Virtual
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Excerpt of a Memoir written by FO Edgar Henry WILSON supplied to VWMA by his daughter.

In July of 1943 I reported to R.A.A.F. Headquarters in Melbourne and, with a couple of hundred other recruits, was marched down to Spencer Street Station where we were entrained for Adelaide. Upon arrival next morning we were fed and then put on another train bound for Victor Harbor which, on this occasion, was an eight hour journey. It stopped at all stations and dawdled in between them. By the time we reached Victor in the evening a little of the gloss had worn off our enthusiasm. We were housed at No. 4 Initial Training School, Mount Breckan. For the first few weeks we were bedded down in tents. Being the middle of winter it was always a battle to keep warm with three blankets and a palliasse as our sleeping equipment. Somehow youth, enthusiasm, and the knowledge that we were there by our own choice, compensated for the home comforts we lacked and, we managed.

I loved Victor Harbor, not only for the location, but for the involvement with young fellows of my own vintage and the challenge of exciting subjects to study. For five full days each week we crammed our heads with methods of navigation, knowledge and use of various armaments and aircraft recognition. Every day we had a period of physical education and there was plenty of sport to satisfy my bounding energy. I don’t think I had ever been, or was ever to be as fit as I was when I completed the three months initial training.

To read more click on the link with title of Edgar Henry WILSON_WW2_memoir under Links & Documents on the left hand side.