Our Journey

The Australian Air Corps (a temporary Army unit) was disbanded and the Australian Air Force (AAF) created on 31 March 1921. The AAF immediately took possession of existing aircraft and equipment at Point Cook. Later in the year on 13 August, following receipt of approval from the King, the Governor General signed an order authorising the use of ‘Royal’ making this the start date for the use of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) name.

RAAF Point Cook is located on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, 20 kilometres south west of the Melbourne central business district, near the township of Werribee, Victoria and is synonymous with the birth of military aviation in Australia.

An Army Order from September 1912 proposed the creation of a flight of an aeroplane squadron leading to Henry Petre and Eric Harrison being recruited in England to establish an aviation school. Petre arrived in Australia in January 1913 recommended selection of the Point Cook area for the school.

The Central Flying School opened at Point Cook in February 1914 with the first flight on 1 March, about 2 years after work commenced to form an Australian military flying corps.

Flying training commenced on 17 August 1914, thirteen days after the start of World War I. The first pilots’ course graduation in November 1914 coincided with the first ever operational deployment of men and aircraft from the base when two pilots, four mechanics and two aircraft deployed to German New Guinea. The flying unit did not see action and, in fact, never unpacked its aircraft.

The Australian Half-Flight, formed at Point Cook, included 4 officers from the Central Flying School, as well as 41 other ranks, but no aircraft. The unit embarked in Melbourne during in 1915 and was sent to Mesopotamia, the modern Iraq. In 1916, Nos. 1, 3 and 4 Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps were formed at Point Cook before deploying to Egypt and to the Western Front.

After World War I ended, the Australian Flying Corps disbanded in 1919 leaving its aircraft with the Royal Air Force. In Australia, military flying virtually ceased until 1920 when the Australian Air Corps was formed as an Australian Army unit.

On 31 March 1921 The Australian Air Force was formed as an independent service and the third arm of Australia’s military forces. It acquired the prefix ‘Royal’ with effect 31 August 1921 after approval was granted by King George V.

Nos. 1 to 5 Squadrons, Royal Australian Air Force were formed at Point Cook in 1922. The flying school was now designated No. 1 Flying Training School. The Base had 20 Avro 504Ks, 10 Sopwith Pups and six Fairey seaplanes.

Point Cook was designated as No. 1 Station Royal Australian Air Force and remained the only Australian military air station until 1925. In 1923 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) set up a cadet training scheme operated by No. 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook to provide pilots for the RAAF.

Point Cook's most rapid growth occurred after the declaration of war on 3 September 1939. A vastly expanded training program included training in flying, navigation, reconnaissance, signalling, armaments, operations and instruction. Numerous new squadrons and units were formed to provide trained aircrew under the Empire Air Training Scheme. The Station Headquarters at Point Cook was established in October 1941 to coordinate the new activity.

The Aircraft Research and Development Unit was established at Point Cook in 1946 as No. 1 Air Performance Unit. It moved to RAAF Laverton, now RAAF Williams - Laverton in 1948 and then to RAAF Edinburgh, South Australia, in 1976. The Central Flying School was reformed in April 1940 at RAAF Point Cook but moved to Camden in May. It returned briefly to RAAF Point Cook in 1944 before moving to its new home at RAAF Base East Sale.

RAAF College was established at RAAF Point Cook on 1 August 1947 assuming the role of cadet instruction from No. 1 Flying Training School. The new cadet training course had the character of a modern university education, lasting four years and aiming to provide graduates with a thorough grounding in the principles of air power and the art of leadership, as well as theoretical and practical flying training. In January 1961 RAAF College became the RAAF Academy forming a partnership with the University of Melbourne offering degree level education.

RAAF Staff College was formed in nucleus form at Albert Park Barracks on 15 February 1949 but moved to Point Cook on 1 June in time for the first course to commence on 14 June. Staff College was conceived as an institute to prepare senior officers for future command appointments; it moved to Canberra in 1960. Also in 1949, the Aviation Medical Section of Station Headquarters, Point Cook, and the Medical Training Section of No. 6 RAAF Hospital, Laverton, merged to form the School of Aviation Medicine.

