No . 1 Operational Training Unit RAAF No . 1 Operational Training Unit ( No . 1 OTU ) was an operational conversion unit of the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) during World War II . Formed in December 1941 at RAAF Station Nhill , Victoria , it relocated to RAAF Station Bairnsdale in mid - 1942 , and then to RAAF Station East Sale the following year . No . 1 OTU ' s primary role was to train aircrew for multi - engined aircraft operations . At its peak of activity in August 1944 , it was operating over 130 aircraft , the most numerous being Bristol Beaufort s . Its aircraft and personnel also conducted transport missions in New Guinea and maritime patrols in southern Australian waters . Following the end of hostilities , the unit was disbanded in December 1945 . History . During World War II , the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) established a number of operational training units to convert recently graduated pilots from advanced trainers to combat aircraft , and to add fighting ability to the flying skills they had already learned . No . 1 Operational Training Unit ( No . 1 OTU ) was formed at RAAF Station Nhill , Victoria , on 8 December 1941 , under Southern Area Command . Its inaugural commanding officer was Wing Commander A . I . G . Carr . The unit ' s purpose was to train pilots , air observer s and wireless air gunners for multi - engine aircraft operations . The first courses commenced on 22 December . After preliminary training , pilots went through a six - week conversion to Lockheed Hudson s and Bristol Beaufort s , while observers and gunners underwent instruction on Airspeed Oxford s and Avro Anson s . Their training included bombing , gunnery , navigation , evasive action , ship recognition and maritime reconnaissance . Nhill was always meant to be a temporary location for No . 1 OTU , whose home was to be RAAF Station East Sale , also in Victoria . As accommodation at East Sale would not be available until October 1942 , the school ' s 1 , 630 personnel were relocated to RAAF Station Bairnsdale in June and July . The base ' s living quarters , recreational buildings and 88 tents could not fully accommodate this influx , so the RAAF rented hotels in Bairnsdale for 320 airmen . On 10 December 1942 , No . 1 OTU Detached Flight , consisting of 15 Hudsons and 108 personnel including air and maintenance crews , was sent to North - Eastern Area to help fulfill urgent transport requirements in New Guinea . This force joined a military Douglas DC - 2 and eleven civil aircraft pressed into service to form RAAF Special Transport Flight , which operated out of Wards Airfield from 14 December 1942 to 11 January 1943 . The Hudsons flew 645 sortie s , carrying some 1 , 100 troops and almost 800 tons of equipment . Two of the Hudsons were lost , one to enemy action and one to friendly fire , and several were damaged . By April 1943 , No . 1 OTU ' s complement had grown to 2 , 411 personnel . Over a four - day period beginning 20 April , the unit relocated to East Sale , utilising 110 tenders in 535 trips along the Princes Highway . Its fleet of aircraft included 55 Beauforts , 35 Oxfords , 25 Hudsons , 14 Fairey Battle s and one de Havilland Tiger Moth . Training courses commenced at the new base the day after the move was completed . One of the students on the first course at East Sale was future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam . Group Captain Bill Garing served as commanding officer from August 1943 to February 1944 . He set an Australian record on 19 January 1944 , when he landed a Tiger Moth atop the Mount Wellington , to retrieve an injured stockman . Garing also took measures to allay concerns among crews regarding the Australian - built Beaufort , which appeared to have a mysterious fault that caused many fatalities . By the time No . 1 OCU moved to East Sale , it had suffered 47 accidents involving Beauforts . Garing organised an aerobatic display by a Beaufort for the benefit of students , and an open day at the base on 16 October 1943 ; he also ordered extensive ground testing on the aircraft . Accidents continued to occur , however , and it was ultimately through the efforts of Wing Commander Charles Learmonth immediately prior to his death in a Beaufort off the Western Australian coast that the nature of the problem was recognised and overcome . As well as maintaining its training program , No . 1 OTU was required to periodically release instructors , students and aircraft for maritime patrols to protect Australian shipping lanes . In April 1943 , six Hudsons were attached to No . 32 Squadron at Camden , New South Wales , for convoy escort and anti - submarine duties . A year later , four Beauforts were deployed to Mount Gambier , South Australia , to carry out a two - day escort for the Dutch transport ship " Van Ruys " . Beauforts from No . 1 OTU were also ordered to locate and destroy the German U - Boat " U - 862 " , which had shelled the Greek tanker " Illosis " off Kingston , South Australia , on 9 December 1944 . Although the submarine was not sunk , it was apparently frightened off by the presence of the Beauforts and aircraft from other RAAF units in the vicinity . No . 1 OTU ' s intensive training regime included night flying , so that it operated almost round the clock . Flying effort reached a peak in August 1944 , when 132 aircraft made 2 , 479 flights , instructing 221 students . The unit had by this time logged over 100 , 000 flying hours . It trained a total of 2 , 150 aircrew on Beauforts during the war , and suffered 147 aircraft accidents on instructional and operational fights in Australia and New Guinea , resulting in the loss of 131 aircrew killed or missing . Post - war demobilisation saw the disbandment of all the RAAF ' s operational training units , and No . 1 OTU was dissolved in December 1945 .