Early Career
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, Read was the son of an immigrant from Bristol, England. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School, where he completed his Leaving Certificate. After working as a clerk in a motoring firm, Read joined the Royal Australian Air Force as an air cadet on 21 July 1937. Undertaking instruction at No. 1 Flying Training School in Point Cook, Victoria, he gained his commission as a pilot officer in June 1938. Over the next two years he flew with No. 3 Squadron and No. 22 Squadron, based at RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, and operating Hawker Demon biplane fighters. He was involved in experimental parachute drops with dummies near Menangle; on one such test a fundamental flaw in the harness revealed itself when the dummy slipped clean from the chute, necessitating a redesign. By the time Australia declared war on 3 September 1939, Read had been promoted to flying officer; he later recalled a flurry of activity on the day, but with little real purpose: "After all, we were pretty remote from Europe".
Read more about this topic: Charles Read (RAAF Officer)
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