In 1952 the RAAF Museum was formed under the administration of Headquarters Point Cook becoming an independent unit in 1988. Today the RAAF Museum showcases the exploits of prominent military aviators and displays Australian military aviation memorabilia and more than twenty aircraft previously operated by the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Royal Australian Air Force continued to evolve and most of the units based at Point Cook either disbanded or relocated. In 1986 the RAAF Academy closed with the formation of the tri-service Australian Defence Force Academy. RAAF College was eventually reformed to provide initial and postgraduate officer training for the Royal Australian Air Force and relocated to RAAF Base Wagga. On 31 March 1989 RAAF Bases Point Cook and Laverton were amalgamated under a single command and management structure to form RAAF Williams. Under this arrangement, Point Cook became RAAF Williams – Point Cook. In 1993 an era came to an end when No. 1 Flying Training School was closed at Point Cook.

Under the Defence Reform Program introduced by the government in 1997, RAAF Base Point Cook was one of 4 southern RAAF bases slated for closure. Fortunately, the heritage value of RAAF Base Point Cook to the Australian nation was recognised in 2004 when it was included on the Commonwealth Heritage list as a Listed Place. In 2007 the base was placed on the National Heritage List also as a Listed Place and on 20 September 2007, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence announced that Point Cook would be retained as a Defence asset.

In 2017 RAAF Base Point Cook once more regained its separate identity. The Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal G.N. Davies, renamed it RAAF Base Point Cook ‘in perpetuity’ to reflect its original name and unique status as the only RAAF Base on the National Heritage List and the oldest military air base in Australia.

Having been in operation since 1914, RAAF Base Point Cook is Australia’s oldest military air base and one of the world’s oldest continually operating airfields. Today Point Cook is home to No. 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron. The squadron provides airbase combat support to RAAF Base Williams. The RAAF Museum is also based at RAAF Base Point Cook.

Around 240 officers and airmen of the RAAF returned to the Point Cook air base after completing more than three months of non-technical training at the Army’s Central Training Depot (CTD) at Holsworthy, outside the Sydney suburb of Liverpool.

Air Force’s acting Chief of the Air Staff, Wing Commander S.J. (‘Jimmy’) Goble, and pilot, Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre, alighted off St Kilda Beach, Melbourne, in a Fairey IIID seaplane A10-3, at the end of the first round-Australia flight.

Since departing from Point Cook air base on 6 April, they had spent 90 hours in the air, travelled 13,700 kilometres, surviving bad weather, poor maps, damage to their aircraft, compass failure and fatigue to complete an aerial survey of the Australian coastline.

A crowd of 10,000 welcomed them back and cheered their triumph, which earned both men the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

RAAF Williams - Laverton is located beside the Princes Highway next to the Laverton railway station, Victoria, about seven kilometres away from RAAF Base Point Cook. Since the airfield was decommissioned in 1996 there have been no flying units or flying activity at Laverton.

In May 1921, the Australian Air Force (AAF), acquired 160 acres of a Closer Settlement Farm allotment at Laverton intended as the future permanent home of No. 1 Aircraft Depot. The depot’s official formation took place at Point Cook on 21 July 1921 and it became the first unit to occupy Laverton when it moved from Point Cook on 1 March 1926.

In 1927, the Northern and Papuan Survey Flights were formed at Laverton and proceeded to carry out a reconnaissance of the coastal district of Papua and the Mandated Territories using two Seagull amphibian aircraft.

No. 1 Squadron relocated to Laverton on 16 January 1928 and carried out Army co-operation duties. In March 1935, Recruit and Training Section formed within 1AD at Laverton. As well as recruit training, the section provided Armament training and became the basis for the 1AD Armament School which formed into a separate unit in January 1940.

As the RAAF expanded during the 1930s, the number of units stationed at Laverton grew. No. 21 (Cadre) Squadron, a Citizen Air Force unit, was formed on 20 April 1936 and was later renamed No. 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron on 1 July. On 3 May 1937, No. 2 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron and No. 23 (General Purpose) (Cadre) Squadron were formed at Laverton. General Reconnaissance School moved to Laverton on 1 July 1940.

