Charles Cuthbertson Learmonth DFC &

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(2 May 1917 – 6 January 1944) was an officer in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He commanded No. 22 Squadron in combat during the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

, and subsequently took over No. 14 Squadron which was stationed near

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. He was killed in a flying accident on 6 January 1944, and one of the RAAF's bases was later named in his honour.

Death

On 6 January 1944, Learmonth led a formation of three No. 14 Squadron

Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Bristol Blenheim, Blenheim li ...

s on an exercise off

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island (), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a Islands of Perth, Western Australia, island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, ...

with ships of the US Navy. At a height of and about north-west of Rottnest Island his Beaufort began to shake violently. The Australian-built Beauforts were plagued by a mysterious problem that had destroyed over 90 aircraft and killed many crews, including many under training at RAAF East Sale. Learmonth recognised that the violent shaking was driven by the tail of his aircraft and he called Flight Lieutenant Ken Hewitt, the pilot of one of the other Beauforts, to fly in close and observe his tail. Hewitt could see the control rod to the elevator trim tab on Learmonth's Beaufort, hanging down. It had separated from the tab, allowing the tab and elevator to oscillate and drive the violent shaking of the whole aircraft. Learmonth used his radio to advise the crews of the other two Beauforts what he was observing. Shortly afterwards, the trim tab flicked to the extreme up position, over-powering Learmonth and forcing the aircraft to descend rapidly. After less than a minute Learmonth's Beaufort crashed into the sea, killing Learmonth and his three crew members. The wireless operator on one of the other Beauforts reported sighting a parachute on the surface of the water.The West Australian – 18 January 1954, p.3
Retrieved 2011-11-02
Retrieved 2011-11-02 With the information obtained from Learmonth's radio commentary the problem plaguing the Australian-built Beauforts was traced to a component in the elevator trim tab actuating unit. All the RAAF Beauforts were grounded until they were modified to eliminate the problem. Learmonth is credited with supplying the vital information that was necessary to identify the problem and eventually solve it. A secret World War II landing field at

Exmouth Gulf Exmouth Gulf is a Bay, gulf in the North West Australia, north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and t ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, known only by the code-name ''Potshot,'' was eventually developed into a permanent military base and named

RAAF Learmonth RAAF Base Learmonth, also known as Learmonth Airport , is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport. It is located near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia. RAAF Base Learmonth is one of the RA ...

in honour of Wing Commander Charles Learmonth.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Learmonth, Charles 1917 births 1944 deaths Australian aviators Australian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers Australian military personnel killed in World War II