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 -
Warrant Officer FRANCIS NOEL MILLER PETCH
Warrant Officer Francis Noel Miller Petch was born and educated in Ballarat, Victoria Australia. He trained as a Wireless Air Gunner at No. 1 W.A.G.S. Ballarat- Courses 34/35.
He was posted to England and served with the 550 and 150 Squadrons RAF in Bomber Command. Warrant Officer Petch completed 36 Operations in the iconic Lancaster aircraft with bombing raids over Germany.
This was a remarkable time of survival during operations encountering night fighters, flack, near misses of collision with other Lancasters and severe weather conditions.
Warrant Officer Petch was discharged on the 28th November 1945 and returned to Ballarat to resume his life in his home town.
We pay tribute to the gallantry of Warrant Officer Petch and his outstanding RAAF service during WW2.
