We served our country, as boys and men

THE DEWDROPS’ STORIES

A COMMEMORATION OF SERVICE

DEDICATION

We dedicate this book to the memory of our de-parted comrades and the service by this Intake and the RAAF Apprentice scheme in general to the efficient and effective operation of the RAAF over thirty years and more.

INTRODUCTION TO THE DEWDROPS

The name “Dewdrops”, applied to an intake of Air Force recruits probably invokes a wry sort of smile by some young airmen/airwomen and a twinge of disbelief in others including many civilians.

However, in January 1950 that is what 120 15-17 year old lads from all states of Australia were named when they assembled at RAAF Base Forest Hill in NSW that year.

This was the Fourth Intake of RAAF Engineering Apprentices, named by the next senior course. They have proudly carried this name into the history of the Air Force and their deeds and achievements have, with that distinctive nomenclature, made a lasting impression on the operations of the Service.

Dewdrops, having graduated from the RAAF School of Technical Training in De-cember 1952, went on to become highly competent and experienced tradesmen in Air Force trades; pilots who flew Sabre, Vampire, Mustang, Lincoln, Neptune air-craft and Huey gunships and slicks, Army FACs and Caribous in Vietnam.

They were Engineers in all trades who were promoted to the ranks of Corporal through to Warrant Officer and commissioned ranks including Group Captain. They were non-pilot aircrew which included Air Electronic Officer, Flight Engineer and Crew Chief. Post-service, some were employed in the civilian aviation sphere.

These lads became mature men in the service of their country and served from France to Asia, Canada and the USA to the Antarctic, and they were not alone in this respect.

But they were unique in their membership of the “Dewdrops”.

IN APPRECIATION OF OUR FAMILIES

Although we will always remember our mates and our time in the Airforce we will also never forget the others who have been our mates and our supporters through good times and bad –

Our Families.

Those who waited at home presented a haven to which we could escape the regimentation and stress of service life and become again a part of that softer and more relaxed environment, some-thing which was always so happily anticipated by us all.

And so we honour and offer our unreserved thanks to – Our Families.

ODE TO A DEWDROP

After the dawn of a new day and after the night’s rain the rays of the early sun touch the dewdrops creating a wonderland for all to see, and then, as with all things, one by one they disappear to come again and work their magic, when perhaps there are not so many to touch our hearts, until eventually they disappear for all time,

forever remembered.

Hail the Mighty Dewdrops

Monica Straughair.

GENESIS OF A BAND OF BROTHERS

And it came to pass in the early years of peace following the Big Stoush, after Mr. Hitler and Mr. Tojo had been put in their places, that the Elders of the tribe of Air-force, after much deliberation and many glasses of port, decided that "Something must be done!"

The "something" in question was to prevent a future recurrence of the biblically scaled "cock-up" which had become apparent at the very beginning of the said Big Stoush when it was discovered by the said Elders that, it was all well and good to recruit and train large numbers of clever, brave young men to operate the flying machines which were, as everyone knew, the very reason for the existence of the tribe of Airforce, however, without equally clever young men to nurture the flying machines and see to their many wants and needs, none of the first mentioned young men would be able to carry out their appointed rounds.

It had been quickly discovered in those early days that instilling enough useful information and engendering a sense of dedication to the job of tending to the machines, into the young men enlisting in the service, many of whom had never even held tools, nor had they had the slightest interest in doing so, was a task which could, at times, make strong men weep and which was almost impossible to accomplish in anything like the allotted time for such pursuits, given the pre-carious position in which the tribe was finding itself, at the time.

This must never be the case again, Sir!

All of which was presented to the Elders, by their masters, as a task for their consideration and then the production of a solution thereto. And lo, after many false starts and bad advice from even falser prophets, the elders reached a consensus regarding the provision of such highly trained and ready servants of the higher echelons of the Tribe. And they would be bright eyed and fresh face young lads of school age and they would be known as the Clan Apprentii.

And in the early days of the experiment there was heard in the Tribe's corridors of power, much lamentation and gnashing of teeth when it was discovered that not all the eager young men who indicated a desire to become part of the Tribe were of the quality which the elders had envisaged and many compromises were decreed by them which enabled the final decision for the long debated program to proceed.

Many and varied were the arcane studies required of the clansmen in the hangars and classrooms of the village of Alonville in the Parish of Wagga Wagga. And it came to pass that the tradesmen who graduated from this establishment were of a standard which fulfilled, and often exceeded, the expectations of the architects of the program.

And the Elders saw that the program was working and that it was good.

It was very soon apparent to the Elders that the Tribe of Airforce was highly dependent on these clansmen who could be found in nearly every Squadron, unit, hangar, coffee mess and airmen's Beer Hall, throughout the entire nation of Defence. Indeed many, of aspirational intent, in the fullness of time, reached the stratospheric levels of the ancient Elders and replaced the scribes and Pharisees as well.

So it was that on a bright Riverina morning in January of the third year since the turning of this new page in Airforce history that a group of just such fresh faced and eager young men were inducted into the Tribe and became clansmen who would be known forever after as "Dewdrops."

