BIOGRAPHY - Doug Collett - RAAF and RAF
Flight Lieutenant 27144 - enlisted 23 Jul 1940, discharged 3 Oct 1945 APO Adelaide
Born 25 June 1920 in South Perth WA at 20 years of age Doug Collet enlisted in the RAAF, initially training as a pay clerk and was sent to Mt Gambier as Paymaster Sergeant in January 1941.
Keen for flight duty he applied to transfer to air crew which he achieved after being posted to the Middle East in August 1941 with 451 Squadron RAAF in the Western Desert, Egypt. He was one of ten to twelve pilots and fifteen to twenty technicians from South Australia. His flying duties commenced with 234 Wing in Lysander aircraft, as field cashier.
Following this he completed elementary flying training in the Empire Training Scheme at Hillside, southern Rhodesia in November 1942. He proved to be an excellent trainee winning the trophy for Best Cadet. He had operational training in Palestine on fighter recce work in Hurricanes and Spitfires.
Survival was not easy and the value of these information seekers can be gauged by the number of casualties in Squadron 451 through enemy action. In the order of 40% of pilots and 60% of aircraft and some ground staff were lost through bombing and strafing by German Stukas and ME 109s.
After being awarded his wings in May 1943 he returned to the Middle East war zone, being posted to 208 Squadron RAF in Syria, as the only Aussie.
He was involved on special duties on Auster, Harvard and Hurricane aircraft and his duties included conveying Turkish senior staff from the Syrian border to Cairo and training Turkish pilots in Palestine at Megiddo in preparation for operation Cicero, the reoccupation of Greece through Turkey. He was then involved in exercises with HMAS Ajax in the control from Spitfires of naval guns on unseen strategic targets and their rapid destruction in the Gulf of Suez. These methods were later successfully employed in the south of France invasion as well.
Somehow during all this action Doug was able to take time off to locate his younger brother, a junior officer on a merchant ship unloading armaments at Haifa and a great reunion ensued resulting in sore heads the next morning.
Photo: Auster AOP Mk III (Above)
208 Squadron was then ordered to Italy after the German spy Cicero had blown security and Doug was involved in operations on the Adriatic Coast of Italy including strategic fighter reconnaissance missions from beach landing strips. This was done in close support of the 8th and American Armies and included fighter support and artillery control prior to leading to the final successful assault on Mone Cassino and the fall of Rome prior to the D Day invasion on 4/5/6 of June.
An important part of Doug's flying duties was the carrying of personnel, messages and spare parts in the squadron Auster a low speed, unarmed vulnerable aircraft.
After this the Squadron continued to harass Rommel as the Germans retreated to north of Florence to the Futa Pass, with the loss of six pilots (in seven months) through enemy action and two more through mid-air collisions and accidents.
In summary Doug's service included four and a half years with RAAF and a year with 208 Squadron RAF completing 123 sorties in Spitfires in support of the 8th Army.
He returned to Australia by troop ship and was demobilized in October 1945.
His character was commented on by two of his superior officer in their assessment of him on leaving 208 Squadron.
"An above average officer, excels in sport, popular with all ranks and possesses considerable zeal and energy."
CO Lt Cdr J.Blauuw
And "A useful type of officer to have in a squadron" G.Capt Milligan,CO of 285 Wing RAF - 12/7/44
After a long post war career in wine making he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the wine industry.
