90 YEARS OF THE RAAF - A SNAPSHOT HISTORY

90 YEARS RAAF A SNAPSHOTof theHISTORY

90 YEARS RAAF A SNAPSHOTof theHISTORY © Commonwealth of 2011 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission. Inquiries should be made to the publisher.

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry 90 years of the RAAF : a snapshot history / Royal Australian Air Force, Office of Air Force History ; edited by Chris Clark (RAAF Historian).

9781920800567 (pbk.)

Australia. Royal Australian Air Force.--History. Air forces--Australia--History.

Clark, Chris. Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Office of Air Force History. Australia. Royal Australian Air Force. Air Power Development Centre.

358.400994

Design and layout by: Owen Gibbons DPSAUG031-11

Published and distributed by: Air Power Development Centre TCC-3, Department of Defence PO Box 7935 BC ACT 2610 AUSTRALIA

Telephone: + 61 2 6266 1355 Facsimile: + 61 2 6266 1041 Email: [email protected] Website: www.airforce.gov.au/airpower Chief of Air Force Foreword Throughout 2011, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has been commemorating the 90th anniversary of its establishment on 31 March 1921. In the decades since its formation, the Service has undergone innumerable changes in personnel, organisation and equipment. It also engaged in a World War during which it grew in strength towards 200 000 personnel in uniform, operating thousands of aircraft in hundreds of units across the globe. Involvement in further conflicts have followed—in Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, and —along with a multitude of and humanitarian operations. All this activity has generated a dazzling and multi- faceted story for a Service which has steadily scaled back to less than 15 000 personnel, though one still with formidable operational capability.

In 2009 the Office of Air Force History set about capturing the rich story of the RAAF through an electronic publication called “On this day in RAAF history…”, which aimed at focusing on specific events rather than detailing a comprehensive account. The venture proved hugely popular and has been supplying Air Force members, both serving and retired, along with interested members of the public, with daily snippets from the Service’s history ever since. This material can still be accessed off a Compact Disk or from either the official RAAF or Air Power Development Centre websites, but by repackaging the OAFH database on a yearly rather than a daily basis, an entirely different view of the RAAF’s past emerges. A juxtaposition of events is achieved which can be surprising, amusing and sometimes quite unsettling, but always informative.

I am pleased to commend this “snapshot history” of the RAAF to anyone with an interest in the story of air power in Australia. As Air Force steadily edges towards achieving a century of service to the nation, it is entirely fitting that we improve our understanding of what has made the Service what it has become. Dedicated to the nearly 310 000 men and women who have served in the Royal Australian Air Force since 1921, this book captures not just the highlights of the last 90 years, but also its low points and many a quirky moment, along with the ordinary milestone achievements that have been reached along the way.

Air Geoff Brown, AM

Chief of Air Force

19 19 19 TWENTIES THIRTIES FORTIES PAGE 07 PAGE 37 PAGE 63

19 19 19 FIFTIES SIXTIES SEVENTIES PAGE 137 PAGE 173 PAGE 201

19 19 21st EIGHTIES NINETIES CENTURY PAGE 233 PAGE 255 PAGE 285 - 1921 -

- 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 - 1927 - 1928 -

1929 - 1930 - 1931 - 1932 - 1933 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939

- 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946 - 1947 - 1948 - 1949 -

1950 - 1951 - 1952 - 1953 - 1954 - 1955 - 1956 - 1957 - 1958 - 1959 - 1960

- 1961 - 1962 - 1963 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - 1970 -

1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981

- 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 -

1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002

- 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010

- 2011 - 19 TWENTIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 7 1921

31 MARCH Air (AAC)––a temporary unit raised 15 months earlier––was disbanded and replaced by the Australian Air Force (AAF) as a separate new Service. The AAF immediately took possession of existing aircraft and equipment at Point Cook, , but not all the AAC’s personnel were transferred across. At its formation the new Service had 21 officers and 128 other ranks, and even six months later this strength had barely doubled. The 153 aircraft which initially came into the AAF’s possession were mainly war surplus machines received under an ‘Imperial Gift’ arrangement. Most stayed in storage, and for several years only 50–60 aircraft were actually in use. Economies imposed in 1922 forced the RAAF to cut back on development plans, so that even after five years in existence it had less than 700 personnel.

Corporal Whicker

Just a week after the Australian Air Force was formed, the new Service suffered its first loss of 06 life in a flying accident. An Avro 504K (H3021) stalled on an afternoon training flight at Point Cook and spun 500 feet nose-first into the ground about a half-mile north of the airfield hangars. April The pilot, Flying (Honorary Flight ) James Fryer-Smith, received a fracture to the base of the skull and severe cuts to the face and body. He recovered from these injuries but was classed as medically unfit for further flying. The passenger, Bertie Whicker, a 23-year- old ex-Australian Flying Corps mechanic, suffered injuries from which he died in Caufield Military Hospital that same evening.

8 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1921

12 August Mrs Hughes, wife of Australia’s Prime Minister, launched the first of six Fairey IIID built for Australia at the Fairey Aviation Works at Hamble, Southampton, England. Although Mr Hughes was not present, the occasion was attended by an array of British VIPs including John Seely (former Under-Secretary of State for Air, later Baron Mottistone), Sir Sefton Brancker (Aircraft Manufacturing Company) and Major General Sir Frederick Sykes (Controller-General of Civil Aviation). During preliminary speeches Lieutenant John Moore- Brabazon (Parliamentary secretary in the , later Baron Brabazon) proposed a toast to the ‘Australian Air Force’, which was responded to by Australia’s Air Liaison Officer in London. During the actual launch, Mrs Hughes named the aircraft ‘Mary’, after herself. Although ordered by the Naval Board in 1920, the six seaplanes were operated by the RAAF following their delivery to Australia.

First Australian Fairey IIID ready for naming at Hamble

13 August When Australia’s air service was officially established, its was simply the ‘Australian Air Force’. A request had already been made in February, however, for the ‘Royal’ prefix to be added to the name, and on 11 May the Governor-General, Lord Forster, was advised in a dispatch from London that the King had given his approval. This advice was not relayed to the Defence Department until 20 June. Although the news appeared in the press three days later, it was not until 13 August that the necessary order signed by the Governor- General was published in the Commonwealth Gazette (No. 65, 1921, p. 1207), making this the start date for use of the RAAF name.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 9 1922

10 January About 240 officers and airmen of the RAAF–– almost its entire strength––returned to the Point Cook after completing more than three months of non-technical training The Governor-General with RAAF officers at Holsworthy, 24 October 1921 at the Army’s Central Training Depot (CTD) at Holsworthy, outside the suburb of Liverpool. The first detachment of 22 officers and 145 airmen began a course of drill and other training at the CTD on 12 September 1921, six months after the RAAF was officially formed. This was joined on 7 November by another 10 officers and 74 airmen who trained concurrently with the first arrivals. While in camp, the ‘No 1 Course’ members were visited by the Governor- General on 24 October. At least a dozen men decided that Service life was not for them and took their discharge during the period of training. Until the ‘RAAF Details, Liverpool’ returned, the Point Cook base stood largely deserted.

