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Former Benalla RAAF Base

Other Names Benalla Aerodome ,  Benalla Migrant Accommodation Centre Location Samaria & Kalfeera Roads,, BENALLA VIC 3672 - Property No B6757 File Number B6757 Level State

[1/5] B6757 RAAF Base [2/5] B6757 RAAF Base [3/5] B6757 RAAF Base [4/5] B6757 RAAF Base [5/5] B6757 RAAF Base

Statement of Significance

The former No.11 Elementary Flying Training School is considered to be important at the State level as one of only two such facilities established in Victoria (the other being at Essendon) as part of the WW2 Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). This scheme was devised to build up the Empire's air power sufficiently to overwhelm Germany's Luftwaffe, and it demonstrates cultural values in Australia's strategic thinking, in the defence of the Empire, and in Australia's contribution to the war in Europe and the Pacific.
RAAF Benalla compares with a total of 12 similar schools established throughout Australia (the first was at Parafield, SA, established late in 1939). They were the result of the EATS agreement signed on 17 December 1939 between Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which was recognised at the time as a document unique in military history. Southern Rhodesia was a later contributor.
The Benalla EFTS played an important part in the EATS plan which purported to have an Australian input of 432 trainees and an output of 306 pilots every four weeks of the war. It thus serves to commemorate the many RAAF personnel who were trained here and their contribution to the war effort, and especially those who gave their lives in serving this country during the 1939-45 conflict. The former EFTS is of historic significance in all these respects, while its subsequent role as the Benalla Migrant Accommodation Centre is of social importance for its part in housing migrant families, including many from the Baltic States, some of whom were to settle in the Benalla district.
Classified: 03/02/1997