4 Aircraft Depot RAAF (4AD)

4 Aircraft Depot was formed at Pearce, in Western Australia on 15 May 1942 with a cadre of 1 Officer and 5 Airmen. On 30 May 1942, 4AD relocated to the racecourse in Boulder in Western Australia just south of Kalgoorlie. The RAAF took over the adjacent civilian airfield and hangars, and barrack blocks and other facilities were erected over the following months.

By the end of 1942, 4AD was ready to start repairing and overhauling aircraft engines, airframes, and ancillary aircraft equipment mostly for RAAF units based in Western Australia. By that time the strength of 4AD was 17 Officers and 206 Airmen.

The first aircraft that 4AD worked on were six Brewster Buffalos of 25 Squadron at Pearce which needed urgent work on their gun mounts. By the end of December 1942, the first batch of Pratt and Whitney R1830 14-cylinder twin-row radial engines had been overhauled by the engine repair workshops of 4AD. This type of engine was used in the US Navy and Qantas Catalinas as well as the RAAF Beauforts, Dakotas and Boomerangs and was a source for much overhaul work for the depot. The Catalina engines normally arrived in Boulder by train and the RAAF engines arrived in the aircraft.

4AD was still only 75% complete by mid-1943, but repair and overhaul of aircraft, engines and ancillary equipment was in full swing. By then the strength of the unit had grown to 26 Officers and 664 Airmen plus 24 WAAAFs. The main RAAF aircraft being worked on at that time was Beauforts from 14 Squadron RAAF at Pearce.

4AD was completed by the end of the second half of 1943 and its strength by then was up to almost 1,000 men and women. They were overhauling Boomerangs of 85 Squadron RAAF at Guildford, Vultee Vengeances of 25 Squadron and Beauforts of 14 Squadron at Pearce. Wirraways, Dakotas, Hudsons Kittyhawks and a Lodestar had also passed through 4AD by the end of 1943.

4AD received it first and only test and ferry pilot in December 1943. Prior to this, the task had been carried out by squadron aircrew. Once three or so test flights had been completed, the aircraft was flown back to its unit either by the test and ferry pilot or by squadron aircrew and another aircraft was collected for ferry back to 4AD.

At the same time, test flights were averaging 24 per month and ferry flights by 4AD's test pilot averaged 6 per month. The tarmac servicing team were looking after an average of 80 transit aircraft per month.

When 85 Squadron at Guildford was re-equipped with Spitfires towards the end of 1944, their Boomerangs were ferried to 4AD to be held in fully operational condition in the replenishment pool. This required that each aircraft had to be flown once per week. As there were 20 Boomerangs, 4AD's test pilot had to carryout five flights per day over the three months that the Boomerangs were held on strength. In March 1945, the majority of the Boomerangs were ferried to 83 Squadron in Queensland.

Similarly when 25 Squadron at Pearce was re-equipped with B-24 Liberators at the end of 1944, their Vultee Vengeances were ferried to 4AD for storage and subsequent disposal.

After mid 1945 the workload at 4AD decreased due to a general reduction in operation activity in the RAAF's Western Area. The USN Catalinas had also departed from their base in Perth, WA by that time.

4 Aircraft Depot continued with repair and overhaul of currently held aircraft and equipment after the war and it eventually closed in April 1946 and all facilities were handed over to a care and maintenance unit which eventually closed in April 1947.

"Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History- Volume 7 Maintenance Units" by the RAAF Historical Section

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