10 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1922

Vickers Vimy leaving Point Cook for flight to , 23 March 1920

The Vickers FB-27A Vimy IV twin-engined aircraft in which the Smith made their historic 14 flight from England to Australia in 1919 was approved for transfer to the Australian War Museum (later Memorial). The machine had been stored at Point Cook since March 1920, originally in the March custody of the Australian Air Corps and then, from April 1921, of the new Air Force. When the RAAF adopted its ‘A’ series aircraft numbering system in August 1921, the Vimy was designated A5-1 in anticipation that Australia would eventually operate four of these long-distance heavy . Nothing came of this plan, and the Smiths’ machine was handed over to the War Museum instead. In 1955, the Vimy was transferred to the Department of Civil Aviation, and finally placed on display at Adelaide . The RAAF allocated the aircraft number ‘A5’ to another type in 1929.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 11 A British-designed Avro 504K trainer became the first aircraft built in Australia for the RAAF. 15 The machine was handed over at Mascot, Sydney, by the Australian Aircraft & Engineering Company (AA&ECo.) after Dame Mary Hughes, the wife of Prime Minister W.M. Hughes, June christened it Mary before sending it off on its maiden flight. On completion of the flight, the aircraft was formally accepted for the RAAF by . The following month a second machine was also ready, and after acceptance trials both were flown to Point Cook. The remaining four machines of the order placed with AA&ECo. were progressively finished over succeeding months, with the last delivered in March 1923. Although a successful undertaking, the venture did not establish the permanent local manufacture of aircraft, as the company went out of business on finishing the initial RAAF order.

Handover12 of first90 Avro Years 504K of the built RAAF for - RAAFA Snapshot at Mascot, History 15 June 1922 1922

02 October The title of the Director of Intelligence and Organisation position at Air Force Headquarters, held by Richard Williams, was redesignated as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) and First Air Member of the . The RAAF’s next most senior officer, S.J. Goble, formerly known as Director of Personnel and Training, became Chief of the Administrative Staff and Second Air Member. The idea of making the CAS ‘first among equals’ on the Air Board replicated arrangements on the Naval and Military Boards of Administration, but was also meant to assuage a bitter personal rivalry developing between Williams and Goble. The change also gave the RAAF a head of service comparable in status to the Army and Navy, although Williams did not reach equivalent rank as an Air Vice-Marshal until 1935. When the CAS appointment was instituted, the RAAF had less than 350 personnel.

Handover of first Avro 504K built for RAAF at Mascot, 15 June 1922 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 13 1923

26 February Alexander (‘Jerry’) Pentland left the RAAF after less than two years in the Service. During he had become one of Australia’s leading aces, shooting down 23 enemy aircraft while serving with Nos 16, 19, 29 and 87 Squadrons of the . He was awarded the and the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1918. Returning to Australia in 1920, he joined the newly-formed RAAF and flew S.E.5A fighters before deciding to resign to pursue better prospects with the in Britain. He returned to Australia again in 1926, and flew on the goldfields before becoming a pilot with Australian National Airways in 1930. During World War II, Squadron Leader Pentland commanded No 1 Rescue and Communications Squadron in New Guinea, and later No 8 Communications Unit. He was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) before being discharged in November 1945.

Squadron Leader Jerry Pentland in World War II

14 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1923

01 September The Governor-General today gave assent to the Air Force Act 1923 which formally constituted the RAAF as an autonomous arm of the defence forces. When the Air Force was raised in 1921, it was constituted under the Defence Act 1903–1918 which, technically, made it part of the military forces. An Air Defence Bill was presented in the Senate but failed to pass all stages before Parliament was prorogued in May 1921. Further Air Defence Bill was presented on 29 June 1923, but RAAF Band at Canberra, May 1927 (Niven at left?) met with such opposition over disciplinary provisions that it was withdrawn. A revised Air Force Bill followed on 24 August and passed 20 all stages. This very short piece of legislation, which still provided for the Service to be August governed by the Defence Act and regulations, Hugh Niven, described as a ‘Scottish migrant and cornet champion’, was appointed Warrant became the sole legal basis for the RAAF Officer Class 1 and part-time Bandmaster of what came to be called the ‘Royal Australian Air before World War II. Force Band’. His appointment came after Corporal B.D. Thacker, a motor driver mechanic, started up a band on the RAAF station at Point Cook in January, comprising volunteers from airmen on the base and with himself as acting bandmaster. It was at Thacker’s suggestion that the Air Board approved the engagement of an expert instructor to bring the band up to a musical standard that would enable it to take part in parades and ceremonial occasions away from Point Cook. After another band was formed at the Richmond base in 1933, Niven was granted honorary rank as in July 1934. Made Honorary Flight Lieutenant in December 1940, he remained Musical Director of the RAAF Band until 1952.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 15 1924

14 January The RAAF Experimental Section was officially opened in the Sydney suburb of Randwick. Although originally conceived as a special workshop for locally researching, producing and testing components needed by the RAAF, it quickly became engaged in aircraft design and construction. Operating from the former site of a World War I factory for producing radio apparatus required by the Navy, the Section was commanded by Squadron Leader , who was known as a

First aircraft moved from Randwick out for trials at Botany Bay, 1 July 1925 brilliant technical staff officer, and employed about 30 men. Over the next few years, four aircraft of Wackett’s design were produced (two small flying boats and two advanced trainers), but these machines never went into production. The costs of the Section’s role as a factory prompted the visiting RAF inspector, Sir John Salmond, to recommend its closure, and it ceased operations in April 1930. Wackett resigned and subsequently became a leading figure in Australia’s aircraft industry.

16 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1924

Fairey IIID carried on HMAS Geranium 23 January A combined Services meeting in Sydney today decided that the RAAF would assist the Navy in charting navigable passages through the Great Barrier Reef, by photographing areas difficult to access by conventional hydrographic methods. On 1 August, a Fairey IIID (A10-2) left Point Cook, Victoria, to join the survey sloop Geranium at , . A 10-man detachment—two officers (pilot and observer) and eight airmen for maintenance and photographic duties––had arrived three days earlier. Although it was found that carriage of the aircraft seriously destabilised the ship in open waters, the Fairey IIID performed valuable work operating alongside, by identifying the layout of reefs and ensuring the ship’s safety. The aircraft returned to Point Cook in December, but in June 1925 two Faireys were sent north to resume the survey. A dedicated RAAF flight operating new Seagull III amphibians continued the effort in later years.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 17 1924

19 Goble and McIntyre carried by crowd at St Kilda Beach May During the mid-afternoon today the RAAF’s acting Chief of the Air Staff, Wing Commander S.J. (‘Jimmy’) Goble, and pilot, Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre, alighted off St Kilda Beach, , in Fairey IIID seaplane A10-3, at the end of the first round-Australia flight. Since departing from Point Cook air base on 6 April, they had spent 90 hours in the air, travelled 13 700 kilometres, and survived bad weather, poor maps, damage to their aircraft, insect bites, strain, fatigue and compass failure, to complete an aerial survey of the Australian coastline in an anti-clockwise direction. A crowd of 10 000 welcomed them back and cheered their triumph, which earned both men the award of Commander of the Order of the (CBE) and the Royal Aero Club’s Britannia Challenge Trophy for ‘the most meritorious performance in the air’.

