Plotting a course through history TAKEN FROM THE MEMOIRS OF FRANK SANDER (1938) AS TOLD TO TREVOR CABOON IN 2008
After war broke out in 1939, sitting at his desk at the Taxation department, Old Boy Frank Sander dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. It was only a year since he had graduated from CBC as Captain of the College, and the young man from Wray Avenue had first to get the approval of his parents and employer before he could submit his application to the Royal Australian Air Force. Finally, in 1942 the excited 19-year-old boarded a troop train bound for Victor Harbour in South Australia to commence Initial Training School. Frank had been Dux of his College in his graduating year and was a gifted scholar, so it was no surprise that he topped flight exams,
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coming second in his squadron. He went on to commence pilot training a little closer to home at Cunderdin. Like most wartime pilots, he trained on a Tiger Moth, which was started by swinging the propeller by hand. Aside from a bicycle, the biplane was the first machine Frank had ever operated. After almost 63 hours flying, the fledgling pilot was disappointed to be sent to bomber training in an Avro Anson at Geraldton, rather than following his dream of flying Wirraways as a fighter pilot. His frustration was further compounded when he was re-assigned to commence navigator training in NSW and Victoria, a decision that set Frank on a course of discovering one of his great passions.