In response to a rapid escalation of operations in the Pacific theatre, Australia imported and also undertook local manufacture of aircraft and airborne systems. In response, on 21 July 1941, 1AD formed a Special Duties and Performance Flight at Laverton to provide technical and flight test support services for the introduction of new aircraft and systems. This flight was absorbed into the new No. 1 Aircraft Performance Unit formed at RAAF Base Laverton on 1 December 1943 to provide a more focused support organisation.

The Equipment Training School formed as a separate unit at Laverton on 30 November 1942, with the role to train personnel in equipment and stores procedures, administration and accounting. Several more flying squadrons were formed at Laverton in 1943, including No. 67 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron in January, No. 79 Squadron in April, and No. 37 (Transport) Squadron in July. No. 150 Radar Direction Finding (RDF) Station formed at Laverton on 17 April 1943 before relocating to Darwin in June.

The origins of air traffic control training in the Air Force can also be traced back to Laverton in the early 1940s. Although the exact date of its establishment is obscure, a Flying Control School was operating at Laverton at least from 1943.

In January 1945, there were more than 800 personnel on posted strength at Laverton including members of the Womens’ Auxiliary Australian Air Force and the RAAF Nursing Service. The end of the war in August was celebrated by the station band playing in Melbourne, festivities in the various messes and an air display at Laverton. By the end of 1945 the number of personnel at Laverton had dropped to 635 and to 179 by the middle of 1946 as the RAAF demobilised.

As the post-war Permanent Air Force organisations took shape, Laverton also evolved. The Central Photographic Unit moved to Laverton from Brisbane in May 1946, where it was disbanded in July 1947 before re-activating as Central Photographic Establishment on 14 June 1949. In September 1947, No. 1 Aircraft Performance Unit temporarily relocated to RAAF Base Point Cook and was renamed Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU). The unit moved back to RAAF Base Laverton in October 1948, before moving to RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia in February 1977. No. 6 RAAF Hospital moved to Laverton and commenced operations as a separate unit on 23 May 1949 after relocating from Heidelberg, Victoria.

Laverton entered the jet age on 5 June 1946 with the first demonstration flight of a Gloster Meteor Mk III aircraft, that had been assembled at the base. Less than a year later, on 15 May 1947, the first Vampire jet aircraft assembled by 1AD at Laverton, made its debut flight. The first Australian-built Canberra Mk20 landed at Laverton on delivery to 1AD. In November 1959, a Dakota equipped fir jet-assisted take-off was tested by ARDU at Laverton. Also fitted with retractable skis, the Dakota had been modified by the de Havilland Aircraft Company at Bankstown, NSW to accompany RAAF’s Antarctic flight to Mawson, Antarctica in December.

No. 1 National Service Training Course commenced at Laverton on 30 July 1951 as part of the National Service Training Scheme. No. 5 National Service Training Unit was formed at Laverton on 11 November 1953 and was disbanded on 27 June 1957, after compulsory training for RAAF was discontinued from the previous month.

In 1952, Laverton hosted the ceremonial parade at which the RAAF received the Queen’s Colour, the first honour of its type presented to the Air Force. Almost every Air Force unit was represented at the Colour Parade held on 17 September which was attended by the Chief of the Air Staff, Chief of the General Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, members of the Air Board, and other Air Officers together with about 3,000 guests.

In the following year, the RAAF School of Radio commenced moving to Laverton on 11 April 1961, departing Ballarat, Victoria ending its association of 21 years with that city. In October 1964 the RAAF Printing and Publications Unit moved to Laverton from Albert Parks Barracks in Melbourne.

In December 1962, work was completed on the northern run-up of the North-South runway and was ready for use by the United States Air Force USAF U-2 detachment engaged in upper atmosphere sampling as part of Operation Crowflight. The USAF detachment operated from Laverton for several weeks sampling the atmosphere south of the Australian continent using equipment designed by the Radiophysics Division of CSIRO.