18 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1924

Goble and McIntyre carried by crowd at St Kilda Beach 13 December The first RAAF air show, organised on instructions from the Minister for Defence, was held at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne for a paying crowd of 7000 people (and many more who watched from outside the ground). All the Air Force’s current types, except the Fairey IIID seaplane, were involved in displays of landing in confined areas, picking up and dropping messages, low-level bombing, formation flying, air drill, mock air combat, ammunition dropping, aerobatics and races. The program went as planned, except for the crash of a D.H.9 at the conclusion of the aerial combat display. The real drama had already occurred three days earlier, when 20 aircraft flew from Point Cook to rehearse the show. Three D.H.9s and an were damaged in landing mishaps, with the Avro Image from program of 1924 RAAF Aerial Pageant destroying a section of railing and ending up on the steeplechase course.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 19 1925

19 June RAAF base at Richmond pictured in 1927 The Citizen Air Force CAF became part of the RAAF with the appointment of the first pilots 30 to the General Duties Branch. On the Air Force List of February 1927, eighteen CAF officers June (four Flight , 12 Flying Officers A D.H.9 and two S.E.5A fighters arrived to begin occupation of the airfield at Richmond, and two Pilot Officers) were shown with . Originally, 10 aircraft had set off on 29 June from Point Cook, Victoria, but 19 June 1925 as their date of appointment, these three were the only ones to survive the transfer. An Avro 504 sent ahead as a scout on while another three Flying Officers were listed 27 June had crashed at , even before the main party (four S.E.5As, three D.H.9s and as having been appointed a fortnight later, on three Avro 504s) began the trip. Two of these aircraft were delayed by technical problems 1 July 1925. The latter date coincided with the at , and four suffered mishaps on a muddy landing ground at Gunning. formation of the first numbered RAAF flying No 3 Squadron came into existence at Point Cook on 1 July and its personnel followed by road units (Nos 1 and 3 Squadrons). These were and rail over the next three weeks. As these progressively arrived, the process of bringing to life described as ‘composite’ general purpose the second flying base established by the RAAF was completed. squadrons, comprised of approximately one- third permanent (full-time) personnel with the remainder drawn from the CAF. The approved establishment for the CAF in 1925–26 was 54 officers and 222 airmen. CAF personnel wore the colour patch of the old Australian Flying Corps at the top of their tunic sleeves.

20 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1925

21 July A RAAF Fairey IIID floatplane surprised the US Pacific Fleet by sighting it at sea as it approached Australia’s east coast on a good will tour. The fleet of 56 vessels, including 12 , was approaching Gabo Island following a previous visit to . Two Fairey IIIDs from Point Cook were instructed by RAAF Headquarters to see if they could detect the approaching force, as a test of early warning. Taking off from Eden, New South Wales, the aircraft encountered appalling conditions and were soon separated. One of the RAAF machines (crewed by Flight Lieutenant Ivor McIntyre, pilot, and Flying Officer William Walne, navigator) flew on, and by good work and good luck succeeded in locating the ships. The weather was so bad that the American had declared a non-flying day within his force. After making radio contact and showing their presence by flying around the US ships, the crew returned to base.

Visiting warship of US Pacific Fleet

Flight Lieutenant McIntyre 19 October Two RAAF Fairey IIID seaplanes––A10-5, flown by Flight Lieutenant A.E. (‘George’) Hempel, and A10-6, flown by Flight Lieutenant Ivor McIntyre––arrived back at Point Cook after surveying an air route across . The survey was required for a plan to establish a commercial passenger and air mail service between the mainland and , and travelling with Hempel was Edgar Johnston, the Superintendent of from the Civil Aviation Branch. After setting off from Point Cook on 14 October, the two aircraft visited Flinders and other islands to decide on the most suitable locations for emergency landing grounds. This survey followed a previous one flown in Fairey A10-2 during February 1924 to examine landing places between Melbourne and . Although the RAAF operated the Fairey IIID for naval cooperation work, the Government wanted them used to develop civil aviation around Australia.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 21 1926

26 May Flight Lieutenant Ellis Wackett made a freefall parachute jump from a D.H.9a over Richmond air base, New South Wales––the first time this had occurred in Australia. The previous year Wackett had been on a posting in England, and spent time at the RAF station at Andover where a squadron was using parachutes; while there, he learnt to pack and use the new life- preserving equipment. On return to Australia, he began the introduction of parachutes into the RAAF. The rear cockpit of a D.H.9a bomber (A1-10), normally the ’s position, was modified to carry a small ladder on the port side of the aircraft fuselage. For the first jump, the aircraft had reached 3000 feet when Wackett clambered over the side and stood on the ladder and, with one hand already on the ripcord, let go. His descent and landing went

Sir Joseph Cook preparing for Seagull III flight without incident. 06 February The first of six Seagull III boat-hulled amphibians for the RAAF was officially launched at the Company’s works at Southampton, England. The aircraft were purchased to eventually equip a new seaplane carrier ordered for the . The first amphibian, A9-1, was named ‘Australian Seagull One’ by Dame Mary Cook, wife of the Australian High Commissioner (and former Prime Minister), Sir Joseph Cook. A bottle of champagne was broken against an anchor resting on the bow, before Sir Joseph took off on an official maiden flight. The first two Seagulls were shipped from Britain on 26 February, and the other four left on 12 March that same year. As the carrier was not ready to commission until January 1929, the aircraft were used by the RAAF’s new No 101 (Fleet Cooperation) Flight to support an aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef.

22 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1926

(L to R) McIntyre, Trist, Williams Dual-equipped D.H.9 of type used on pioneer night flight. 03 27 November November The Chief of the Air Staff, Squadron Leader Allan Hepburn (pilot) and Squadron Leader (navigator) took off Richard Williams, arrived at Tulagi, Solomon from the base at Richmond, NSW, at 8.20 pm on a moonless night in a dual-equipped D.H.9 and Islands, in a D.H.50A seaplane flown by Flight headed for Melbourne on the first long-distance RAAF night flight. Air Force training in Australia at Lieutenant Ivor McIntyre, while on a mission this time did not include any courses in night or instrument flying. The flight was an to to ‘show the [British] flag’ across the South check the suitability of the Sydney-Melbourne route for night use, employing the normal lighting Pacific as far as Samoa. Although Williams had of country towns as a navigational guide. Having completed 555 kilometres, the crew had to conceived the idea, he was not qualified to fly make a forced landing at Violet Town, Victoria, at 2.10 am the next morning, after a blockage in the newly-acquired seaplane, and from the time the aircraft’s fuel system caused a petrol pipe to break. After repairing the problem, the flight was the flight left Point Cook on 25 September he resumed and the remaining distance of 170 kilometres completed that afternoon. had to travel as passenger in the interior cabin with a mechanic, Les Trist. By the time Tulagi was reached, the onset of the wet season and engine failure caused the attempt to be abandoned. After waiting nearly three weeks for a replacement engine, the aircraft returned to Point Cook on 7 December having covered only 16 000 kilometres instead of the 27 300 that was planned.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 23 1927

21 April For the arrival in Melbourne of the Duke and Duchess of York, the RAAF provided a welcoming fly-past which was marred by the midair collision of two D.H.9 bombers. The Air Force had put some 30 aircraft in the air as escorts, from the time the royal couple disembarked from HMS Renown until they arrived at Government House. The Duke was inspecting a RAAF guard of honour at about 4 pm when seven D.H.9s in V-formation flew in over St Kilda Road. At this juncture, two of the aircraft were seen to collide and plunge to the ground, one disappearing in a sheet of flame through the roof of a Post Office garage building in Sturt Street, South Melbourne, 300 metres west of the Government House gates, while the other crashed into Dodds Street about 50 metres east of where the other machine hit. All four men on board the two bombers were killed.

