November 6, 2014
Planning has begun for for the 2015 Reserve Forces Day Parade and Recognition Service in Wondai.
Organiser Noel Selway said the fundamentals of the event would remain the same however the theme for 2015 would be the “Mesopotamian Half-Flight“.
The Half-Flight was a small group of airmen and support staff from the Australian Flying Corps.
In February 1915, the Indian Government requested the supply of an Australian Air Force unit to support the Indian Army’s campaign against the Turks in Mesopotamia.
India supplied the aircraft and Australia supplied four pilots and a ground force of 41 men.
The Australian Flying Corps suffered its first casualty on July 30, 1915.
A Caudron flown by Lieut G.P. Merz and a New Zealander, Lieut Burn, was forced down and attacked upon landing. Both men died.
The Reserve Forces Day Parade will be held in Wondai on Sunday, July 5, 2015.
