Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

'Those Willing to Serve Abroad in the Aerial Arm of the Imperial Forces’

On July 12, 1915, on behalf of two Sydney men, the Premier of New South Wales, William Holman put in a plea to ’The Honourable The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia, The Right Honourable Andrew Fisher’:

I have the honour to state that representations have been made by Messrs Delfoss Badgery (/explore/people/160531) and W.P.A. Ascroft, Cremorne Rd, Cremorne, to the effect that although they are willing to serve in the Aerial Arm of the British Forces, they have hitherto failed to procure any satisfaction from your Government in connection with their application to be assisted by means of passage to London.

In view of the part by which aviation is playing in the present struggle, I venture to suggest, for your favourable consideration, that if a vacancy exists in the Commonwealth Defence Forces, your Government may see to provide free passages for these gentlemen to Great Britain in order that on their arrival there they may be able to get in touch with the Imperial Government.

Apparently not accustomed to waiting, two days later, Holman shot a telegram to the PM wanting to know when he was going to be favoured with a reply regarding information on the two and whether the Government intended to provide them with free passages. It was passed on to the Minister for Defence.

A telegram came back from Minister of Defence Pearce on July 17, 1915:

Free passages to England for persons desirous of serving in Imperial Army can only be granted at request of War Office.

That seemed the end. In the months that followed, the British War Office did its home-work on men from the Dominions who wanted to enlist in the Royal Flying Corps and formulated a plan to incorporate them.

To clear up what happened to Badgery and Ascroft; both made it into the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 but by different routes. Badgery, because he had a Pilot Certificate was asked to join the first Australian air unit and in 1916, and left Australia with No.1 Squadron, AFC, Egypt bound.

Ascroft, it appears, under his own steam, made it to England for training and, later, was requested to join No.1 Squadron in Egypt, in which he served for about four months. Anyone else who went to England in 1915, had to pay their own way.' SOURCE (www.raafa.org.au)

'The Battle of Romani

The first major battle to involve both Australian troops and airmen was the Battle of Romani. Between 20 July and 3 August, the Turkish Army moved forward to threaten the small northern town of Romani from their entrenched positions at selected nearby oasis. This was the start of an expected thrust against the Suez Canal, the capture of which would have been a significant moral as well as political victory. British outposts and patrols were gradually driven back and by the morning of 4 August, the Turks had all but surrounded the town.

At 6.00 am on 4 August, seven enemy aircraft bombed the town and reconnoitred the British and Australian positions. Communications with Cairo was effectively cut, so Army Headquarters became ignorant of the progress of the attack. Reconnaissance by Lieutenant William Ascroft and Captain Richard Williams found a large concentration of Turkish troops was attacking the garrison, backed by a heavy artillery barrage.

The Australian airmen landed at Romani throughout the day, reporting the progress of the battle to the ground commander. As communications with Kantara had been severed, Williams also found it necessary to fly information back and forth in the fastest aircraft available, an 80 mph Bristol Scout. Throughout the next few days, the troops repulsed the Turkish onslaught, capturing many prisoners and finally stemming the advance. This would be the closest the Turks would get to the Suez Canal and the start of the Allied reverse and push towards Palestine.

The battle continued until 8 August when the Turks were finally defeated at Bir-el-Abd, a small town nearby. The Turks withdrew, but the Allies were unable to pursue them back across the desert as the supplies, particularly water, to enable such an expedition were not in place. Between 4 and 8 August, Lieutenants Lawrence Wackett, William Ellis, William Ascroft and Stan Muir worked closely with No.14 Squadron and bombed the retreating Turks as well as conducted offensive air patrols.' SOURCE (www.ww1aero.org.au)