No. 2 Training Group RAAF

Prior to World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force was small enough for all its elements to be directly controlled by RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. After war broke out in September 1939, the RAAF began to decentralise its command structure, commensurate with expected increases in manpower and units.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 111–112{{cite magazine |title = Organising for war: The RAAF air campaigns in the Pacific | magazine = Pathfinder |issue= 121| date = October 2009| url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Publications/Details/403/121-Organising-for-War-The-RAAF-Air-Campaigns-in-the-Pacific.aspx|publisher=Air Power Development Centre|access-date=6 August 2017}} Its initial move in this direction was to create Nos. 1 and 2 Groups to control units in Victoria and New South Wales, respectively.Gillison, [https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070476--1-.pdf Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 66–67] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713214330/https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070476--1-.pdf |date=13 July 2015 }} Then, between March 1940 and May 1941, the RAAF divided Australia and New Guinea into four geographically based command-and-control zones: Central Area, Southern Area, Western Area, and Northern Area.Gillison, [https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070724--1-.pdf Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 91–92] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041351/https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070724--1-.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} Each was led by an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) responsible for the administration and operations of all air bases and units within his boundary. No. 2 Group, which had been established on 20 November 1939, was re-formed as Central Area Command on 7 March 1940. Headquartered in Sydney, Central Area controlled all Air Force units in New South Wales except those in the southern Riverina and the north of the state.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. xix–xx, 27–29

By mid-1941, the RAAF's expanding instructional program necessitated the establishment of overarching training organisations on a semi-functional, semi-geographical basis. Accordingly, on 2 August, No. 2 (Training) Group was formed in Sydney to assume responsibility for training units then under Central Area Command, which was disbanded.Gillison, [https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070724--1-.pdf Royal Australian Air Force, p. 112] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041351/https://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1070724--1-.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. xx, 38 Three other training groups were envisaged, but in the event only No. 1 in Melbourne was formed. No. 2 (Training) Group moved headquarters from Sydney to Wagga, New South Wales, on 22 May 1942.{{cite web|title=Order of Battle – Air Force|url=http://clik.dva.gov.au/history-library/part-3-order-battle/ch-2-order-battle-air-force/s-2-headquarters|publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs|access-date=6 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805221733/http://clik.dva.gov.au/history-library/part-3-order-battle/ch-2-order-battle-air-force/s-2-headquarters|archive-date=5 August 2017|url-status=dead}} As of early 1943, both active training groups reported directly to RAAF Headquarters.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p. 286 Group Captain Frederick Scherger commanded No. 2 (Training) Group from July to November 1943.Dennis et al., Oxford Military History of Australia, pp. 530–531 Air Commodore Frank Lukis took command in April 1945, and held the post for the remainder of the Pacific War.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force!, pp. 303–304

Following the end of the war, No. 2 (Training) Group was disbanded at Wagga on 26 March 1946.

;Citations

{{reflist|30em}}

;Works consulted

• {{cite book | year = 2000| title = How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One – Narrative| url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/Publications/Details/241/How-Not-To-Run-An-Air-Force-Volume-1.aspx| last = Ashworth | first=Norman| publisher = RAAF Air Power Studies Centre | location = Canberra | isbn =978-0-642-26550-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Dennis| first=Peter|author2=Grey, Jeffrey |author3=Morris, Ewan |author4= Prior, Robin | year=2008| orig-year=1995| title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History| location=South Melbourne| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-551784-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Gillison | first=Douglas |year=1962| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1417315|oclc=2000369}}

{{Military units and formations of the Royal Australian Air Force}}

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