On 4 March 1963, the Freedom of the Shire of Werribee was conferred on RAAF Bases Laverton and Point Cook at a ceremony held at Chirnside Park during which a scroll outlining the rights conferred was presented by the Shire President.

Laverton welcomed the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) Training Flight at Laverton on 10 January 1977 before being renamed Women’s Training Unit on 23 May 1977 when the WRAAF and Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service were integrated into the Air Force.

RAAF Williams formed on 31 March 1989, from the amalgamation of RAAF Bases Point Cook and Laverton under a single command and management structure. The new formation was named in honour of Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO, the most significant figure in the establishment of the Royal Australian Air Force. Under the restructure RAAF Base Laverton became RAAF Williams – Laverton, and the headquarters and base squadrons of the two bases were disbanded and replaced by Headquarters Williams and Base Squadron Williams.

Further changes were to come, the 1991 Defence Force Structure Review examining the disposition and functions of all Defence units, led to the civilianisation and commercialisation of some Defence functions. This led to the disbandment of the RAAF School of Radio on 31 December 1993. No. 1 Aircraft Depot also phased-down its operations and disbanded on 2 December 1994.

In January 1992, a government-sponsored report was released that recommended the disposal of the Laverton airfield, while Laverton base would be retained. Units to be based at Laverton were No. 6 RAAF Hospital, Central Photographic Unit, the Defence International Training Centre, No. 21 Squadron, the RAAF Central Band and Headquarters Training Command. In 1997 Headquarters Logistics Command functions were absorbed by the tri-service Joint Logistics Command organisation. On 14 December 2002 No. 6 RAAF Hospital disbanded at Laverton, having celebrated its 60th anniversary on 29 November.

In 2017 RAAF Base Point Cook once more regained its separate identity, leaving Laverton to carry the RAAF Williams designation. Today Laverton is the home of Headquarters Air Force Training Group (formerly Training Command) and RAAF Central Band as well as several Defence and joint organisations, including the Defence Force School of Languages, Defence International Training Centre, Defence Publishing Services, Headquarters Joint Logistics Command, and Joint Logistics Unit - Victoria, and elements of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group.

Flying Officer W.G. (‘Gordon’) Rae became the first Air Force member to save their life in a mid-air emergency by using a parachute. Following a wing failure during an inverted loop, Rae jumped from a plummeting Bristol Bulldog biplane at about 2000 feet and safely landed by parachute.  

RAAF Point Cook is located on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, 20 kilometres south west of the Melbourne central business district, near the township of Werribee, Victoria and is synonymous with the birth of military aviation in Australia.

An Army Order from September 1912 proposed the creation of a flight of an aeroplane squadron leading to Henry Petre and Eric Harrison being recruited in England to establish an aviation school. Petre arrived in Australia in January 1913 recommended selection of the Point Cook area for the school.

The Central Flying School opened at Point Cook in February 1914 with the first flight on 1 March, about 2 years after work commenced to form an Australian military flying corps.

Flying training commenced on 17 August 1914, thirteen days after the start of World War I. The first pilots’ course graduation in November 1914 coincided with the first ever operational deployment of men and aircraft from the base when two pilots, four mechanics and two aircraft deployed to German New Guinea. The flying unit did not see action and, in fact, never unpacked its aircraft.

The Australian Half-Flight, formed at Point Cook, included 4 officers from the Central Flying School, as well as 41 other ranks, but no aircraft. The unit embarked in Melbourne during in 1915 and was sent to Mesopotamia, the modern Iraq. In 1916, Nos. 1, 3 and 4 Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps were formed at Point Cook before deploying to Egypt and to the Western Front.

After World War I ended, the Australian Flying Corps disbanded in 1919 leaving its aircraft with the Royal Air Force. In Australia, military flying virtually ceased until 1920 when the Australian Air Corps was formed as an Australian Army unit.

On 31 March 1921 The Australian Air Force was formed as an independent service and the third arm of Australia’s military forces. It acquired the prefix ‘Royal’ with effect 31 August 1921 after approval was granted by King George V.