24 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1927

A single-seater S.E.5a fighter crashed during a fly-past above a spectacular military review that 09 followed the opening of Parliament House at Canberra, fatally injuring the RAAF pilot. The aircraft was seen to peel away from one of the formations passing overhead at 500 feet before entering May a dive and crashing on Rottenbury Rise (the site of St Marks Church in Blackall Street, Barton). The aircraft ploughed into the ground 600 metres from the legislative building, landing on its nose and port wing before turning over amid a cloud of dust which rose 15 metres high. The pilot, Flying Officer Francis Ewen, died from his injuries that evening without recovering consciousness. He was buried two days later in St Johns churchyard. No explanation could be found for what caused the accident, which was the worst of a series of mishaps which befell the RAAF contingent during the week leading up to the Parliament House opening.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 25 1927

11 May While returning to Victoria from the opening of Federal Parliament in Canberra two days earlier, a S.E.5a single-seat fighter (A2-11) flown by Sergeant Pilot Orme Denny crashed in rugged bushland near Tolmie, in the Mansfield area, after the engine seized. Denny’s aircraft was one of five of this type involved in the activities at the national capital, but became the sole one remaining after mishaps had put all the others out of action. He carried on board the official photographs of the opening ceremony, intended for inclusion in a presentation album for the Duke of York. After surviving collision with a peppermint tree, Denny managed to walk out of the crash site and made his way back to Melbourne by train––but without the precious photographs. In 1992 relics were recovered by cadets of the RAAF College Engineer Training Squadron and lodged with the RAAF Museum.

A2-11 after crash, 1927

26 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1927

Survey Flight at Kerema, Gulf of Papua, 26 October

A Papuan Survey Flight was formed at No 1 Aircraft Depot, Laverton, to join the Anglo-Persian 02 Oil Company in uncovering deposits of oil in the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New Guinea. The Flight, comprising two Seagull III amphibians and six personnel, was to assist August the Company’s efforts by undertaking aerial reconnaissance to identify and photograph areas of potential interest to field parties. Departing on 27 September, the Flight commenced work on 16 October as it passed along the west coast of Papua towards Daru. By late November the Seagulls had reached Aitape on the north coast of New Guinea, but the early onset of the monsoon wet season forced a halt to the survey. One aircraft left Madang on 2 December and reached Melbourne on Boxing Day. The other machine, delayed by engine problems, did not return until 19 January 1928.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 27 1928

27 January After two years on secondment with the RAAF, Flying Officer returned to the Army on this day as a Lieutenant. A 1920 graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1925 he had transferred temporarily to the Air Force. Becoming an excellent pilot, he served as adjutant of No 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook. Following his marriage in February 1927, however, he decided not to transfer permanently to the RAAF. His career back in the Army flourished, and by 1956 he was commanding Eastern Command in Sydney. In August 1957, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales, serving for the next eight years. While not the only seconded Army officer who elected not to remain with the RAAF, Sir Eric was the most notable.

28 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1928

14 March After completing the first solo flight from England to Australia in February 1928, famed Queensland aviator H.J.L. (‘Bert’) Hinkler was appointed an honorary Squadron Leader in the RAAF on this day. He also received £2000 from the and was awarded the Air Force Cross. Although he had served in Britain’s and the Royal Air Force during World War I, he had no formal connection with the RAAF. He returned to England at the end of 1928 and remained abroad until his death in 1933, which occurred when his light plane crashed while making another flight to Australia as part of a global navigation attempt.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 29 1928

Widgeon II at , 1928

The Widgeon II built by Wing 06 Commander Lawrence Wackett at the RAAF Experimental Section arrived at Darwin May from Sydney, on its way to to rendezvous with four RAF Southamptons that were about to embark on a tour of Australia to gain first-hand knowledge of flying boats under operational conditions. When technical problems prevented the Widgeon getting airborne in the tropics, the Government announced on 13 May that the amphibian would not proceed to Singapore but meet the Southamptons at Broome, . The formation flew down the west coast to Perth, then across the to arrive at Point Cook on 29 June. The 14 500 kilometres covered by the Widgeon made this, in Wackett’s words, the first mission by an

‘Australian designed and constructed aircraft (L to R) Kingsford Smith, Ulm on a flight representing the RAAF on its first combined operation with the RAF’.

30 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1928

15 June In recognition of their achievement in crossing the Pacific by air from the , and were awarded the Air Force Cross and appointed to honorary rank in the RAAF, following the precedent set with earlier in the year. Kingsford Smith was made a Squadron Leader and Ulm a Flight Lieutenant. An acclaimed east-west crossing of the Atlantic in June 1930 earned Kingsford Smith a promotion to Wing Commander, while a further record-breaking solo flight from England to Australia in October that same year saw him advanced to Air —which happened to be the rank then held by the Chief of the Air Staff, RAAF.

(L to R) Kingsford Smith, Ulm

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 31 1928

22 June The RAAF’s capacity to conduct long-range coastal patrols was dramatically cut in half after one of its two Mk I flying boats was overturned by a freak wind while moored in the Torrens River at Adelaide, near the quarantine station at Osborne. The crew was just leaving the shore to prepare for take-off when the wind struck. A radio mechanic already on board was lucky to be rescued unhurt. When delivered in January 1928, the big flying boats were the largest aircraft in Australia and the RAAF’s first twin-engined machines. Aircraft S1158 (later numbered A11-1) had been sent from Point Cook to meet four visiting Southamptons of the RAF’s Far East Flight as these arrived 160 kilometres down the coast from Adelaide. Instead of joining the British boats in a public display, the RAAF Southampton had to be retrieved off the river bottom by crane and returned to Melbourne for repair.

32 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1928

Air Marshal Sir John Salmond of the Royal Air Force formally submitted his findings following 20 a three-month inspection tour of the RAAF made at the request of the Australian Government. Reporting that the RAAF was totally unfit for war, he listed poor training, equipment and September conditions of service among its deficiencies, before making recommendations for a modest program of development spread over nine years. While Salmond’s report produced a jolt in Australian Defence circles, the Australian Government decided that implementation of his plan could not proceed given the nation’s existing finances, even though it was accepted as the basis for future Air Force policy. The report remained an influential document for several years but, in the event, expansion of the RAAF did not commence until 1934.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 33 1929

21 January Sergeant Robert Somerville was piloting a D.H.60 Moth on a local training flight from the Richmond air base when he spotted his fiancee’s father hoeing a new cauliflower bed on his farm at nearby Cornwallis, accompanied by the farmer’s son working on a tractor virtually alongside him. Deciding to buzz the pair on the ground, Somerville swooped low but misjudged his pass and struck the farmer with the axle of the aircraft’s undercarriage, decapitating him. Immediately following the collision, the Moth crashed and caught fire. Though the pilot and his passenger were injured in the landing, both escaped the burning wreckage. Somerville was charged in Sydney’s Central Criminal Court with manslaughter, but subsequently acquitted. The RAAF suspended him from flying but 31 later restored him to duty as an instructor at Point Cook. In 1936 he was fatally injured in January an accident caused by a fellow instructor who Following tests undertaken at Richmond, the locally-designed Warrigal I advanced trainer was had disregarded instructions. flown to Point Cook, Victoria, where it was formally handed over to No 1 Flying Training School. The two-seat was the product of Wing Commander Lawrence Wackett and the RAAF Experimental Section at Mascot, Sydney, who completed construction late in 1928 making extensive use of Australian timbers and locally-cast metals. The name ‘Warrigal’ was Aboriginal for ‘wild’ or ‘untamed’, and a further development of the design was planned from the outset. On arrival at Point Cook, a bottle of champagne was broken over the aircraft’s propeller boss by Mrs Ettie Williams (wife of the Chief of the Air Staff). Wackett’s one-off prototype was destroyed in a landing accident just nine months later.

