Dick Glyde was kicked out of the RAAF.

In March 1934, Dick Glyde was kicked out of air force training. It was a devastating blow but Dick was determined to fly.

 

 

Dick had joined RAAF Point Cook’s 15th course in January 1934, shortly before his twentieth birthday. It wasn’t long before he was in the air. He proved the fastest on his course, going solo after five hours of dual instruction

But Dick, who hailed from Perth, Western Australia, had little time to experience the joy of solo flight as he was discharged medically unfit for further service on 5 March 1934. His conduct and character up to that time had been ‘very good’ but a medical examination had detected a slightly crooked spine. When he was accepted at Point Cook, there had been subtle hint that completion of a cadetship was not guaranteed when he was advised that on arrival he would be a member of the Officers’ mess and required to give a £5 deposit to cover any debts in the event of leaving early. No one, however, really believed that they would be turfed out of training. But Dick had, and over something of which he had no knowledge; the defect had never been obvious and he had suffered no ill effects in a full sporting.

Dick was disappointed at being discharged from the RAAF but he did not simply accept the apparent inevitability of never flying again. He consulted a physician, carried out an exercise program recommended to rectify the slight curvature of his spine and within four months, the defect had been ‘completely remedied’. He got a job, saved for his passage to England was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force effective from 24 May 1937.