No . 2 Service Flying Training School RAAF No . 2 Service Flying Training School ( No . 2 SFTS ) was a flying training school of the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) during World War II . It was formed in July 1940 , under the command of Wing Commander Frederick Scherger . Responsible for intermediate and advanced instruction of pilots under the Empire Air Training Scheme ( EATS ) , the school was based at RAAF Station Forest Hill near Wagga Wagga , New South Wales , and operated CAC Wirraway and Avro Anson aircraft . The Ansons were phased out in July 1941 , and the school became an all - Wirraway unit . In 1942 the RAAF divided the personnel and equipment of No . 2 SFTS between Nos . 5 and 7 Service Flying Training School s at Uranquinty and Deniliquin , respectively . No . 2 SFTS was disbanded that April , and the base facilities taken over by No . 5 Aircraft Depot . History . RAAF aircrew training expanded dramatically following the outbreak of World War II , in response to Australia ' s participation in the Empire Air Training Scheme ( EATS ) . The Air Force ' s pre - war flight training facility , No . 1 Flying Training School at RAAF Station Point Cook , Victoria , was supplanted in 1940 – 41 by twelve Elementary Flying Training Schools ( EFTS ) , eight Service Flying Training Schools ( SFTS ) , and Central Flying School ( CFS ) . While CFS turned out new flight instructors , the EFTS provided basic training to prospective pilots who , if successful , would go on to SFTS for further instruction that focussed on operational ( or " service " ) flying . The course at SFTS typically consisted of two streams , intermediate and advanced , and included such techniques as instrument flying , night flying , advanced aerobatics , formation flying , dive bombing , and aerial gunnery . The total duration of training varied during the war as demand for aircrew rose and fell . Initially running for 16 weeks , the course was cut to 10 weeks ( which included 75 hours flying time ) in October 1940 . A year later it was raised to 12 weeks ( including 100 hours flying time ) , and again to 16 weeks two months later . It continued to increase after this , peaking at 28 weeks in June 1944 . No . 2 Service Flying Training School ( No . 2 SFTS ) was formed at RAAF Station Forest Hill , near Wagga Wagga , New South Wales , on 1 July 1940 , and came under the control of No . 2 Training Group . Along with No . 5 Service Flying Training School and the later No . 1 Basic Flying Training School , at the neighbouring RAAF Station Uranquinty , No . 2 SFTS was one of the so - called " Wagga Flying Training Schools " , which together graduated over 3 , 000 pilots in the 1940s and ' 50s . The unit ' s inaugural commanding officer was Wing Commander ( subsequently Group Captain ) Frederick Scherger , whose strict discipline and German ancestry quickly earned his establishment the nickname " Scherger ' s Concentration Camp " . Scherger also served as station commander . One of the school ' s instructors was Flying Officer Bill Newton , later to be awarded the Victoria Cross for bombing raids in New Guinea . Forest Hill was a new air base , and roads and buildings were still under construction when its first course of flying training commenced with Avro Anson s on 29 July . One of the Ansons crashed in August , killing its instructor and a student . Later that month the second flying course began , on CAC Wirraway s . The school was then reorganised into Initial and Advanced Squadrons . On 29 September , two Ansons collided in mid - air and became locked together . Both navigators bailed out , to be followed shortly afterwards by the injured pilot of the lower aircraft . The pilot of the upper Anson , however , found that he was able to control the interlocked aircraft using his ailerons and flaps , coupled with the engine power of the Anson underneath . He then managed to make a successful emergency landing in a paddock near the town of Brocklesby . No . 2 SFTS was reported as having achieved its nominal strength of 1 , 100 personnel , including 160 students , in October 1940 . By this time up to 2 , 000 flights per month were said to be taking place , 150 of them at night , with instructors completing up to 90 hours flying time per week . The school underwent further reorganisation in February 1941 with the establishment of Intermediate Squadron ; successful students from this unit were awarded their wings before proceeding to Advanced Squadron . Another new unit , Maintenance Squadron , formed in March . From this point on , No . 2 SFTS phased out its Ansons , as single - engined and multi - engined aircraft training was split up on orders of the RAAF Air Board . By the end of July , only Wirraways were in operation , their numbers eventually reaching 96 . A Wirraway crashed during an instrument training flight on 29 August , killing both pilots . In October , Scherger was posted to take over RAAF Station Darwin , Northern Territory , from Group Captain Charles " Moth " Eaton , who in turn assumed command of No . 2 SFTS . Like Scherger , Eaton also served as Forest Hill ' s station commander . Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 , the school ' s Wirraways were classified as Second Line ( Reserve ) aircraft in the defence of Australia , while the base was fortified with sandbags , trenches , and gun pits . On 1 January 1942 , No . 60 Squadron was established at Forest Hill from No . 2 SFTS aircraft and personnel . Equipped with 18 Wirraways , the unit formed part of the expansion of the Australian military in response to the rapid Japanese advance in the first month of the Pacific War . A contingent of 68 WAAAFs also began arriving at Forest Hill in January . The Air Board subsequently rationalised EATS facilities in southern New South Wales , dividing the staff and aircraft of No . 2 SFTS between Nos . 5 and 7 Service Flying Training School s at nearby RAAF Stations Uranquinty and Deniliquin , respectively . Eaton remained in command of the school until shortly before its disbandment on 3 April 1942 . No . 2 SFTS had suffered a total of four serious accidents in Ansons and eleven in Wirraways , resulting in the deaths of three instructors and four students . Out of some 600 entrants , just over 550 pilots graduated from the school , among them Clive Caldwell , later to become Australia ' s leading fighter ace of the war , and future Prime Minister John Gorton . No . 60 Squadron was also disbanded on 3 April , after a brief career during which its activities had been limited to training exercises . The base facilities were taken over by No . 5 Aircraft Depot , responsible for maintenance of RAAF airframes , engines and other equipment .