CANADIAN RADAR DETACHMENT
TO TRAIN PERSONNEL,
AND MAINTAIN AND OPERATE
RADAR EQUIPMENT IN AUSTRALIA
DURING WW2

On 17June 1944, sufficient Canadian radar technical personnel were assembled at Lansdowne Park Barracks in Ottawa. They were known as the Canadian Radar Detachment. The unit comprised:-

Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
4 officers
28 other ranks

Royal Canadian Artillery
5 officers
35 other ranks

Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps
1 NCO 

The first group arrived in Sydney on 19 August 1944 on board the SS Fort Dennison.

The second group arrived in Melbourne on 6 September 1944 on board the SS William I. Chamberlain.

Some of them were to move to the Radar Wing of the Australian School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering in New South Wales, on the east coast of Australia. There they trained Australian personnel on the use of radar units that had been purchased from Canada in 1943. They also assisted with the ongoing maintenance of the new radar equipment. Others were attached to operational radar stations in Austral, New Guinea, Philippines, Cocos Island, Morotai and Borneo. 

Some other personnel were attached to the Allied Intelligence Bureau as operators and mechanics. Some of these personnel were later involved in the occupation of Java in August 1945 and were then caught up in the native uprisings against the Netherlands East Indies Forces after the war with Japan had ended on 15 August 1945.

The Australian Government purchased 86 anti-aircraft radar units. It comprised two types of Radar equipment as follows:-

AA Number 3 Mark 1 (APF)

AA Number 4 Mark 1

After the war had ended it was not until 27 February 1946 that the main body of the Canadian Radar Detachment left Australia and arrived in Canada as follows:-

Vancouver on 14 February 1946 on board the SS Kootenay Park.

Vancouver on 27 February 1946 on board the SS Socotra

The remainder of the Canadian Radar Detachment left Australia and arrived in Canada on 12 April 1946.

Can anyone please advise where the above
radar school was located in New South Wales?

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 4 October 2001

This page last updated 22 February 2020