Verses and Recollections from W.A.G.S.
From one exam, to another, we’ve battled through the course;
We’ve struggled with our theory and battled with our Morse:
We’ve wrestled with procedure, and with prac. we fiercely fought,
And instructor’s threats and curses sometimes seemed to go for nought.
We were frozen in the Winter; Spring we never knew:
But we beat them all and came right through, and now we’re Wireless Ops.
And in the future you will find that Forty three’s the tops.
By ‘ Bobby’ Course 43
While stationed up at Ballarat
And freezing half to death
We were trying hard to make it as a W.A.G;
We twiddled knobs on radios,
The circuits we learned too,
And we’d help each other should spirits deign to sag.
The battle with Morse code went on
As speeds increased each day
And I was fortunate that it didn't worry me,
But those operating prceedures
Which we had to learn by rote
Caused many a sprog to go right off his tea.
With the aldis lamp we battled
As we flashed our message through
And with aircraft rec. we fell for many a trap,
When a plane flashed o'er the screen
We oft wondered what we'd seen
Did that plane belong to German, Yank or Jap?
And out there on parade
We just had to get it right
Or we'd end up on a route march to the lake,
And at P.T. we'd sweat and strain
Doing push-ups with much pain
Until we felt as though our aching bones would break.
When we finally reached the stage
Where we began flying in those planes
We all new this was what ' twas all about,
But as we crossed the countryside
Oh, how those Aggies ducked and dived
And there was many a sprog who moaned " Oh let me out."
But we put up with the freezing cold,
We even came to like P.T.,
And we learned to ride those Aggies without bag,
The demon Morse was slain
As the Morse keys sang a tune
And at least we enjoyed our training as a W.A.G.
However, when the course was finished
And all the final tests were done
It was sad to find that one or two must fail,
But the rest of us were happy
As we hopped aboard that train
And went off to do our gunnery course at Sale.
Extract from W.A.G. Tales, by Gordon Russell Course 52B
Forty trainees housed in one long hut,
Corrugated iron all around,
Except for windows which iced right up
When heavy frosts spread o’er the ground;
But with stray pallaise and three blankets each
We fought a running battle with that cold,
And the folding of blankets which evolved
Was a marvel to behold.
Extract from bitter Blast at Ballarat by Gordon Russell Course 52B
“ More recently, in 1993, returning from a trip to Adelaide, staying overnight at
Ballarat, I went to look for the old base and transmitting station. I was in the
general area but was surprised that none of the locals I asked seemed to know
exactly where it was. Eventually I found what was left of the old WAGS but there
is no sign of any part of the transmitting station. I was surprised at how much
closer to town it now appears to be, that is, it is closer than I was those nights
when I missed the last bus!"
Reminiscence of Don Brown, Ex RAAF No 50021
“ Life at No 1 W.A.G.S. was much like that anywhere in the armed forces, except for
the Ballarat Winter, which included one of our group to wear his flying boots to
bed. There was the usual petty discipline, strict but so easily circumvented.”
Extract from memories of Ken Sillcock course 36-37
“ About this time a move was made to the new Station a few miles out of town.
Sheer luxury, sleeping on a bed in a modern hut- an ocean of hot water – the
rediscovery of Mr Crapper’s invention, a modern mess, well-lit airy class rooms
and so on. But something was missing, indefinable, intangible or whatever –
the new station had no character – it wasn’t even bloody cold.”
Extract from the memories of P.A. Haynes ex Fl/Lt 406039
THE RIPPLE FROM THE SUNNY SOUTH
The saga of 1 WAGS, in Ballarat
During WW2 number 1 Wireless Air Gunners School (1 WAGS) was situated on what is
now the Civil Aviation Aerodrome in Ballarat, Victoria.
It was there after my rookies course at Point Cook I was posted in November 1940,
and stayed there until posted North in October 1944.
Wing Commander Fairbairn was the Officer in charge of the school,
and many Amateur Wireless Operators were in charge of training.
I can remember a few; Peter Lempriere, Reg Little, Fred Bail, George Braddock,
Geoff Hughes, Roth Jones, Doug Tacey, Alf Chandler and others.
