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 -
One hundred and one year old Flight Lieutenant Brian Winspear was the guest of honour at the recent Commemoration of 80 Years since the Bombing of Darwin held on the 19th February 2022. Brian is one of the last WW2 airmen to see active service and witness the Bombing of Darwin.
Darwin, with its port and airfield facilities, was deemed vital in Australia's defences against Japanese forces during World War II.
That day, just before 10am, about 188 Japanese aircraft launched a deadly air raid on Darwin, followed closely by a second attack destroying ships, airfields and reducing what was then a town to rubble.
About 235 people were killed, more than 400 people wounded, 30 aircraft destroyed, nine ships sunk, and many military and civilian facilities destroyed.
