On the 3rd of Feburary 1941, four men reported to No.2 Recruitment Centre in Sydney, to enlist in the Permanent Air Force of the Commonwealth of Australia. Whether P/O Ron Stevenson, P/O Douglas Richards, Sgt. Mitchell Black and Sgt. John Hoskins were known to each other previous to this day is a mystery but they certainly would know each other well by the time they arrived in the UK and to 59 Squadron as Observers. From late December 1941 through to May 1942 quite a few Australians were arriving to the unit of all musters. Replacement aircrew for those that had travelled to the Far East with 59's old Lockheed Hudson Mk.III's and who were in February fighting for their lives against the invading Japanese forces. Another influx of new arrivals would again occur later in the year when the squadron converted to the Liberator Mk.III aircraft and also again in late 1943 to mid 1944 when the squadron implemented the scheme of 2 naviagators per Liberator crew.

P/O Stevenson	P/O Richards	Sgt Black	Sgt Hoskins

The files for both Ron Stevenson and Douglas Richards have been opened, however Mitchell Black's and John Hoskins' are not as yet. The files show that Stevenson and Richards certainly enlisted on the same day in Feburary 1941, but it is suggested that Black did also, as his service number is very close to that of the former two. Richards' is '403624', Stevenson's '403626' and Black '403629'. It is believed that Hoskins, if not actually enlisted on the same day, was within very close proximity in date to the others. Hoskins' service number is '403587' and the information available shows that he was born in Sydney and enlisted in Sydney. With only 41 recruits between Hoskins (1st) and Black (4th) in succession of service numbers, it seems plausible that all four could well have enlisted on the 3rd of Feb. 1941. Perhaps by coincedence, both Stevenson and Richards were Clerks, Stevenson in the field of Accounting and Richards in Law. Both had previous Military experience, Stevenson 3 years with the Army in Signals and Survey and Richards with the Army Cadets. It's very possible that they knew each other given these circumstances. It's highly likely that Black and Hoskins had similar backgrounds professionaly as those chosen for Observer training were those with strong mathematical and numerical skills. Talents that would be necessary for sucessfull Observer training.

The RAF Form 1580 "Airman's Record Sheet (Active Service - Overseas" of both Stevenson and Douglas are nearly indentical in Section 1 "Movements". After completing their initial training at No.2 ITS (Lindfield, Australia), they were posted to No.2 E.D Canada, on the 29th of March 1941. However it wouldn't be until the 22nd of April that they would embark from Sydney, arriving in Vancouver on the 14th of May. Given that there was a three week wait before leaving for Canada, this would allow time for others, such as Black and Hoskins to also complete their intial training (if they hadn't done so already) and also embark on the 22nd of April. Stevenson's file has him reporting to No.3 Personnel Despatch and Receiving Centre (PDRC) in Bournemouth on the 9th of January 1942. At some point over the following weeks he received orders to report to 59 Squadron at RAF North Coates in Lincolnshire and this he did on the 31st. The differentiation in arrival dates of the various airmen, is most likely accounted for by "where" they were at the time they received their orders and how long it took them to carry them out... Richards is shown to have arrived a couple of days earlier, on the 29th. The only difference between the two record sheets is that Douglas Richards is recorded as missing on the 29th of May, 1942. He and his crew were shot down attacking shipping in Hudson AM842, TR-S.

P/O Longmuir	Sgt Brundell & Sgt Bradley	Sgt McCartney

A service number, is after all, only a number and can not be used entirely on its own for such pin-pointing "research" purposes. Case in point, P/O Hervey Longmuir, another Sydney recruit who made his way to 59 Squadron in early 1942, had enlisted in the Permanent Forces about a month before those above. Having signed up with the RAAF reserves in late May 1940, he was called up for service and reported to No.2 REC on the 6th of January 1941 with his service number being '403353'. He was initially enlisted as Aircrew (Pilot) but after two weeks flying training was remustered as an Observer. He was in his "civy" life a bank officer and quite a mathematician, which could certainly account for his switch to observer training, when flying training was not going as planned. Thus, although having enlisted a month earlier than Richards for example, due to his muster "re-shuffle" he would in fact end up arriving in Canada for Observer training nearly a month later than him... They did however, given the 'wait time' for orders once in the UK, still arrive to 59 Squadron on the same day... `

