Eric HarrisonPrint Page

The plaque commemorates aviator Eric Harrison who established Australia`s first air base at Point Cook and who made Australia`s first military flight in 1914. 

Eric Harrison (10 August 1886 – 5 September 1945) was an Australian aviator who made the country's first military flight, and helped lay the groundwork for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Born in Victoria, he was a flying instructor in Britain when, in 1912, he answered the Australian Defence Department`s call for pilots to form an aviation school. Along with Henry Petre, he established Australia's first air base at Point Cook, Victoria, and its inaugural training unit, the Central Flying School (CFS), before making his historic flight in March 1914. Following the outbreak of World War One when Petre went on active service with the Mesopotamian Half Flight, Harrison took charge of instructing student pilots of the Australian Flying Corps at CFS.

Harrison transferred to the RAAF as one of its founding members in 1921, and spent much of the inter-war period in technical services and air accident investigation. Promoted to group captain in 1935, he retired from the Air Force three years later when his post of Director of Aeronautical Inspection was transferred to the public service. He continued to serve in the same capacity as a civilian until his sudden death from heart disease at the age of fifty-nine, just after the end of World War II. Harrison's technical abilities and association with military flying from its earliest days in Australia earned him the title of "Father of the RAAF" for many years, until the mantle was assumed by Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams.

Location

Address:	36 Mostyn Street, In front of RSL Hall, Castlemaine, 3450
State:	VIC
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -37.065865 Long: 144.217672 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Plaque
Monument Theme:	People
Sub-Theme:	Aviation
Link:	http://adb.anu.edu.au/

Dedication

Source: MA, ADB