RAAF 100 year celebration.

March 2021

Overview.

Back in January 1920, the Australian Flying Corps became the Australian Air Corps which, on the 31st March 1921, became the Australian Air Force. It obtained the King's consent to become the Royal Australian Air Force on the 13th August 1921.

On the 31st March 2021 the Australian Air Force will be 100 years old and as the Air Force was born at Pt Cook, we think it would be a golden opportunity to hold a giant celebration in Melbourne and to invite everyone who spent time at Pt Cook and/or Laverton.  And - as we're a Radschool Association, the invite would also include anyone who was trained in the radio game, whether tech or operator, at either Ballarat, Frognall or Laverton and of course the trainers as well as all the support staff. The invitation would also include your wife, girl-friend, husband, boy-friend (or all of the above). We're all getting on a bit and this might be our last hurrah, so we'll make it a good one.

The 31th March 2021 is a Wednesday, so we think we should plan for at least a week-long event starting on the 22nd March.   There will be lots of events so start putting away your pennies now, we’ll need confirmation of your attendance, and as we’ll need to pay deposits etc we'll need your full payment some months prior to March 2021.

For those that live north of the Murray, the weather in Melbourne in March is not too bad. Temps are in the low 20's during the day and drop to the low teens during the night. There is only a 25% chance of rain so any outdoor event should (??) be fine.

We’ll have an indication of costs later, but these won’t include accommodation which will be your responsibility. As some people live in the area, some will come by van or mobile home, others stay with friends and some will stay in motel/hotel accommodation, individual accommodation costs are a variable so not included.

We've commenced negotiations with the RAAF for access to Laverton or Pt Cook, (we don't have it yet) as we'd like to have the main events in (perhaps) the old ARDU or 1 AD hangars at Laverton or in one of the hangars at Pt Cook - it will all depend on what is still available in 2021.

It's still a few years away but these things take time to organise. We are going to chase sponsorship to keep our costs down - more on that later. We think we'll need to organise for at least 1,000 people so there's a bit to do. Make sure you tell your friends, we want as many people as possible, the more the merrier.

Let us know what you think. The events we have planned you can see below but we need to know what you think.  We've booked the Myer Music Bowl for the Sunday the 28th March (a pleasant Sunday afternoon) and we're negotiating with the RAAF, Army and Navy to have their bands entertain us during the day. We're also proposing an "Air Force has talent" contest where several serving pre-auditioned members will vie for a cash prize and we're negotiating with a Melbourne TV channel which will televise all or part of the Music Bowl event - this will make it easier to obtain a sponsor to cover all the costs - so it will be free.

If you don't normally get the RAM, but would like to be involved, click HERE, fill in this general form and once we have your email address we'll include you in all future mail-outs.

We have some ideas but to get an idea of your thoughts, would you fill in the fields in the form below and send to us, there will be much more detail later. (Use your TAB button to navigate from one field to the next.)

You can access the celebration form HERE and if you have any queries, you can get in touch with us  HERE.

Schedule of Events.

Monday 22 March 2021

Tuesday 23 March 2021.

Wednesday 24 March 2021. 

Thursday 25 March 2021.

Tour of the Shrine of Remembrance and the Melbourne Observatory. (Via tram)

Proposed WRAAF night - Laverton Officers' Mess

Friday 26 March 2021

Saturday 27 March 2021.

Bus tour to Phillip Island. Tour Vietnam Vets Museum, Penguins at dusk, return to Melb. (About 1½ - 2 hours each way)

Sunday 28 March 2021.

Monday 29 March 2021.

Tour of RAAF Museum and Point Cook.

Tuesday 30 March 2021.

Wednesday 31 March 2021.  (Anniversary Day)