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Empire Air Training Scheme |
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The Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) was set up by Great Britain and the Dominions shortly after the start of the World War II. The main signatories were Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The broad agreement was to provide trained aircrews to serve with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Before World War II, it had become increasingly obvious that with the rise in the importance of air power and the advances in aeronautical technology, more aircrews than ever before would be needed. This realisation was particularly in relation to bombers which were becoming increasingly bigger and requiring more crew members to operate. As well as bomber crews, the RAF required fighter pilots, maritime patrol crews to patrol the waters around Great Britain (to counter the threat of German submarines) and transport crews. The scheme did not contribute ground staff, only trained aircrews. The goals and structure of the EATS were formulated at a conference held at Ottawa, Canada in October 1939. After several weeks of bargaining, an agreement was reached in mid December 1939. Australia agreed initially to provide 28,000 men to the EATS over three years. This represented 36 per cent of the total of aircrews to be trained under the scheme in that period. Great Britain provided the bulk of aircrew trainees under the scheme, then Canada, then Australia and finally New Zealand. Eventually, some 37,000 Australian airmen would be trained under the EATS. Under the scheme, aircrews could be trained in Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and British flying schools. All of the RAAF's EATS started their training in Australia and some did all their training up to Operational Training Unit (pre-squadron) level within Australia, proceeding directly to Europe or the Middle East to be posted to squadrons. Canada, however, was a very important area for aircrew training and thousands of young Australian men were sent there to complete intermediate and advanced training before proceeding to Britain. In 1940-41, several hundred others were sent to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), most then proceeding to the Middle East to serve. The first EATS course was sent overseas to Canada in early 1940. The first batch of Australian airmen arrived in Britain in late 1940, and were in action early the following year. (No EATS graduates completed training in time to serve in the Battle of Britain.) Most young aircrew recruits wanted to be pilots. However, at Initial Training School (to which all recruits were sent first) the young men were tested and then streamed into areas of training. Those who showed an aptitude for flying were trained as pilots; others with mathematical skills as navigators; etc. The recruits would then pass through a succession of increasingly more advanced training establishments before graduating from the scheme. Many trainees went overseas after finished at the Service Flying Training Schools (SFTS), while many others went overseas to complete training after passing through a Bombing and Air Gunnery School (BAGS), etc. In each stage, some were 'scrubbed', pulled out of aircrew training and served as ground staff instead. The EATS attracted the 'pick of the crop' in many ways, with high standards of education evident among recruits. Once in their stream, the trainees finished standardized training courses. In 1941-42, however, when there was a backlog in pilot training and a great need for air gunners, the RAF's heavy bombers, the Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster, were equipped with more gun turrets than earlier models, some pilot trainees opted to train as gunners instead, with a promise that they could complete pilot training after completing a tour as a gunner. (Although those sent to Bomber Command had a less than 50% chance of finishing a tour.) The training experiences of aircrew trainees under the EATS varied widely. All started training in Australia, many being sent to isolated areas like Narrandera, NSW, where clear skies and flat ground were good for flying schools to be established at. Many then went to Canada, often experiencing for the first time snow, training in areas all over that country. Others went to Rhodesia, and most ended up finishing their training in Britain. Training was dangerous and deadly, about 20 per cent of recruits, particularly pilots, were killed in training accidents. Thus EATS recruits became used to dying long before training was finished. Graduates of the EATS could be sent to RAF squadrons anywhere in the world. Some, however, went to 'Australian' squadrons. One area of concern when negotiating the EATS had been that by providing so many young men to the RAF, the Dominions would in effect be "losing" them to Great Britain. The Dominions wanted their national contribution recognised in some tangible form. A compromise was therefore reached whereby under Article XV of the EATS, squadrons recognising the nationality of the Dominions' airmen would be raised; although operating as part of the RAF, these would be considered as Royal Canadian Air Force, RAAF and RNZAF squadrons. The RAAF was allocated 450 to 467 Squadrons as 'Article XV squadrons' to raise. However, only a proportion of Australian trainees would serve in these squadrons, the bulk would still serve in RAF squadrons and could be sent to any theatre of war with the RAF. A recruit could therefore be trained in Australia, Canada and Britain and then end up based in Britain or sent around the world to Burma. The bulk of men ended up in RAF Bomber Command, which had the highest turnover of aircrews because of heavy losses in long range bombing missions over Europe. Because of the different areas of training and service, there was no one particular war experience for EATS graduates except flying. |
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