

It is good to reflect that our freedoms were bought with huge individual sacrifices.

03/07/2026

Update for our members - The Minister for Veterans Affairs has announced that Mr Brendan Cox has been appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive for the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency.

The Department acknowledges the appointment of Brendan Cox as the inaugural Chief Executive of the Veteran and Family Wellbeing Agency.

Brendan is a veteran, advocate, family man and Winston Churchill Trust Fellow.

Through his role as Chief Executive of the Agency, Brendan will drive a focus of successful transition, community connection, and improving wellbeing outcomes for veterans and families of veterans. He is committed to applying locally, what he has learnt globally.

Brendan will commence in the role on 27 July, with Alison McLaren acting as interim Chief Executive from 1 July.

🔗 Visit the link in the comments for more information.

05/06/2026

5 June 1946: 80th Anniversary of first jet propelled flight in Australia

Did you know that 80 years ago on this day in 1946, the first jet propelled flight in Australia was made by a RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 aircraft on loan to the RAAF?

On 15 May 1941, the experimental Gloster E.28/39 became the first British jet-propelled aircraft. The Gloster Meteor subsequently became the Royal Air Force's (RAF) first operational jet aircraft with the delivery of the first aircraft to No 616 Squadron RAF on 12 July 1944.

In May 1946, ex-RAF Meteor F.3 EE427 arrived at No 1 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Laverton, west of Melbourne, on loan from the British War Ministry to enable the RAAF to gain experience in operating jet aircraft.

On this day 80 years ago, SQNLDR Derek 'Jell' Cuming flew the aircraft making it the first ever jet aircraft to fly in Australia.

On 7 June 1946, the aircraft (RAF Serial EE427) was transferred to the RAAF and allocated to No 1 Air Performance Unit with the RAAF registration A77-1 making it the first of a long line of RAAF Meteor aircraft. Ironically, although the Meteor was the first jet aircraft acquired by the RAAF for flight testing, it was not until 1951 that the RAAF eventually acquired the Meteor for operational use. By that time, the de Havilland Vampire had already become the first jet integrated into the RAAF when it was accepted into the RAAF in 1949.

Having flown in operations in the Southwest Pacific during World War 2, Cuming became one of the RAAF's most noted test pilots. He was awarded an Air Force Cross in 1944 for his flight test activity with No 1 Air Performance Unit where he flew and evaluated captured Japanese aircraft. Cuming became the RAAF's first officer to complete the Empire Test Pilots course in Britain duxing the course at the end of World War 2.

He was awarded a Bar to his Air Force Cross in 1950. In 1953 he received the prestigious Oswald Watt Gold Medal awarded for an outstanding air performance or contribution to Australian aviation and was then honoured as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for commanding the RAAF’s Long Range Flight which flew two RAAF Canberra bombers in the London to Christchurch Air Race.

During the 1960s, Cuming was promoted to Group Captain and commanded RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia. He retired as an Air Commodore in 1973 passing away in 2001.

Image of Gloster Meteor jet aircraft, serial no. EE427, on the tarmac at Aircraft Performance Unit (APU) RAAF Station Laverton, before making the first flight of a jet-propelled aircraft in Australia courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain)

Story courtesy of AFA-SA.

03/06/2026

“In Your Eyes” is a powerful photography and storytelling project led by Mr Colin Bushell on behalf of the Queensland Government, in partnership with Trek2Health.

It will feature professional portraits of 40–50 Queensland veterans who served overseas. The images and stories will be showcased in a curated gallery exhibition (possibly at Queensland Parliament House) and published in a photo book, with launches planned for Remembrance Day 2026.

Army veterans have already been engaged. Strong Air Force and Navy representation is now being sought to ensure diversity in ranks, experience, gender and era.

Eligibility
✅ Served overseas with the ADF
✅ Permanently residing in Queensland as at 1 January 2026

How to nominate
Visit: https://www.trek2health.org.au/in-your-eyes/
Download the Participant Form and email it to [email protected]

Trek2Health is inviting expressions of interest for In Your Eyes, a photography and storytelling project that will honour the service, sacrifice, resilience and lived experience of Queensland veterans.

01/06/2026

1 June 1962: RAAF Sabres deploy to Ubon, Thailand.

On this day in 1962, the just re-formed No 79 Squadron equipped with RAAF Sabre aircraft deployed to Ubon Air Base, a Royal Thai Air Force Base located in eastern Thailand about 80km from the Lao border.

