Part Two. The Formative Years
During 1946 the Brigadier Royal Artillery at Army Headquarters, Brig L G H Dyke, arranged for Capt Ken J Oram to be trained as an Air OP pilot in the UK. Oram then gained a further qualification as a flying instructor and at RAF Middle Wallop, taught the next RAA officer, Capt J Benjamin to fly. Oram returned to Australia and although he was never posted to a flying position, his influence on future Army aviation development was very significant.
After much inter-Service discussion the CAS and the CGS agreed that Army pilots should fly their light aircraft on Air OP duties. This opened the way for the now Major Benjamin, to become the Army flying instructor in 16 Air OP Flight which had been located at RAAF Fairbairn in Canberra since early 1946. With a strength of 6-8 Auster Mk III aircraft the flight was part of 3 (Tac/R) Squadron RAAF, so the RAAF retained ultimate responsibility for the Flight and its operations.
Two RAA pilots, Lts B T Luscombe and B C Forward, began their training in January 1951 followed by two more trainees every six months. On graduation the newly badged pilots remained for a further six months as the operational element of the flight before being posted elsewhere. Meanwhile a third RAA officer, Capt W J Slocombe, had followed his two predecessors to the UK and returned, in due course, as a qualified flying instructor to take over from Benjamin. Until the Flight’s disbandment on 30 November 1960, this pattern continued with all pilot training being done in Australia except for instructor training which continued to be done in the UK. About one in six of the graduate pilots were selected for this role.
Although the support provided to the Army by the flight was minuscule, it did introduce the Army over a period of nine years to the potential benefits of such a resource. It did so by undertaking Air OP duties for a variety of units and by playing a significant role in the major formation exercises that were mounted from 1958. Valuable experience came also from the inclusion of RAA pilots in 1903 Independent Air OP Flt RA as part of the British Commonwealth Division in Korea. From 1951 to 1953 five Australians served in the Flight including one killed in action. (Captain Luscombe)
A further source of light aircraft support for the Army and experience for the pilots came from the raising of 1 Army Aviation Company in 1957. With Benjamin as its OC, it consisted of a small group of Army officers and senior NCO pilots who operated civil aircraft on charter to the Army.
In total, the Flight and the Company were unable to meet more than a fraction of the Army’s need for light aircraft support and the capacity and age of the Auster Mk III exacerbated the deficiency. In 1958 the Austers were replaced by Cessna 180A models slightly modified for Army service. By that time agreement had been reached in the Defence Committee for the Army to have its organic light aircraft but firm plans to implement that decision were not developed until 1960
On 1 December 1960, 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron was formed at RAAF Amberley from the disbanded 16 Air OP Flight and 1 Army Aviation Company. Six Cessna from 16 Air OP Flight and eleven Bell 47G2 Sioux helicopters made up the original aircraft in the squadron which included a training and an operations flight. Initially the CO and the Chief Flying Instructor were RAAF, as was the entire servicing crew. Except for a few administrative personnel the remainder were Army. The scale and the variety of the support provided for the Army were considerably increased together with the output of trained Army pilots. Army units and formations, both Regular and CMF, continued the process of learning how to make better use of this resource.
Command of the Squadron passed to the Army when Lt Col William Slocombe took over as CO on 18 December 1964. During his tenure the Squadron became 1 Aviation Regiment on 26 April 1966. Before that date a permanent detachment of two Cessna 180 aircraft were deployed to PNG Command and, in 1965, 182 Reconnaissance Flight of two Sioux helicopters was deployed to Malacca, Malaya to support the Australian infantry battalion of 28 Commonwealth Infantry Brigade. This Flight was later absorbed into 28 ANZUK Aviation Squadron and then disbanded when the Australian forces were withdrawn from the theatre in 1973.
