Leading Aircraftman Basil Thornton,
a fitter armourer, acting as site gunner
in a Sunderland aircraft of 10 Squadron
RAAF based at RAF Station Mount
Batten, Plymouth, England.
c. July 1940

[AWM SUK15151]

The 27,899 Australian aircrew supplied approximately nine percent of all aircrew who fought for the RAF in the Mediterranean and European theatres in the air war against Italy and Germany. Learn about the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial in England where many Australian airmen of the air war in Europe are commemorated.

Bibliography

Kevin Baff, Maritime is Number Ten: A History of No. 10 Squadron RAAF: The Sunderland Era, 1939-1945. Compiled and researched by Flight Lieutenant K C Baff, Adelaide, 1983.

John Herington, Australia in the war of 1939 - 1945; Series Three, Air, Vol III - Air war against Germany and Italy, 1939-1943, Canberra, 1954.

John Herington, Australia in the War of 1939 - 1945; Series Three, Air, Vol IV - Air power over Europe, 1944-1945, Canberra, 1963.

Hank Nelson, Chased by the sun: courageous Australians in Bomber Command in World War II, Sydney, 2002.

Dennis Newton, A few of "the few": Australians and the battle of Britain, Canberra, 1990.

Operation CLICK: Anzac to Kokoda

is a classroom resource which draws on and encourages the use of the following Veterans' Affairs websites:
• Australia’s War 1939–1945 – www.ww2australia.gov.au
• Visit Gallipoli – www.anzacsite.gov.au

You may download Work sheets - provided in PDF file format.

The resource book and CD-ROM package contains lessons that can be used in many contexts in History and Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) classrooms. They were written by experienced history teachers with three aims in mind:

• to provide both beginning and experienced teachers with lessons using the two websites as core resources
• to invite teachers to explore more effective ways of encouraging their students to incorporate ICT skills into their classroom learning activities
• to provide exciting and original lessons that will encourage young Australians to learn more about Australia’s wartime heritage through the stories and images provided on the two websites.