From the archives of Warbirds Online we today present a series of photos gathered from an unknown WWII parachute trainee taken at RAAF base Richmond thought to be in December 1943. With the advent of WWII being fought in a jungle environment in the Pacific theatre and the emergence of more and more Parachute operations carried out by the Army, especially by Commando units the need to have a specialized training facility for this expanding form of deployment of troops into the battlefield became clear.
The first military parachute training unit in Australia was the Paratroop Training Unit (PTU), formed at Laverton in Victoria on 3 November 1942. On 16 November 1942 PTU was relocated to Tocumwal in NSW. PTU was subsequently transferred to RAAF Base Richmond on 6 April 1943 until it was disbanded at the end of WWII, in 1945.
These images although generally of poor quality give an insight to the training environment of the time.
Among the photos are some taken during a graduation / presentation ceremony at Richmond at the end of a course. One image depicts a Medical Sergeant loaded down with a seemingly impossible amount of gear which the caption in the album states includes “ Medic Orderly Kit and Stretcher “ which illustrates the difficult and stressful nature of the WWII parachute units deployment.
Also of interest is the use of a unique Australian invention the “Storepedo” fitted underneath a DC2 of the RAAF. “The Australian Inventions Directorate headed by Sir Laurence Hartnett, tasked the Ordnance Production Directorate to produce a solution. G.W Griffiths, on a secondment with the directorate, came up with the answer to examine the problem -a shock absorbent heavy-gauge wire netting container to absorb the impact. Griffiths named this an ‘Aeropak’. The design also allows for a parachute to be attached to slow the descent. The design was refined by Morris & Walker Pty Ltd of Melbourne. The printing firm added a three foot cardboard cylinder to carry 250lbs. A hessian parachute was also added. The nose cone is hollow which also takes a proportion on the impact. “per the AWM
The Storepedo was an Australian patented invention and carries the names of E.R. Campbell, K.M. Frewin, F.W. Lennox and R.P. Morris on the application for Patent.
Another of the photos depicts a “wind” machine being utilized to simulate strong winds the trainees would have had to contend with upon landing – it appears to have been constructed on a vehicle frame using a redundant Radial aircraft engine and prop.
Several of the photos depict RAAF DC2 aircraft although identification of the individual aircraft is not clear. We would welcome any comments which would highlight the identity of any of the aircraft depicted in the photographs. The apparent use of the emblem on the aircraft in one of the DC2 photographs suggests it is A30-11 c/s VHC-RE sqn. code RE-B named “Maaleesh”?
We hope you enjoy these great memories of a bygone time.
© John Parker 2020
Warbirds Online acknowledges and is grateful for the use of some material in this story from the Australian War Memorial website.
G’day
I am the curator the ADF Parachuting School Museum. Our museum encompasses the history of Australian Military Parachuting. We hold a sizeable collection parachuting items, documents and imagery dating back to WWII.
I would like to obtain good quality copies from this article “Royal Australian Army Paratroop Training WWII” for our collection and am hoping you can assist.
Thank you
Phil
Hi Phil. My name.e is Toni Futcher. You messaged me a while ago about a photo board I had done by JR Medals that they put up on Facebook. The photo board was about my father-inlaw
Lance Futcher who in the day was a paratrooper instructor.
Anyway we are in Lithgow atm and would like to see the museum you are Curator of, but we cannot find it anywhere. I believe it is in Cowra.
Can you be of some assistance to me and my husband Paul Futcher.
Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
Regards
Toni Futcher
Hi Toni, the Museum is Hunter Warbirds at Scone NSW. https://www.hunterwarbirds.com.au/
Kind regards
John