This motley group of "child soldiers" were, within a very short time, molded into a cohesive gang of villains whose main aim in life was to make it hard for the Drill Instructors. These old warriors, and some who were not a great deal older than their charges, were tasked with the unenviable job of converting the rough, un-trained lads into a semblance of what the Airforce was all about. The pursuits needed to attain such an outcome included, square bashing (drill), mess duties, Monday night panics (hut inspections), food your mother never knew about, making your own bed, nay, Blanket Roll, each morning, haircuts, polished boots, clean overalls, boiled in a copper ready for inspection on Monday mornings, many parades, (and being late for one was a heinous crime which was suitably punished) marching to lectures, marching to Mess Parade, marching to night lectures, more drill, PT, compulsory Church parade on Sunday, write a letter home each Monday night and all for the original princely wage of 3 shillings a week!

But sport was free!

Although all these diversions were to continue in one form or another for the next 3 years it was soon time to get on with the real reason for the program, becoming an Airforce Fitter!

First there was Basic fitting. (Pronounced “bass-ic”.)

In the cavernous "Basic Fitting" hangar, which froze in winter and sweltered in summer, with worn-out tools, WW2 NCO fitters as instructors, (later recognised by the lads, as wonderful men and instructors,) overalls, in the heat, stripped to the waist which allowed iron fillings to turn to rust in the underpants when they were washed, chipping, with a cold chisel (not a band) and hammer on a piece of rough cast iron followed by hours of filing such with aforesaid worn-out files.

Then on to Allied Trades, gas welding, including aluminium (just try that!) ma-chine shop (including thread cutting), sheet metal shop, knots and splicing (including steel cable) and all the while, interspersed with school type educational subjects, which some had enlisted to escape!

And joys of joys, the lads passed the "end of year exams" and were invited back to the whole thing again next year. But they would be doing Mustering training and were no longer the "Junior Course!"

The mustering training divisions sometimes divided friendships made when the Flight, to which they were allotted on induction, was their group through first year. New friends with similar intentions in each engineering section of the Clan were made as the training progressed.

Then it came to pass in the third year of study in the confines of the village of Alonville, which was greatly enjoyed by the Clan Dewdrop, that the Passing Out Parade was sanctioned by the High Chiefs of the tribe. Great was the jubilation and celebrations of the Clan and their families as the mixed bag of young boys who had marched into Alonville three years ago now marched out, a group of fine young airmen well prepared to join the ranks of the defenders of their country. They dispersed into the extremities of the Tribe, where their reception by the elders of each division thereof was, well, varied.

So the young warriors of the clan Dewdrop joined their seniors and, in the full-ness of time became accepted by the elders as worthy of admission into the esoteric world of RAAF Engineers.

And the Clan gathered in the defence of their country in the years of the Cold War. Many were closely involved in the military to and fro of those years. Some were not as close to the action. However, all their names were on the side of the ledger which held their signed cheque, payable to the people of Australia "Up to, and including, MY LIFE."

Dewdrops however, have discovered, thanks to one of their own "Elders", no names, but it starts with "Bushy", who began the re-union movement so many years ago, that it doesn't matter to us who you are, what you did, your mustering, where you were born or where you served, you were "there" and that is what counts.

And in their later years, although Wives were not mentioned on the "Scale of Issue" of the Airforce, many of the clan married and became husbands, fathers and grandfathers (and even Great grandfathers!) of new Australians, who will carry on the traditions of the service, as imparted by their parents, although in many different ways.

The future of this country is in their hands and no doubt they will remember the many exhortations of their Dewdrop fathers, to Honour their country. And all are members of

"This happy band of brothers".

DEWDROP STARTERS ROLL CALL

All numbers below have the prefix A33

639   FALCONER L. H.

667   FRANCIS G M

695   SMITHIES C D F

640   BANNERMAN L.

668   HARBOURNE RC

696   CHALLANS B J

641   BROWN P. K.

669   DOWLAND A R

697   COMPTON G D

642   ALLAN L. E.

670   LAWRENCE P L

698   PEAKE L B

643   BROOKS R.T.

671   HILL N C

699   TURNER A

644   COOPER J M

672   JOHNSON K J

700   INGATE B T

645   CARTER B A

673   GWILLIAM R J

701   Mc NAMARA R K

646   BARNETT R G

674   HUTCHINSON R

702   TURTON J A

647   BULLEN J L

675   WHITEHEAD E J

703   TILLEY K A

648   BYRNE P A

676   CHILD B W

704   PETTS P

649   DONOHOE R R

677   ELY A W

705   WEST E C

650   CRAW J

678   KING R K

706   WEBBER V W

651   COOK R D

679   MALLEY P J

707   TRIBE J W

652   DUNBAR M R

680   KUBALE J A

708   XAVIER J W

653   BOWLEY B M

681   HORNE R C

709   MAYNE J F

654   BOLDEN H D

682   TUDOR D D

710   WHITEHEAD J A

655   FALLON L P

683   MILLER A J

711   MOLES T E

656   GARLAND M P

684   MARSDEN A T

712   FLINT D R

657   BEDSON R J

685   WILLIAMS J S M

713   GRAY P F

658   BURGESS R J

686   MOLLER W P

714   MUTTER D T

659   BRADFORD G B

687   RAMSEY K S

715   CHAPPELL B E

660   GILLARD R E

688   IRELAND J C

716   MORRELL D A

661   BAUMANN G P

689   TRAVIS J W

717   LEIGHTON A R

662   EWEN R H

690   RETALLACK C H

718   CHAPMAN LV

663   NOT KNOWN

691   RYAN R R

719   MAYO T T

664   GREEN R G

692   SILVESTER J E

720   BAKER I R

665   GROTTO R J

693   SCHOFIELD P J

721   CONNELL J T

666   KEMP J D

694   HUGHES J R D

722   BURGESS W H