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Horace Arthur Ledger
Horace Arthur Ledger was born on the 24th of October 1902 in the locality of North Adelaide, South Australia. Little is yet known about his early life except that he excelled in administration. For the six years prior to enlistment, Ledger was employed as the manager of a local company. In 1937 he had a small running with the law where he was taken to court over traffic violations and fined 1 pound plus another pound in cost for the possession of ‘Dazzling lights. In his personal time, he developed a passion for rowing and was an active member of the Adelaide Rowing Club, who today display a studio portrait of Ledger on their memorial honour board.
Horrace enlisted into the Airforce on the 13th of December 1941 and was subsequently given a commission as a Pilot Officer. He first attended the RAAF School of Administration at Laverton, Victoria before being posted to No.11 Squadron in Port Moresby. He remained in New Guinea until July of 1942, during which time he was promoted to Flight officer, when he returned to Townsville and was reposted. Over the next two years, Ledger would serve with several units, but his next major appointment was in February of 1944 when he was posted to 520 Bomber Unit in Gorrie, Queensland.
By this stage, Ledger had proved his exceptional abilities as an administrator and was the perfect man for the next job to come. In April, the RAAF sent him to Darwin to establish a new base of operations for the Catalina aircraft operated by Marine detachments. When Ledger arrived at the new base, he found it totally under supplied, poorly equipped and in total disrepair. The following is pulled from official citations:
Studio portrait of Horace A. Ledger held by the Adeliade Rowing Club and digitsed by the Australian War Memorial
In Charge of the advance party of marine personnel at Shecat, subsequently remaining Commanding Officer of the Operational Base there.
With very little assistance and owing to W/T. silence, he was thrown entirely on his own resources and had to use his own initiative on many most difficult occasions.
With outstanding organising ability and a minimum of marine craft at his disposal, by his devotion to duty, untiring energy and the confidence he inspired in personnel under his command, he established an extremely efficient operational base with marine section for Catalina aircraft operations.
For his outstanding ability in establishing the Catalina base, Ledger was awarded a Mention in Dispatches and a promotion to Flight Lieutenant the following January. He remained as the commander of the base until the wars end, when he was finally transferred to the 4th Personnel Depot in October 1945 before finally being discharged from the service.
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