Royal Australian Air Force

At the outbreak of WWII, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) had no front-line combat aircraft and only one flying school.  Having joined the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), the RAAF delivered basic training for 1,000 recruits every four months for overseas service.  Graduates went on to participate in RAF operations in the European, Mediterranean, North African and South-East Asian theatres. By the end of the war in 1945, a total of 216,900 men and women had served in the RAAF with 10,562 killed in action. With 76 squadrons formed, and personnel operating nearly 6,000 aircraft, the RAAF became the world’s fourth largest air force.