Cootamundra

20 From 1940 to 1946, Cootamundra was home to the No 1 Air Observers School (No 1 AOS) at the aerodrome. No 1 AOS was set up to train navigators, aerial photographers and bombardiers. An estimated 2,630 RAAF air observers trainees passed out from No 1 AOS, one of the more notable being Gough Whitlam AC QC, the late Prime Minister of Australia, who joined the RAAF in December 1941 and spent six months from May 1942 training to be a navigator bomb-aimer. The first intake of air trainees reported for duty on 29 April 1940 and at the height of its operation, more than 1,000 RAAF personnel were involved with the training school, swelling the township’s population. These included the support staff required to turn out qualified air navigators, ranging from pilots and lecturers through to cooks and guards. LOCAL AERODROME.... Apart from the local contribution to construction and maintenance, what were the key connections between Cootamundra’s No. 3. Inland Aviation Fuel Depot and the rest of town? No. 21 course group portrait at No. 1 Air Observer School. 1942. Australian War Memorial A DH-89 Domine over Cootamundra in August 1940. Australian War Memorial RAAF Flying Officer William George Sims, air photograph Interpreter, wearing a Sidcot flying suit and carrying A F28 Aerial Camera. 1940s. Australian War Memorial