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 -
As part of Ballarat’s Commemorative Military Monuments, The Grieving Mother and Garden at The Arch of Victory site recognises the grief and sacrifice mothers and wives experience when they lose a son, daughter, or husband as a result of the devastation of war.
This intrinsic bond of mother and child is aptly demonstrated with the statue of the grief- stricken mother holding a photo of her son in a military uniform.
The words on the accompanying plaque read :
‘… you and other poor souls of women who have to remain at home have the anguish of suspense and anxiety to bear,
not knowing when a terrible blow may fall, as it has upon you.’
The heartache experienced by this loss is made all the more to bear when more than one son or family member has
been killed in Action or on Active Service.
At No. One Wireless Air Gunners School Ballarat during WW2, three sets of brothers who trained at the school were KILLED.
The following are the names of brothers who trained at 1 W.A.G.S. and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Sgt Ronald McGregor HERMAN 407030 and Sgt James Alexander HERMAN 407713 Killed Aircraft Accidents
F/Sgt Brian Leo SHEEAN 409855 and F/Sgt Lorin James SHEEAN 410014 Killed Flying Battles/Operations
Sgt George Frederick BOLTON 401412 and Cpl Robert Burns BOLTON 10173 Flying Battle and Aircraft Accident
