The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Portrait of 252099 Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Arthur Herbert Trewin. After spending some time on the RAAF reserve list while finishing university, Flying Officer (FO) Trewin was appointed to Armament (6) Division at Point Cook, Vic, in 1941, and following this was posted to the Armament School in Hamilton, Vic, as an instructor. In 1943 he was transferred to the Chemical Warfare Section at RAAF Headquarters to work under Wing Commander (Wing Cdr) Raymond J M Le Fevre and was involved in training armourers to be recruited into the Section. In early1943, he was sent into Melbourne, Vic, to inspect a large quantity of chemical weapons, and being untrained in how to deal with the poorly stored chemical agents, he found himself temporarily blinded following the inspection. In March 1943, FO Trewin, along with Wing Cdr Le Fevre and Flight Officer (Flt Off) Moira Shelton, the only female chemist in the Section, attended the first chemical warfare trials carried out on human volunteers in Forbes, NSW. In April 1944 he was posted to the Australian Chemical Warfare Research and Experimental Section, later known as the 1st Field Trials Company, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE), and participated in chemical trials undertaken in Proserpine, Innesvail and Brook Island. In June 1944 he travelled to the United States and Central America to attend conferences and observe chemical field trials. In 1945 he travelled to Europe to investigate German supplies and use of gas and chemicals, particularly at Bergen Belsen concentration camp. From here, he travelled to India and participated in more gas trials, and was still here when the Second World War ended.
Informal group portrait of members of the 1st Field Trials Company. Back row, left to right: unidentified, VF515630 Private Rita May Kolydenka, unidentified. Front row: Walter Crane (UK); Geoffrey Owe
Informal portrait of Wing Commander (Wing Cdr) Raymond J M Le Fevre, a chemist from the Royal Air Force, who was given a temporary position with the Chemical Warfare Unit, after being forced to evacua
A volunteer showing the injuries, in the form of large blisters, sustained to his back and buttocks from chemical gas exposure. The chemical gas trials were done by the Australian Chemical Warfare Fie
The small rash like red dots on the chest and neck of a male volunteer who participated in a chemical trial undertaken by the Australian Chemical Warfare Research and Experimental Section, later known
Spectators watch as an unidentified member of the Australian chemical Warfare Field and Experimental Section completing the high jump at the section’s sports day. The unit was responsible for daily op
Unidentified members and volunteers of the Australian Chemical Field and Experimental Section competing in a three legged race at the section’s sports day. The section was responsible for the daily op