The similarities in service numbers of the Sydney recruits can also be explained by the probability that recruitment centres were alloted a series of numbers to be given out. Of the early Australian arrivals, the Sydney recruits appear to have '402 and 403' prefixes to their service numbers whilst the Melbourne recruits appear too have a '400' prefix. We are of course talking of an era before the time of mass computer networks that held a huge database of information, accessible nationwide at any linked computer station. The enlistment of Sgt Robert McCartney (nav) '403068' could be an example of such a case. Although born in Sydney, it appears that he enlisted in the UK. The Australian National Archives site notes his place of enlistment as Humberstone. Failing to have found any record of a place or office of that name in Australia, it's most likely to be Humberstone in Leciestershire. As an Australian citizen born in Sydney but overseas at the time, it appears that his paperwork found its way back to No.2 REC, the usual and probably main centre for those in the Sydney area. Following enlistment, he also most likely embarked for Canada for his observer training under the EATS, albeit from the UK instead of Australia. McCartney arrived to the squadron just in time for the new year celebrations, on the 30th of December 1941. He was later crewed with F/L Peter Wright (see below).

Another couple of Sydney-siders that signed up on the same day as each other, were Sgt Frank Bradley and Sgt Stewart Brundell, both Wireless Op - Air Gunner's (WAG). There's no doubt these two were well known to one another as not only were their service numbers '403401' and '403402' respectively, they were also crewed together with Sgt Moody (RAF) as their Captain, during 59's Hudson operations. As members of an all Sgt. crew their arrival isn't noted in the ORB but the book Endurance (Jay, Alwyn, 1996) has the two Australians arriving to 59 in the second week of March, 1942. Reginald Partridge (nav) possibly enlisted on the same day as Bradley and Brundell as he was given the service number '403420'. Born in Cessnock NSW on 25th Nov. 1918 and enlisting in Sydney, no further details of his training are known at this time. He arrived to 59 Squadron on 29th Jan 1940 and was crewed with P/O Neville Barson (pilot) who was from Melbourne.

Other early arrival Sydney recruits to 59 Squadron were Sgt's Kenneth Kermode '402363', Chandos Scouller '402674', Knox Heggaton '402924' and F/Sgt Patrick Donaghy '6501'. Donaghy's service number is not confirmed at this stage. The contents range of his file are noted as 1921 - 1948 but given that his date of birth is noted as 17th Dec. 1918, I can't think of a reason why a 3 year old boy would have a personnel file with the RAAF. He was at any rate, born in Sydney and enlisted in Richmond NSW. All four of these men were crewed together but were sadly lost on the 11th of May, 1942 attacking an enemy convoy 20 miles NNE of Borkum Riff. They were one of three crews to attack the convoy and one of two crews lost. They were the second "all Australian crew" lost on the squadron. Unfortunately no crew photo has been found of them to date.