34 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1929

Eaton (left) and guide at site of ‘Kookaburra’ tragedy

A RAAF ground party that had travelled 130 kilometres from in Central Australia 27 reached the spot where a Westland Widgeon light aircraft called ‘Kookaburra’ made a forced landing in the Tanami Desert. The aircraft and its two-man crew, Keith Anderson and Bob April Hitchcock, had disappeared while en route to Western Australia to join the search for Kingsford Smith’s missing machine ‘Southern Cross’. The RAAF had already despatched five D.H.9A bombers under Flight Lieutenant Charles Eaton to join the search before a civil found the Kookaburra north-west of Alice Springs on 20 April, but reported that the crew appeared to have perished. Eaton led a party on a three-day trek to the site to bury the men. By the time the RAAF left for home on 1 May, it had written off three of its aircraft—thereby demonstrating the high costs of operating in such a hostile environment.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 35 1929

25 November After completing courses at the RAF School of Photography at Farnborough, England, RAAF Flight Lieutenant arrived at Barrar, British Somaliland, to begin work with the RAF Survey Flight. Because the boundary between Italian and British territory had never been properly surveyed, the RAF was tasked with providing air photographs of an eight- kilometre strip along the entire border of 515 kilometres. The Survey Flight, comprising three officers and 14 men, operated two Fairey IIIF aircraft. Owing to a delay with ground markers being placed out on time, the program was significantly delayed and caused the Lord Stonehaven departs after opening 16th Parliament. CAS Williams at top of steps (right) Commanding Officer of No 8 Squadron, RAF, While attending the formal opening of the to decide to withdraw the party at the end 20 16th Parliament, the Chief of the Air Staff (Air of April 1930 before the start of the rainy Commodore Richard Williams) was shocked season. Charlesworth reached Aden on November to hear the Governor-General announce that 16 May and embarked for Australia two the new Labor Government led by James days later. His experience was unique in the Scullin had under consideration the ‘question prewar Australian Service. of maintaining a separate organisation for the Air Force’, this having been ‘brought under the notice of … Ministers by officers of the Defence Department’. This was news to the RAAF chief, as was the further information in the vice-regal speech that the matter had already been before the Council of Defence, but since that body had been unable to reach a decision the issue had been ‘postponed pending a comprehensive review of the position of the Air Force’. This public statement ushered in a period of uncertainty which was not finally resolved until September 1932, when the then Minister for Defence declared amalgamation to be undesirable. Squadron Leader Charlesworth (right) with pilots of 1 Sqaudron, Laverton,1936

36 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 19 THIRTIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 37 1930

15 May Flying Officer W.G. (‘Gordon’) Rae became the first RAAF member to save his life in a midair emergency by using a parachute. He had been instructed to spend 30 minutes practising inverted aerobatics over Point Cook in a new biplane fighter, A12-4, which had been in service for only two weeks and had less than 20 hours flying time. While attempting an inverted loop, the machine’s upper wing collapsed with a loud crack and folded upwards, whereupon the Bulldog began spinning down, still in an inverted position. Rae jumped from the plummeting aircraft at about 2000 feet and safely landed by parachute, thereby becoming the first RAAF pilot to join the ‘Caterpillar Club’ (whose members all owed their survival to a British Mawson (front) and Campbell in the BANZARE Moth Irvin parachute). Following this incident, the Air Board banned pilots from attempting outside The D.H.60 Gipsy Moth seaplane loops and ‘bunts’ (half outside loops). 05 accompanying the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition January (BANZARE) was on a reconnaissance flight at 2000 feet in the ‘Australian Sector’ of Antarctica (between Ross Sea and Enderby Land) when a ‘long line of bare black mountain peaks’ was sighted protruding through ice- covered slopes. The aircraft was being flown by Flying Officer Stuart Campbell, one of two RAAF pilots sent with the expedition’s ship Discovery, and also on board was Professor Sir Douglas Mawson, the expedition’s leader. Mawson was convinced they had just seen a new section of coastline and named the area MacRobertson Land in honour of MacPherson Robertson, Australia’s largest confectioner and one of BANZARE’s main patrons.

38 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1930

15 September A detachment from Laverton-based No 1 Squadron finished aerial photography of the New South Wales-Victoria border area around Albury, in support of the Army Survey Section. Led by Flight Lieutenant Gerald Packer, the RAAF’s leading photographic , the detachment had operated two Westland Wapitis and a Moth aircraft from a landing ground at Bowser, five kilometres north-east of the Victorian town of Wangaratta, for several weeks. On the ground, use was made of an experimental photographic lorry and trailer for the first time, it being reported that this arrangement was found satisfactory. The completed coverage of around 1300 square kilometres, which also took in the Hume Reservoir and Bethanga Bridge for the Commonwealth Department of Works, was used to produce a 1:63,360 map of Albury (1931 edition, published 1933)––the first military map in Australia based to a significant extent on air photographs.

Segment of 1931 Albury map

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 39 1930

18 October A D.H.60G Moth from No 1 Squadron at Laverton, Victoria, was used to assist the State Forestry Commission in combating a caterpillar infestation of a 120-hectare pine plantation at Yarrowee, near Ballarat. By removing the front seat and sealing the cockpit space, the D.H.60 was modified to carry a 200-pound (90-kilogram) container of lead arsenate in powder form. An air current was forced through the powder and out through a vent beneath the aircraft, thereby distributing a film of dust below. The aircraft was flown by Squadron Leader H.N. Wrigley about three metres above the trees in the designated area––taking only about three minutes to achieve the required coverage. The operation was repeated in December, and it was reported after this that the grubs had been eradicated and a highly valuable 05 plantation thus saved. October Shortly after 0200 hours, the giant British rigid-frame airship R101 crashed in northern France while on its maiden flight from England to . Only eight of the 52 people on board survived. Among those killed were Britain’s Air Minister, Lord Thomson, and the Director-General of Civil Aviation, Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker. Also among the dead was 39-year-old Squadron Leader William Palstra, MC, an up-and-coming officer of the RAAF. After completing the course at the RAF Staff College at Andover, he had joined the staff of Australia House in London only in July 1930, as Air Liaison Officer to the British Air Ministry. Soon after Palstra took up his new post, the Chief of the Air Staff in Melbourne ( Richard Williams) suggested that–– because the new air service being inaugurated by the R101 was planned to be extended to Australia—‘our liaison officer in London’ should travel on the first flight.

40 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History RMC graduates and ex-cadets (rear row) at Point Cook, 1931 (one cadet missing, having knee surgery)

The eight Air Force cadets who remained at the Royal Military College (RMC), Duntroon, after the 10 graduation of the senior class two days earlier, were withdrawn by the RAAF to continue their training at Point Cook. The move came after the Government had announced in August that the December College would be removed to Victoria Barracks in Sydney at the end of the year, as an economy measure during the Depression. The change ended an association which had begun in 1923 with the secondment of RMC graduates from the Army to become officers in the RAAF. From 1925 the system had evolved so that four RMC graduates were allocated annually to proceed directly to the Air Force. From 1927, the Air Board began selecting the applicants for RMC who were to eventually join the RAAF. Under these arrangements, between 1954 and 1969 the RAAF had four chiefs who were ex-Duntroon.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 41 1931

Cape Bruce flag-raising ceremony 18 February Flight Lieutenant Stuart Campbell, the senior RAAF pilot accompanying the second British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE), hoisted the RAAF during a ceremony conducted on Cape Bruce at which BANZARE’s discoveries were formally proclaimed as territorial possessions of Australia. Campbell and Eric Douglas operated the expedition’s Moth seaplane and were the same pilots who crewed the aircraft for the previous year’s expedition. Following the first flight made on 7 January 1931, a large program of exploration and coastal survey was carried out from the air. The airmen’s role in the expedition was marked with the naming of features of the Antarctic landscape in their honour. Both also became the first RAAF personnel awarded the Polar Medal.

