Len Waters

Leonard Victor (Len) Waters
File:Len Waters portrait.jpg Len Waters, c. 1944-45
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Years of service	1942–46
Rank	Warrant Officer
Unit	No. 78 Squadron RAAF
Battles/wars	World War II

Leonard Victor (Len) Waters (June 29, 1924 – August 24, 1993) was the first Australian Aboriginal military pilot and was one of only four indigenous people to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Aboriginal people at the time suffered significant discrimination and disadvantages in Australian society, such as restrictions on movement, residence, employment, access to services and citizenship.

Early life

Waters was the fourth of 11 children for Donald and Grace Waters (née Bennett), and he was born at Euraba Mission, near Boomi, New South Wales. He grew up at Nindigully, Queensland, near St George, and is said to have admired pioneering aviators Charles Kingsford-Smith and Amy Johnson, from an early age. Len left school when he was 13 to support his family, working alongside his father as a ringbarker. He was paid 10 shillings per week, for a seven day week, less than one-sixth of the average wage at the time. In 1939, Waters began working as a shearer.

RAAF career

Although the military had officially barred or restricted the recruitment of Aboriginal people in earlier periods, these impediments were significantly relaxed after Japan entered World War II, and Australia came under direct attack for the first time.

Waters volunteered for service in the RAAF on August 24, 1942, at Brisbane and was accepted. He began training as an aircraft mechanic, but later volunteered for aircrew service, was accepted and commenced this training in December 1943. His initial training was at No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School, Narrandera.

He completed his training, and received his "wings" as a Sergeant Pilot, at No. 5 Service Flying Training School, at Uranquinty, New South Wales. Waters' training continued at Mildura, Victoria with No. 2 Operational Training Unit.

I was terribly keen to prove myself in the elite... [and] the flying part of the Air Force is the elite. I might add that there were 375 [students] on that course and 48 of us finished up as pilots... [W]hen we got our wings...there were only three blokes ahead of me on average.

Len Waters

While he was on leave, Waters was reportedly jailed in Moree, New South Wales, for not carrying an identity card, which was one of the racially discriminatory institutions affecting Aboriginal people at the time.

On November 14, 1944, he was posted to No. 78 Squadron, a fighter unit based on Noemfoor, an island off Dutch New Guinea (West Papua). When he arrived, he was allocated a P-40 Kittyhawk. By chance, a previous pilot had nicknamed the plane "Black Magic" and painted those words on its nose. As is the case with other people of colour, Australian Aborigines are sometimes referred to as being "black". Waters found the name of his plane an amusing coincidence and chose to retain it.

Waters' Kittyhawk, "Black Magic".

By this stage of the war, Japanese aircraft were almost non-existent in the South West Pacific theatre; 78 Squadron's main role was ground attack, and Waters flew 95 sorties, from Noemfoor and later from the air bases at Morotai and Tarakan, in Borneo. On January 1, 1945 he was promoted to Flight Sergeant. By the end of the war, Waters was commanding operations which included commissioned officers.

Waters also held the RAAF middleweight boxing title. He left the air force with the rank of Warrant Officer, on January 18, 1946.

One of his brothers, Donald Edward (Jim) Waters, served as an infantryman with the Australian Army during the war.

Return to civilian life

After he returned to Australia, Waters attempted to start a regional airline serving south west Queensland. This did not succeed because he could not secure finance or bureaucratic approval. One source says that Waters wrote four letters seeking government approval, but never received a reply. He never flew a plane again.

Waters met and soon married Gladys Saunders, with whom he would have six children, five daughters and one son. Waters worked as an automotive mechanic, but was forced to cease by union rules, which required him to serve an apprenticeship. He then worked briefly for a local council in Queensland as a roadworker, before returning to shearing, working on properties stretching from North Queensland to Victoria.

He applied for housing commission accommodation and was allocated a house in Inala, Brisbane, in August 1956. Waters eventually bought the property and lived there for 33 years. He died at the age of 69 in Cunnamulla and is buried in St George Cemetery.

Commemoration

In 1995-96, Waters was honoured in several ways, including the:

• depiction on a stamp and a first day cover by Australia Post
• opening of Len Waters Place, a park in Inala
• Moree Plains Shire Council naming Leonard Waters Park, in Boggabilla, New South Wales
• naming of Len Waters Street, in Ngunnawal, Australian Capital Territory

In 2003, Balonne Shire Council, in St George, erected a monument to Waters and another local RAAF officer.

My Father the Flyer – Was it Black Magic? This book is a research paper, funded by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. It provides background information about Len Waters, his family, his Kamilaroi culture and influences in his life, and how his determination allowed him to achieve his dreams, as well as being a role model to all Australians.Orchard, Kim L. (1995). ""My Father the Flyer – Was it Black Magic?"". Canberra: self published. pp. 40 pages. {{cite web}}: Text "This book notes the importance that Len placed on education when he attended night school in order to gain the entry level into the Pilot Training Program. This influence came from his maternal grandmother, who was noted in 1874 Victorian Department of Education dispatches, by the Principal who stated his surprise that a “full-blood” Maria Taylor had attended school with her two daughters, Mary and Sarah, and had assisted them in completing their homework. Ironically, Len would return to get a higher education as an adult in order to achieve his dream." ignored (help)</ref>

Footnotes

• link to the website of Kim Orchard, the Authorised biographer of Leonard Waters story, "My Father the Flyer - Was it Black Magic?" by searching waters_orchard on myspace.com

External links

• World War 2 Nominal Roll, WATERS, LEONARD VICTOR