The transformation of Wagga into a home for the military dates back to World War II. 

In 1942, Kapooka was established. 

Local historian and author Sherry Morris said Kapooka Army Camp was established during the Second World War when the army was being considerably expanded, in response to the Japanese threat to Australia.

“General Thomas Blamey, a former Wagga resident, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Army,” she said. “A site near Wagga was chosen partly because it was Blamey’s hometown but also because it was halfway between Sydney and Melbourne on a major railway line; it was easily accessible by road being close to the Sturt Highway, which linked Adelaide and Sydney, and to the Hume Highway, which linked Sydney and Melbourne; and it was near the RAAF bases at Forest Hill, Uranquinty and Temora.” 

Mrs Morris said towards the end of 1942, about 400 members of the Australian Women’s Army Corps arrived at Kapooka. 

“Most of the AWAS ladies at Kapooka were in the searchlight detachment,” she said.

“The women were recruited from all over Australia but mostly from Victoria, NSW and South Australia. They came from a wide variety of civil occupations.” 

Mrs Morris said Kapooka Recreation Hall was the result of one of the greatest fundraising efforts of the Mayor’s Patriotic and War Fund and Wagga residents in general.

“Because of Kapooka’s isolation, a large hall was needed to cater for about 2000 men at a time for lectures, films, concerts or other entertainments,” she said. “When Brigadier Veale failed to persuade Army Authorities to finance a large hall, he appealed to the Wagga community to provide funding. 

“On July 6, 1943, a public meeting was held at the Wagga Town Hall and a ‘Soldiers’ Sweetheart’ competition, later termed the Popular Girl Contest, was launched.” 

Mrs Morris said more than £7000 was raised for the hall and its furnishings and the army’s candidate, Sister D. Simmons, was declared the winner.

Although the hall had not been completed, a grand opening was held on February 18, 1944. Mrs Morris said another significant event is what is now known as the Kapooka tragedy. 

“On May 21, 1945, an explosion occurred in a dugout in the demolition area at the Kapooka Camp,” she said. 

“As a result of this explosion, 24 soldiers were killed outright and four were seriously injured, two of whom died within two hours of admission to the camp hospital. A Court of Enquiry determined that no definite decision could ever be arrived at as to the cause of the accident.” 

A ceremony is held in May each year to honour those who lost their lives in the explosion.

RAAF Base historian Wing Commander David Lavicka said there were three major milestones for the Royal Australian Air Force in the Riverina. The first was during World War II. Building commenced in 1940 and by July 11, the basic infrastructure was in place for No 2 Flying Training School.

The second big moment in the RAAF base history was a result of the attractiveness of the engineering facilities for the engineering training schools which were being disbanded around the country. 

“In March, 1946, No.1 Engineering Training School moved to RAAF Base Wagga from Ascot Vale in Victoria and was renamed RAAF Ground Training School,” he said. 

“This established RAAF Wagga’s new role as the centre for aircraft trade training in the Air Force.”

“The unit is acknowledged as the oldest continuous training unit within the RAAF as it has been continuously graduating aircraft technical personnel to the Australian Defence Force and other nations since 1948.”

In 1997, the third pivotal moment in the history of the RAAF base occurred when the Minister for Defence announced his intention to close the base. 

“An almost instant galvanisation of broader support was echoed through all levels of the community and passed onto military officials and the politicians through the ‘Save Our Base Task Force’,” Wing Commander Lavicka said.  “By 2000, this decision was rescinded.”

Wing Commander Lavicka said apprentices and other RAAF personnel have come to the aid of the city in times of crisis, such as floods and fires, and have helped build the city in various ways.

Thousands of young men, as young as 15, trained as apprentices at Forest Hill between 1948 and 2003 and became the backbone of the air force. Kevin Kerr was one of those apprentices. 

“I joined up here when I was 16 and became a RAAF apprentice in 1956,” he said. 

Mr Kerr was in the force for more than 38 years and followed the call of duty all over the country. 

“The Riverina had a lot of flying training bases,” he said. “You had Temora, Narrandera, Cootamundra, Forest Hill, Uranquinty [which closed in 1958], Deniliquin and Tocumwal. The British wanted us to train 10,000 trainees a year. There was a lot of accidents in training. All the men were away at war, so they brought the women in to do the work.” 

Mr Kerr said because the Riverina had to supply food, fuel and other necessities, they provided a lot of business for the area. Mr Kerr said many apprentices met their future wives in Wagga and at some point in their lives decided to return to the city to settle down.

Since 1993, navy personnel has been undertaking aviation Initial Technical Training at the RAAF School of Technical Training based in Wagga. 

A flagpole fashioned from a derrick taken from the first HMAS Sydney was gifted to Wagga in 1931 after HMAS Sydney, which entered service in 1913, was decommissioned. The derrick is currently undergoing repairs. 

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