The Australian Government decided in May 1962 to deploy an Australian squadron to Thailand as part of a South East Asia Treaty Organisation commitment to defend the country from a possible communist attack.

Eight aircraft, aircrew and ground support personnel were selected from No 77 Squadron based at Butterworth, Malaysia. They were flown to Singapore on 29 May and then redesignated as No 79 Squadron which was disbanded following World War 2.

On 1 June 1962, the unit arrived at Ubon. Four days later, 79 SQN conducted its first combat air patrol. Meanwhile, due to the limited facilities at the airbase, RAAF C-130 Hercules flew in a base squadron of 200 men and 450 tonnes of supplies and equipment to establish a tented camp over the next ten days.

79 SQN remained at Ubon until August 1968 augmenting US air defence assets in Thailand. Aircraft were on alert and scrambled in response to believed air space intrusions. In 1966, an airfield defence guard element deployed to Ubon to enhance the base defences. On 26 July 1968 79 SQN ceased maintaining an alert status and by end of the month, was disbanded and returned to Australia.

Two Sabres were lost due to accidents during the Ubon deployment. On the 3rd Jan 1968, PLTOFF Mark McGrath was killed when Sabre A94-986 from 79 SQN stalled and crashed while flying in the base circuit after returning from an air defence mission. A three year old girl was also killed in the accident on the ground. Born in Adelaide in 1944, McGrath grew up in Plympton.

Another Sabre crashed four years earlier in September 1964, when CA-27 Sabre A94-984 suffered engine failure and crashed 28 nautical miles west of Ubon Air Base. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Don McFarlane, safely ejected in that accident.

There was one other fatal casualty during the Ubon deployment when Aircraftman John Lynden Kirkwood died in a fire in a civilian dwelling in Ubon City on 19 November 1966 while serving at Base Squadron RAAF Ubon.

Lest we forget

Photo of RAAF Sabres at Ubon courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online collection (AWM Licenced copyright and copyright expired)

30/05/2026

31 May 1971: Final RAAF 2SQN Canberra mission in Vietnam

On this day in 1971, a No 2 Squadron RAAF Canberra (A84-244) flew the squadron’s final bombing mission in the Vietnam War.

2 SQN arrived at Phan Rang Airbase in Vietnam in April 1967; it had already been operating from Butterworth, Malaysia, since 1958 for the Malayan Insurgency and then Indonesian Confrontation.

Between 1967 and 1971, 2 SQN flew an average of eight missions a day, seven days a week dropping 76,389 bombs totalling 27,158 tonnes during the Vietnam War.

2 SQN aircraft serviceability was high - a 97% serviceability rate. Eight aircraft were kept on-line at any one time and maintenance personnel worked 2 x 12 hour shifts to meet the daily tasking rate of eight sorties.

The last Canberra mission was tasked in support of the US 101st Airborne Division in the A Shau Valley, an area targeted by 2SQN many times. The mission was flown by Flying Officer David Smith (pilot), and Flying Officer Peter Murphy (navigator). Murphy was given the honour of flying the squadron's final mission as his 310 Vietnam missions with 2SQN was the Squadron's highest number of Vietnam missions.

The last bomb was painted white and 2 SQN armourers had printed in red the words "76,389th and last bomb compliments to Charlie from RAAF No. 2 Squadron RAAF UC Dai Loi".

The squadron departed Phan Rang on 4 June 1971, arriving back in Amberley on 5 June - 13 years since it deployed to Malaya in 1958.
Two RAAF Canberra aircraft were lost during the Vietnam War with the loss of two aircrew (FLGOFF Michael Herbert and FLGOFF Robert Carver) who were killed on 3 November 1970. The other Canberra (A84-228) was shot down by a surface to air missile attack - the only RAAF aircraft to have been shot down by a SAM. The crew, WGCDR John Downing (pilot) and FLTLT Allen Pinches (navigator) successfully bailed out and were rescued.

It would be another 32 years before the RAAF again dropped a bomb in anger during OP FALCONER during the Iraq War.

Words courtesy of Air Force Association (South Australia). Image of FLGOFF David Smith (left) and FLGOFF Peter Murphy (right) with the last bomb to be dropped by a RAAF aircraft during the Vietnam War on 31 May 1971 courtesy of Australian War Memorial Digital Online Collection (Copyright expired, public domain).