42 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1932

06 December Flying Officer Charles (‘Dolf’) Blamey, the 22-year-old elder son of Major General (later Sir) who was Chief Commissioner of the Victorian Police Force and commander of the 3rd (Militia) Division, was killed in an aircraft accident at Richmond. A graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, young Blamey began a period on secondment to the RAAF at the end of 1930. He was the pilot of a Moth trainer (A7-41) that stalled while on approach for a practice forced landing. While the pilot was killed instantly, his passenger (an ) escaped with only minor injuries.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 43 1933

01 August The Wireless Reserve, a civilian body of amateur radio operators which had been cooperating with the RAAF since 1929, was formally constituted as the Wireless Section of the RAAF Reserve. Previously the organisation had been controlled by the Wireless Institute of Australia, and managed by a member of the Institute, Mr Robert Cunningham, with assistance from the signals staff at RAAF Headquarters. Under the new arrangement, Cunningham became the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Reserve Wireless Section, with the rank of Pilot Officer in the General Duties branch of the Citizen Air Force. The Section’s membership was open to owners of licensed wireless transmitting stations who were prepared to carry out prescribed training and make their services and equipment available to assist the RAAF in meeting communications commitments. In 1935, the Wireless Reserve, with 100 members, was granted an official badge and gained a second commissioned officer.

44 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1934

23 October After the Royal Aero Club in England sponsored an air race to be held in late 1934 from London to Australia, in celebration of the centenary of Melbourne and establishment of the State of Victoria, the RAAF became heavily involved in organisational arrangements for the event. Wing Commander A.T. Cole, Air Member for Supply on the Air Board, was appointed to the Air Race Committee from April 1933 to coordinate RAAF aspects. The race commenced from Mildenhall, London, on 20 October, and ended with contestants passing over Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne—the official finish line—before landing at RAAF Base Laverton. The top place winners crossed the finish line today, but the race was not officially declared The RAAF received ministerial approval to over until 3 November. The RAAF had assisted 26 purchase 24 new Seagull V amphibians with radio links needed to coordinate race for the seaplane carrier HMAS Albatross, arrangements, and on 10 November hosted January commissioned into the RAN in 1929. an air display at Laverton which drew an The Seagull III amphibians originally used estimated 250 000 spectators. on the ship were obsolete, and in 1931 the RAAF issued a specification to find a suitable replacement. The Supermarine Aviation Works in England developed, as a private venture, a prototype with metal hull and wooden wings which first flew in June 1933, two months after Albatross was taken out of service. While in England attending the Imperial Defence College, the Air Force chief (Williams)—acting without any financial authority––went ahead and signed a contract for the new type anyway. Fortunately, the Defence Minister gave covering approval on this day, and the RAAF aircraft were received in 1935–37. Britain also adopted the type, calling it the Walrus, and operated more than 700 of them during World War II.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 45 1935

29 April The RAAF’s ‘North Australian Survey Flight’, comprising Westland Wapitis A5-34 and A5-37 drawn from No 1 Squadron, left Laverton for Cloncurry, Queensland, to begin flights in support of the Aerial, Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia. Working under the direction of the Commonwealth’s consultant on development, Sir Herbert Gepp, the Flight undertook photographic coverage of areas around Cloncurry, Alice Springs (NT), Port Hedland (WA) and Darwin. By 07 the time the Flight packed up and returned December to Laverton in September, the Wapitis had flown approximately 80 000 kilometres to Air Commodore Hazelton Nicholl, RAF, took up duty as (AMP) on obtain photographic coverage of an area the Air Board. The post had been temporarily filled since 29 September by Air Vice-Marshal of 8990 square kilometres. The survey was Richard Williams, in addition to his duties as Chief of the Air Staff, following the departure of Air hailed in Parliament as ‘the largest aerial Commodore S.J. Goble on exchange to Britain. Twelve months later, on 1 January 1937, work ever undertaken’ by the RAAF, and the Nicholl was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal––the first time that the RAAF had two two-star officers largest operation carried out by Air Force on its strength since the Service was formed. (In the meantime Goble had been made temporary ‘away from its base’. The program was Air Vice-Marshal while in Britain.) Nicholl remained in Australia until Goble returned at the start continued in subsequent years with the RAAF of 1938 and resumed as AMP in his substantive rank. In March 1938, Nicholl became Air fielding different aircraft types and multiple Officer Commanding the RAF Middle East, and a year later was posted to Headquarters Fighter detachments. Command back in Britain. He retired with a knighthood in 1942.

46 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1936

Ellsworth (front centre) with RAAF party in Discovery

After the Royal Research Society’s ship Discovery II reached the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea 15 of Antarctica, Flight Lieutenant Eric Douglas and Flying Officer Alister Murdoch took off in a RAAF D.H.60X Gipsy Moth at 9 pm to overfly the Little America base, 10 kilometres inland from the ice January barrier. They were on the look-out for US explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and the pilot of his Northrop Gamma monoplane, who had stopped making radio contact while on a successful attempt to fly across the Antarctic continent in November 1935. A relief expedition was organised in Melbourne, and two RAAF floatplanes (the Moth and a Wapiti) were put on board Discovery II, along with seven personnel. On sighting a man in the snow, the RAAF flyers dropped a bag by parachute containing food and messages to the ‘missing’ men. Once ground contact was made, Ellsworth accompanied Discovery II on the voyage back to Melbourne.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 47 1936

01 September While seconded for duty in Britain in 1935–37, Air Commodore S.J. (‘Jimmy’) Goble of the RAAF received the unique distinction of commanding a major formation in the RAF, being appointed Commanding No 2 Bomber Group at Andover, Hampshire. He had been on secondment in Britain since 1935 and was previously Deputy Director of Air Operations at the Air Ministry in London. His new post was an important command comprising 15 of the RAF’s 58 bomber squadrons, and he was granted temporary 06 rank of Air Vice-Marshal from 28 February February 1937. Goble controlled his group during the annual Home Defence Exercise in August The crew of a Hawker Demon fighter-bomber from No 1 Squadron became involved in a 1937 (the first in which it participated), shocking accident at Swansea, on the east coast of Tasmania. Three Demons were taking off, played host to a visiting party of German after a visit to the town intended to show off the RAAF’s latest acquisitions, when one of the Air Force officers in October, and began the aircraft failed to climb sufficiently and struck spectators gathered at the edge of the airfield. practice of unannounced inspections to test A woman and her 19-year-old daughter were killed, and another woman and a man were the operational readiness of units under his injured. The aircraft, having sustained damage to its undercarriage, returned to the command. He returned to his RAAF duties as where it crash-landed but without injury to the two-man crew. At a subsequent inquest, the Air Member for Personnel in January 1938. coroner committed the pilot concerned to stand trial on a charge of manslaughter. The case was subsequently dropped after it was appreciated that the pilot had done nothing more than miscalculated his height above the ground. 20 April Nos 21 and 22 Squadrons were raised as ‘Cadre’ units at Laverton, VIC, and Richmond, NSW, respectively, notionally ending the arrangement where permanent and Citizen Air Force (CAF) personnel served together in ‘composite’ flying units. In eality,r however, the new CAF squadrons still retained a significant core of permanent staff. The real difference was that Nos 1 and 3 Squadrons (also based at Laverton and Richmond) now became fully permanent––No 1 as a fighter/bomber and No 3 as an Army cooperation unit—although both were initially short of aircraft and personnel. Two months later, on 1 July, the new CAF units changed their title by adding the name of the capital city on which they were based, becoming No 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron and No 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron. Later, other units with the ‘20’ prefix were raised for , Adelaide and Perth.

