No. 2 Aircraft Depot RAAF

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Brief History

No. 2 Aircrall Depot was formed on 1 Jan 1936 at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales. In the lead up to ww2, the advent of the Tiger Moth (first acceptance flight at Mascot, 16 May 1939) and the commencement of construction of the Wirraway at Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, caused an increase in workloads at the Depot.

With the outbreak of World War II, No. 2 Aircraft Depot had grown from one officer and 14 airmen to a strength of 11 officers and 297 men. During the early penod of the War, assembly of Demons, Ansons and Seagulls continued. Tiger Moths received from De Havilland were test flown before being issued to training units. World War II introduced a continuous work load for all sections - armament, erection, radar, aircraft repair, motor transport repair, machine shop, metal work. engine repair, W /T repmr, lnstrument, parachute and electrical repair. Crashed aircraft were salvaged and reaired, some to fly again and others to provide spare parts.

For a time after the end of the was the flow of work was disrupted by the loss of technically trained men on demobilisation. In 1992 the unit was absorbed into 503 Wing.

Ground crew

• James Brian McGurk 1 Jul - 7 Sep 1944-
• John Thomas Thomson 9 May - 12 Jun 1945

Notes

Content has come from Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History - Volume 7 Maintenance Units - Australian Government Publishing Service - 1995 pages 6 & 7