Flight Lieutenant Simmons was in charge of the Signals Office,
and on arrival at the school it was he to whom I reported.
He immediately put me to work communicating through wireless to trainees
in the air using old WW1 1082/1083 transmitter/receivers.
The trainees were airborne in two engined Anson aircraft.
1 WAGS trained enlisted personnel in all aspects of wireless communication, morse code,
wireless theory and practice, in preperation for their role as Wireless Air Gunners in the Pacific area,
the Mediteranean, and the European theatres of war.
The Outstations as they were called, were situated close to the runway for easy access to the aircraft.
Ansons and later, Douglas DC2s flew the trainees on their training flights around the countryside,
and used the Australian manufactured AWA
AT5/AR8 transmitters/receivers. By the time that trainees were eligible for that class of training
they had mastered morse, and the setting up of equipment for communication and were being trained
in communicating from the air. As well as morse they had been trained in logging,
sending and receiving morse messages, and setting up of their equipment.
This had been achieved by instructors taking them out in Airforce tenders for the day to set up
their stations and communicate with the base station in the Outstation.
As one of the instructors has said " These were great days. We used to visit Creswick, Lake Wendouree
and Burrumbeet, and a number of pleasant spots around Ballarat.
The job was done and the trainees became skilled in setting up their mobile communication centres
and making communication with their Ballarat base with a minium delay."
As mentioned above, the aircraft had been modified for in-air training and were flown by seasoned
commercial airmen. Among them was Lional Van Prage, better known in the 30's as a dirt track rider than an airman.
His sister was later the Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet in its earlier days.
Also in the training were a number of smaller Wackett aircraft, two seaters with the trainee sitting behind the pilot.
Despite the cramped conditions our wireless operator was able to maintain wireless contact with base.
Thanks to the instructors a host of skilled wireless operators left for further training in air gunnery.
By Alfred Chandler VK3LC
It is 54 years since I was a WAG trainee at Ballarat, so my recollections are somewhat hazy.
I was on 9 Course, one of the early ones, and stationed at Ballarat from January to June 1941.
We had come from all States because there was only one WAGS school in existance.
I think No. 2 WAGS at Parkes must have started about 10 Course.
There were no WAAAFS on the Station. They were first enlisted about April at Robertson N.S.W. We were a man's world!
The first thing were noticed on arrival was that discipline was strict, but not nearly so severe as Somers from whence some
of us had come. Somers was copied from the Flinders Naval Base as trainees had to move at the double at all times,
and nobody was allowed to walk.
One of the strange things i remember is being able to buy white chocolate frogs at the canteen!
They were very popular.
There was a constant battle to improve our Morse speed from 6-8 WPM to 8-10,12-15,15-18,
and 18+. 18 WPM was the required speed to pass out at the end of the course.
The main hurdle seemed to be 12WPM; some of the trainees just couldn't get past it and were failed.
An ear for music seemed to be a help.
Our goal was to reach the final month when we could fly. Few of us had ever been up in an aircraft.
We were to fly in DC2's and Tiger Moths. In the Tiger, we were told that the trainee had to strap a notebook to his leg so he could write
down the messages. Sadly, (or luckily) all the Tigers were unservicable when out turn came so we were restricted to DC2's.
Most of us felt the cold at Ballarat, which was more severe than many of us had ever experienced. Personally,
I would have not minded it so much had i known that I was destined to fly on a Whitley squadron based in Iceland, of all places!
Those of us from N.S.W. and Queensland were fascinated to see Australian Rules Football played for the first time.
Some of the boys had never even heard of it before. As far as they knew, there was only Football [Rugby] and Soccer.
The local people were most hospitable. I made friends to whom I wrote for many years, as did many others.
The kindness was especially welcome because few of us had been out of our own States before the war; travel was more difficult then.
The six months course at Ballarat would have been the longest single course undertaken by any aircrew - Pilots, Observers or WAGS.
I know I found my Ballarat stint the most rewarding part of my training, and left me of fond memories of its people.
Robert R Royal Course 9