48 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1936

Pilot Officer Read carried down from Mount Wallace

Six years after daily meteorological flights began for the Weather Bureau in Melbourne, the 14 RAAF suffered its first serious accident when the pilot became lost in low cloud. Conditions were poor but flyable when Pilot Officer Eric Read took off in a Bristol Bulldog at about 8 am, but December deteriorated sharply after he was airborne so that he was unable to find his way down safely. He crashed into trees atop Mount Wallace, in the Brisbane Ranges some 26 kilometres south- west of Bacchus Marsh, and remained trapped in his machine with serious injuries. The wrecked Bulldog was not discovered until early afternoon of the next day, and by the time a ground party arrived at the crash site Read had endured a 31-hour ordeal. Nine months after his accident, Read returned to flying duties. The met flights continued for another four years before becoming unnecessary.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 49 1937

01 February Garnet Malley, a World War I Australian Flying Corps ‘ace’ on the RAAF Reserve as a Squadron Leader, was promoted to the honorary rank of Wing Commander. The step in rank had been specially requested by the British Ambassador in China to enhance Malley’s status as Britain’s representative on the Chinese Government’s Aeronautical Commission at Nanking, which was chaired by the wife of Chiang Kai-shek. Malley had been in China since 1930, and had been serving as Air Adviser to the Nationalist Government since 1933. During 1938 he corresponded with Australia’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Richard Williams, advising him of notable aspects of the air war waged by China against invading Japanese forces. He remained in China until July 1940, when he was recalled to Australia to perform intelligence work on full-time duty with the RAAF.

John Balmer, September 1942 12 August While instructing a trainee pilot, Flying Officer John Balmer fell out of a Wapiti aircraft in midflight and was forced to resort to his parachute to reach the ground safely. The incident occurred at 3000 feet about three kilometres north-west of Point Cook, when Balmer leaned from the rear cockpit to check switches in the front cockpit where his pupil was seated, lost his balance, and toppled over the side. Fortunately the air cadet under instruction had flown solo before and, although left unexpectedly alone in the aircraft, was able to land it himself. While apparently an accident, the story quickly circulated within the RAAF that Balmer had actually jumped to provide an otherwise proficient student with the incentive to apply his skills properly. This was a belief that gained some credence from the showmanship which Balmer exhibited as a noted cross-country motorist.

50 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1937

McAloney (right) pictured at Laverton in front of Demon A1-31 which crashed at Hamilton. The pilot (left) and observer (second from left) died in the crash.

A formation of three Demon aircraft flew from Laverton to Hamilton, in western Victoria, where 31 they landed during the local show. Shortly after 3.15 pm, the aircraft prepared to depart. As the second machine took off, the pilot attempted a climbing turn but stalled and crashed from a August height of 200 feet. The fuel tank burst on impact and the Demon began burning furiously. The observer in the aircraft still on the ground, Aircraftman W.S. McAloney, witnessed events and leapt to the rescue. Running into the flames, he attempted to extract the two crewmen before himself being dragged away with severe burns. On 4 February 1938, McAloney was awarded the Albert Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life on Land––an award unique in the annals of the RAAF. He served on in the RAAF, retiring as a Wing Commander in December 1966. When the Albert Medal became obsolete in 1972, McAloney’s award was converted to the George Cross.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 51 The NA-16-1A, the fixed undercarriage variant of the monoplane designed by North American 03 Aviation, undertook its maiden flight in Australia at Laverton, with Squadron Leader F.R.W. Scherger at the controls. The aircraft was received in Australia in early August, to serve as a September template for local production under licence. A version with retractable undercarriage, the NA- 16-2K, arrived late the following month. It was actually the second aircraft, often known as the NA-33, which went into production with the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation as the Wirraway (Aboriginal for ‘Challenge’). Although only an advanced trainer, orders for the Wirraway eventually ran to 755 aircraft, making this a key element in the development of Australian industry. The locally-produced model flew for the first time on 27 March 1939, and when war began the RAAF had its first seven on strength.

52 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1937

05 December The accidental crash of Hawker Demon A1-33 near Cootamundra, New South Wales, claimed the life of 20-year-old Pilot Officer Jack Fallon and produced a far-reaching upheaval in the administration of the RAAF. The aircraft was one of eight Demons from No 1 Squadron on the last leg of a 3200-kilometre training flight to Queensland which began a week earlier. As there had been seven mishaps during that time, the press maintained that there were serious problems with either airworthiness or standards of pilot training in the RAAF, notwithstanding evidence that A1-33 had been lost through a simple oversight by the pilot. An insistent campaign mounted by Fallon’s father, a union official, added to the clamour for a public inquiry. This ultimately led to Marshal of the RAF Sir conducting a visit of inspection in 1938, which led to the removal of the RAAF’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice- Marshal Richard Williams.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 53 1938

Gannet crew bound for Singapore 06 February The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Richard Williams, departed Laverton in a RAAF Gannet aircraft (A14-3) to represent Australia at the formal opening of the new dry dock at Singapore on 14 February. The Gannet was Demon A1-54 landing at RAAF Base Pearce on arrival a high-wing cabin monoplane developed by ex-RAAF designer L.J. Wackett after he established the Tugan Aircraft Company. 10 The Air Force purchased five machines of this type, including A14-3 (which was March delivered just days before its departure), after No 23 (City of Perth) Squadron, formed at Laverton in May 1937, arrived in Perth to take up Tugan was absorbed by the Commonwealth residence at the RAAF’s newest airbase established at Bullsbrook, 44 kilometres north-east of Aircraft Corporation. With Squadron Leader the city. The new facility was named RAAF Base Pearce in honour of Australia’s longest-serving Alan Walters as pilot, and accompanied by Defence Minister, Sir (himself a Western Australian), and was the first base built a mechanic and a radio operator, Williams away from Australia’s eastern seaboard; it was also the first new base in a decade. On 6 March flew via Darwin, Koepang (Timor), Surabaya the squadron’s main ground party departed from Laverton by train, with the unit’s Demon fighters (Java), Batavia (now Jakarta) and Palembang and an following two days later to make the final transcontinental crossing. (Sumatra) to attend the opening ceremony and Both groups arrived at Perth together, with the train party undertaking a march through city returned on 23 February. In Williams’ words: streets as the air party flew in formation overhead. The RAAF had arrived to make its permanent ‘This was the first time an aircraft designed presence felt in the West. and built in Australia had completed such a flight overseas.’

