Locals manned air lookout 24 hours a day
A volunteer Air Observers’ Corps was established in Cowes during the Second World War, and from 1942 was manned 24 hours a day, by local volunteers, in two hour shifts.
Women manned the station during the day, and men at night and their duty was to record and report by telephone to Melbourne headquarters all air movements over Phillip Island.
Kevin Findlay, a child of 12 when Japan entered the war, was one of the volunteers, and recalled its operation during “Australia Remembers” recollections shared by Phillip Islanders to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War 2, back in 1995.
The station was set up on top of the original shire hall initially, and was later transferred to site on which now stands the Phillip Island Bakery, which was the highest point in Cowes.
There were only four telephone lines between Cowes and Melbourne in those days, and the Air Observes’ Corps volunteer calls were always given top priority.
“Airflash” was the password used, and the calls immediately went through to the secret location of Melbourne Headquarters, to be relayed to Air Defence Headquarters at the Preston Town Hall.
The whole of Victoria was covered in this way.
The Volunteers were issued with binoculars, and taught to recognise the silhouettes of Australia, German and Japanese Aircrafts.
Posters of the various planes adorned the station walls, and the men and women of the corps became experts at identifying these.
Their job was not only to monitor but identify the many aircrafts that flew over Phillip Island, and because of the location of the Island between Sale RAAF base and Cerberus, air traffic was heavy.
The Air Force regularly flew over Phillip Island from Sale on training training sessions.
Aircraft would often pull a target known as a “drougue” behind, which was used for gunnery practice by the navy gunners at Cerberus.
The aircraft would fly up and down over the navy firing range for about an hour, while practicing went on.
Kevin recalls that more than one plane finished up on the mud flats over at French Island, allegedly with engine failure … but he says in fact they were shot down by the navy gunners.
Other Islanders can also vouch for the inaccuracy of the Cerberus navy gunners.
A couple of Ventnor farmers can remember shells exploding on their properties, during the war years, which were fired from across the bay.
Many US planes were based at Tocumwal in the war years, and Phillip Island was in a line directly from the base.
The pilots used to fly their Flying Fortresses and Liberators on navigational exercises, and used the island as the point at which they turned back.
Kevin recalls that the volunteers would often receive a call from Melbourne, asking that a special lookout be maintained if one of these was off course.
The Catalina flying boats were also regularly observed.
Their courses took them from Sydney, to Mallacoota, round Cape Paterson, over Phillip Island, on to Point Cook, Williamstown, and to the huge service depot at Lake Boga near Swan Hill.
“They were a very common sight,” recalls Kevin, who as a young boy could identify each of these instantly.
The Island also saw a lot of aircraft known as Beau-fighters, which were twin-engined aircraft with snub noses.
They were known as the “whispering death” because you only heard them after you saw them.
They would come in at very low attitudes over the waves, and the volunteers had to be very alert to see them coming in low over Rhyll, as they headed toward Crib Point.
Other training aircraft were in the sky regularly looking out for submarines in Westernport Bay.
The only civil aircraft using the skies over the Island in the war years were DC-3’s, on regular runs to Tasmania.