Nos. 1 to 5 Squadrons, Royal Australian Air Force were formed at Point Cook in 1922. The flying school was now designated No. 1 Flying Training School. The Base had 20 Avro 504Ks, 10 Sopwith Pups and six Fairey seaplanes.

Point Cook was designated as No. 1 Station Royal Australian Air Force and remained the only Australian military air station until 1925. In 1923 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) set up a cadet training scheme operated by No. 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook to provide pilots for the RAAF.

Point Cook's most rapid growth occurred after the declaration of war on 3 September 1939. A vastly expanded training program included training in flying, navigation, reconnaissance, signalling, armaments, operations and instruction. Numerous new squadrons and units were formed to provide trained aircrew under the Empire Air Training Scheme. The Station Headquarters at Point Cook was established in October 1941 to coordinate the new activity.

The Aircraft Research and Development Unit was established at Point Cook in 1946 as No. 1 Air Performance Unit. It moved to RAAF Laverton, now RAAF Williams - Laverton in 1948 and then to RAAF Edinburgh, South Australia, in 1976. The Central Flying School was reformed in April 1940 at RAAF Point Cook but moved to Camden in May. It returned briefly to RAAF Point Cook in 1944 before moving to its new home at RAAF Base East Sale.

RAAF College was established at RAAF Point Cook on 1 August 1947 assuming the role of cadet instruction from No. 1 Flying Training School. The new cadet training course had the character of a modern university education, lasting four years and aiming to provide graduates with a thorough grounding in the principles of air power and the art of leadership, as well as theoretical and practical flying training. In January 1961 RAAF College became the RAAF Academy forming a partnership with the University of Melbourne offering degree level education.

RAAF Staff College was formed in nucleus form at Albert Park Barracks on 15 February 1949 but moved to Point Cook on 1 June in time for the first course to commence on 14 June. Staff College was conceived as an institute to prepare senior officers for future command appointments; it moved to Canberra in 1960. Also in 1949, the Aviation Medical Section of Station Headquarters, Point Cook, and the Medical Training Section of No. 6 RAAF Hospital, Laverton, merged to form the School of Aviation Medicine.

In 1952 the RAAF Museum was formed under the administration of Headquarters Point Cook becoming an independent unit in 1988. Today the RAAF Museum showcases the exploits of prominent military aviators and displays Australian military aviation memorabilia and more than twenty aircraft previously operated by the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Royal Australian Air Force continued to evolve and most of the units based at Point Cook either disbanded or relocated. In 1986 the RAAF Academy closed with the formation of the tri-service Australian Defence Force Academy. RAAF College was eventually reformed to provide initial and postgraduate officer training for the Royal Australian Air Force and relocated to RAAF Base Wagga. On 31 March 1989 RAAF Bases Point Cook and Laverton were amalgamated under a single command and management structure to form RAAF Williams. Under this arrangement, Point Cook became RAAF Williams – Point Cook. In 1993 an era came to an end when No. 1 Flying Training School was closed at Point Cook.

Under the Defence Reform Program introduced by the government in 1997, RAAF Base Point Cook was one of 4 southern RAAF bases slated for closure. Fortunately, the heritage value of RAAF Base Point Cook to the Australian nation was recognised in 2004 when it was included on the Commonwealth Heritage list as a Listed Place. In 2007 the base was placed on the National Heritage List also as a Listed Place and on 20 September 2007, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence announced that Point Cook would be retained as a Defence asset.

In 2017 RAAF Base Point Cook once more regained its separate identity. The Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal G.N. Davies, renamed it RAAF Base Point Cook ‘in perpetuity’ to reflect its original name and unique status as the only RAAF Base on the National Heritage List and the oldest military air base in Australia.

Having been in operation since 1914, RAAF Base Point Cook is Australia’s oldest military air base and one of the world’s oldest continually operating airfields. Today Point Cook is home to No. 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron. The squadron provides airbase combat support to RAAF Base Williams. The RAAF Museum is also based at RAAF Base Point Cook.