History and Heritage – Air Force (HH-AF) officially released the documentary An Enduring Legacy: The Empire Air Training Scheme at a premiere screening in historical Hangar 84, RAAF Base Wagga, on October 17.  

Produced by the Living History Program team from HH-AF, along with 464 Squadron, An Enduring Legacy is a 30-minute film on the history of the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), with a focus on its people and activities in the Riverina region of NSW.

The EATS was a major World War 2-era initiative by the United Kingdom and selected Commonwealth nations (including Australia, Canada and New Zealand) to rapidly train aircrew across common systems and aircraft.

Director-General HH-AF Air Commodore Robert Lawson said the EATS “was incredibly successful in supporting the ability of Britain and its key Commonwealth partners to project air power and go on the offensive against the Axis powers during the Second World War”.

“It was so successful that the scheme was stopped in 1944, a year before the war ended,” he added.

“It is incredibly important for all Australians to understand our rich wartime history, and videos such as this can easily be shared with a wider audience.”

The documentary focuses on the history of the EATS in the communities of Temora, Cootamundra, Uranquinty, Wagga Wagga (Forest Hill), Narrandera and Coolamon, and connects the past to the present via ongoing Air Force training in Wagga Wagga. 

'It is incredibly important for all Australians to understand our rich wartime history, and videos such as this can easily be shared with a wider audience.'

It includes interviews with the Commanding Officer of the RAAF School of Technical Training, the Mayor of Coolamon and the owner of the property that became RAAF Base Uranquinty during WW2. 

Local dignitaries – many who have an historical family connection with the EATS – along with RAAF Base Wagga personnel and trainees, attended the premiere screening. 

One honoured guest was 101-year-old Wagga Wagga resident Herbert Adams, who trained as a navigator at Cootamundra and later served with distinction in Bomber Command, for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Head of the Living History Program Wing Commander Rich MacNeil said the documentary focused on the Riverina because the area was a good representation of how the EATS operated in and affected regional Australia during WW2, and its lasting influence.

“With some 40 EATS units across Australia during the Second World War, the scheme brought large sections of the Australian community into contact with the Air Force and helped develop connections which endure to this day,” Wing Commander MacNeil said. 

“I feel a strong personal connection to the documentary as my great uncle, Reg Mullins, was an EATS trainee who went on to serve as a pilot in Bomber Command.”

The release of the documentary coincides with the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in 1945.

An Enduring Legacy: The Empire Air Training Scheme is available to view on HH-AF’s Facebook page and the RAAF website.