Sgt Lauder	Sgt Rutherford

The first all Australian crew lost (and the first Australian casualties on Hudson's) was that of Sgt Keith Lauder (pilot), Sgt. Douglas Rutherford (observer), P/O Donald Bain (WAG) and Sgt. Winston Jones (WAG) in Hudson AM796, on 3rd Feb. 1942. A casualty repatriation file open at the Australian Archives shows that Bain was from Queensland, most likely Townsville where his mother Eva is reported to have lived. Although 59's ORB notes Bain to have been a Pilot Officer when lost, his Australian records show that he was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer the day he was posted to 59 Squadron, on the 18th Feb. 1942. Both Bain and Rutherford are noted as enlisted in Brisbane (however Bain actually enlisted at a mobile recruiting centre in Rockhampton), Lauder and Jones, Sydney. Winston Jones was born in Mayfield NSW on 25th Jan. 1915 and his service number was '402999'. It's possible that Jones' training history is very similar to that of Bain's, as both were WAG's that arrived to 59 at the same time but also, Bain's file shows that although he enlisted in Brisbane, he was first posted to No.2 ITS in New South Wales between October and December 1940. If this is indeed a reflection on the postings of Jones, it may account for the latters service number being some 590 Sydney recruits before that of John Hoskins,who as shown above enlisted in Feb. 1942. Bain enlisted on the 11th of Oct. 1940, so it is assumed that Jones enlisted on a similar date in Sydney. Both recruits then being posted to No.2 ITS at similar times. Thus alhtough the following is an account of the training Bain recieved, it will be used to represent that of Jones until confirmed otherwise. So, on completing "their" initial training on the 27th Dec 1940, they emabrked Sydney for Canada the following day. Completing their gunnery training in Canada on the 18th of August and earning their Gunner's wing. They were both remustered from Aircrew (G) - gunner- to Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. Bain was promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer. They then arrived at Halifax on the 20th and embarked for the UK on the 28th, arriving on the 9th September to 3PDRC, Bournemouth (this being exactly 4 months prior to the arrival of Stevenson and Douglas). After nearly 3 weeks, they were posted to No.1 Signals School, RAF Cranwell on the 29th Sept. and then onto No.1 OTU (C) - Operational Training Unit Coastal Command - at RAF Silloth, which had become a specialised unit for training Hudson crews, on the 25th November. From Silloth, they were posted to 59 Squadron on the 18th Feb. 1942. The ORB confirms the arrival of Bain as a comissioned officer and also notes on the 25th, "Training of a/crews proceeded", 26th "Navigation tests carried out + gunnery practice". On the 2nd of March the ORB states that "P/O D.H. Bain (R.A.A.F) and crew failed to return from their first operational sortie.

Keith Lauder, unlike the most of the other Sydney recruits (except Chandos Scouller) that we've met so far, was a pilot and he undertook his advanced training in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) instead of Canada. He enlisted in the RAAF Reserves in April 1940 at No.2 REC and was called up for service and told to report back there on 16th Sept. On enlistment into the Permanent Forces, he was given the service number of '402510'. He was posted to No.2 ITS and after completion of the training he was on the 9th Nov, posted to No.2 E.D where on the 10th of Dec, he left Australia for South Africa. On 1st Jan 1941 he arrived in S.A and was posted to ITW (Initial Training Wing) Kumalo in Bulawayo, Rhodesia. On the 17th he was posted to No.26 EFTS (Elementary Flying Training School) at Guinea Fowl. On the 5th of Mar he was posted to back to Kumalo and No.21 SFTS (Service Flying Training School). On the 16th of June 1941 he was posted to War School George and on the 6th of Sept he left S.A for the U.K. 10th of Nov he arrived in the U.K to No.3 PDRC Bournemouth and on the 18th he was sent to No.2 OTU (C) RAF Catfoss. On the 26th he was posted to No.1 OTU (C) RAF Silloth. He was posted to 59 Squadron along with his crew on 18th Feb 1942.

F/L Charlton	F/L Lynch	F/L Wright

Another future 59 pilot was Murray Charlton, who enlisted in Sydney two days later than Lauder, on the 18th Sept. 1940 and given the service number '402638'. Unlike Lauder, he was to receive his flying training in Canada. On the 16th of Feb. 1941 he arrived for his advanced flying training and after completion he left Canada on the 20th of Dec. for the UK. He arrived to 3PDRC Bournemouth on the 5th of Jan. 1942. On the 29th he was posted to 59 Sqaudron were he stayed until the end of Dec. 1943. F/L Peter Wright, who it appears enlisted sometime in January 1941, given the closeness of his service number '403391' to others that enlisted in Sydney during that month.

The following information is gathered from the Australian National Archives, RAAF Personnel files for Stevenson and Richards and some of the recorded details are assumed to be also (or very similar to) that of Hoskins and Black.