54 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1938

16 June Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Edward 09 Ellington arrived in Melbourne to inspect the RAAF. The Australian Government had invited April the RAF to send a senior officer to report on An event hailed in the press as ‘the largest and most spectacular aerial demonstration yet the state of the Air Force, especially regarding witnessed in Australia’ was conducted by the RAAF at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse. flying training practices after a spate of fatal For four hours from 1 pm, an impressive program of events involving 87 aircraft was carried out accidents, but had done so without involving in front of a crowd estimated at 170 000. As well as displays of precision flying, mock air combat the Air Board before it publicly announced the and ground attack, there was a massed fly-past which, according to one newspaper, visit in April. The fact that the Air Board felt ‘gave the pageant the atmosphere of an air review by one of the world’s leading air Powers’. that it was directly under the visitor’s scrutiny Also on display were the NA-33 and NA-16 prototypes acquired for production of the Wirraway. created an atmosphere very different from Sir The entire show was repeated at Richmond on 23 April. John Salmond’s visit a decade earlier. When Ellington’s report was made public on 31 August, the Air Board countered with a report of its own disputing his findings. The report nonetheless provided a vehicle for changing the RAAF’s high command, which the Government implemented in January 1939—seven months before World War II began.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 55 The RAAF flying training course which graduated from Point Cook on this day became the last to 24 send a proportion of its members to the RAF on short service commissions. Of the 30 who finished the course, 22 became Pilot Officers in the RAAF while eight embarked the following month for June Britain. This group was the last under a scheme which had operated at Point Cook since 1926, which saw up to 10 members of each intake serve with the RAF for four years before returning to join the RAAF Reserve. Within a few years, the practice began of the RAF inviting these officers to transfer permanently––an arrangement which saw a total of 149 RAAF-trained officers passed across to the RAF until the scheme ended. The RAF continued to seek applicants in Australia until mid-1939, and the RAAF assisted with selection but did not train them prior to departure.

Course entering Point Cook in July 1937—which graduated in June 1938

1938

The first Specialist Air Navigation Course 11 (known as Spec ‘N’) conducted in Australia began at Seaplane Squadron, Point Cook. July The six-month course was instructed by the only two RAAF members to have already received such advanced training in England, Flight Lieutenants Bill Garing (1935) and Alister Murdoch (1937). The standard text used for instruction was The Complete Air Navigator, written by former RAAF Cadet, D.C.T. (‘Don’) Bennett, shortly after he left the RAF in 1935. The course culminated with a 10 440-kilometre ‘air cruise’ around Australia in three Avro Anson aircraft. All six students passed when the course finished in January 1939 and qualified for First Class Air Navigator Licences; they were also later recognised by the RAF as Air Master Navigators. A second course began soon after but, upon its completion in March 1940, shorter courses replaced it owing to the start of World War II.

58 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History Spec N course members being instructed in the use of sextants

1939

05 September At 10.30 am, five Wirraways approached Ross Smith aerodrome (the civil airfield at Darwin, NT) at the conclusion of a ferry flight from Daly Waters. Aircraft A20-5 was seen to stall while making a gliding turn in preparation for landing and spun into the ground from a height of 100 feet. The two crewmen on board the Wirraway––both members of the Permanent Air Force––were killed in the crash. The pilot, 23-year-old Flying Officer Arnold Dolphin, was from the Recruit Training Depot at Laverton, Victoria, and his observer, Corporal Harold Johnson, aged 28, was a member of No 12 Squadron. They were the first fatalities suffered by any of Australia’s armed services since the Government ordered the forces onto a war footing on 2 September, prior to declaring war

against Germany the next day. Prime Minister R.G. Menzies, 1939

Prime Minister announced to a cheering Parliament that Australia was offering the 20 British Government an expeditionary force to bolster the Royal Air Force as it expanded for World War II. Apart from a force headquarters, the offer comprised 1 Fighter Wing Headquarters with September Nos 7 and 15 Squadrons, 2 Bomber Wing Headquarters with Nos 1 and 8 Squadrons, 3 Bomber Wing Headquarters with Nos 16 and 17 Squadrons, along with an Air Stores Park, a Medical Receiving Station, a Base Area Headquarters and a Base Depot. The number of personnel required to man this force, including a reinforcement pool of 225, totalled 3200 officers and men. Although the offer was accepted, and recruitment actually commenced on 9 October, Australia’s subsequent commitment to the Empire Air Training Scheme saw the expeditionary plan put on hold on 20 October, then cancelled altogether 11 days later.

60 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1939

20 October The Melbourne Argus newspaper reported that a new RAAF Badge had been approved by the Minister for Defence, , for general use throughout the Service. Moves to produce a distinctive badge had been initiated during 1937, when the Chester Herald at the College of Arms in London was commissioned to begin preparing a design. When produced in January 1938, the new design featured an Australian wedge-tailed eagle and a sprig of wattle as the main differences from the RAF badge on which it was modelled. The design was returned to London for alterations in October, and by January 1939 had been submitted to King George VI for approval. Although signed by the King at that time, it was evidently not until the Argus report appeared that the badge was formally adopted for use.

Members of No 10 Squadron on board the steamer Orontes 27 November A detachment of two officers and 183 airmen sailed from Fremantle, Western Australia, on board the British mail steamer Orontes bound for England. On arrival at Pembroke Dock, Wales, on 26 December, the detachment joined a group from No 10 Squadron, RAAF, comprising eight officers and 13 airmen, which had earlier been sent to take delivery of new Sunderland flying boats and fly them out to Australia. The two groups now formed a complete squadron and thus became the first air force unit of any British to be on active service.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 61 1939

19 December Air training conference in Ottawa Air Vice-Marshal S.J. Goble, who was Acting Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) after the Australia’s Minister for Air, , Ellington Report caused the removal of Air signed an agreement in Ottawa, Canada, 17 Vice-Marshal R. Williams, submitted his which committed the RAAF to participating in resignation in protest at the lack of support an Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) during December from the government of R.G. Menzies. World War II. The idea of training aircrew on Following months of personal conflict with an Empire-wide basis had been proposed the RAF officer filling the post of Air Member by Britain in September and accepted by for Personnel, Air Commodore J.C. Russell, Australia the following month. A delegation Goble felt himself to be in an impossible was sent to Canada which included Wing position. Having complained to Ministers about Commander George Jones, Assistant Chief of the anti-Australian attitude of Russell and his the Air Staff, to finalise arrangements between erratic, disloyal and unreliable conduct, yet Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. failed to achieve resolution of the situation, Under EATS, Australia undertook to train Goble advised that he took this as a lack of 11 000 aircrew each year until March 1943. confidence in him personally. The Government With several modifications, the scheme finally acted by sending Russell home, but it actually continued until June 1944, by which still accepted Goble’s resignation with effect time Australia had sent abroad 37 810 from 8 January 1940 because it was already personnel. negotiating to replace him with a senior officer on loan from the RAF.

62 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 19 FORTIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 63 1940

15 17 February June Following the resignation of Air Vice-Marshal The RAAF’s only unit in wartime England, No 10 Squadron, made its first definite attack against S.J. Goble as Acting Chief of the Air Staff, the a German submarine. Shortly before 8.30 am, a Sunderland flying boat captained by Squadron approved on 4 January 1940 Leader Charles Pearce surprised a surfaced U-boat off the coast of . Pearce immediately the appointment of Sir Charles attacked, but the enemy boat began to dive and was already at periscope depth before the Burnett, one of two Inspector-Generals of the Sunderland delivered six 250-pound bombs––one of which landed 20 feet (6 metres) ahead RAF, as his replacement. Burnett reached of the U-boat’s track. A large patch of oil was sighted soon afterwards, accompanied by a Darwin on 11 February and took up his new steady stream of bubbles, but although the aircraft stayed over the area for more than three post in Melbourne on this day, when he was hours it became apparent that the enemy boat had escaped with only superficial damage. granted the four-star rank of , The Distinguished Flying Cross which Pearce received in late July was the first awarded to a although the RAAF numbered little more than RAAF member since the Service was formed. 9000 personnel. His promotion made him equivalent in rank to the RAN’s British chief, and senior to the British Lieutenant General heading the (although when this officer died of cancer in March 1940, his Australian successor was also promoted to General rank). Burnett served until May 1942, at which time the leadership of the RAAF–– then numbering 79 000 personnel––was settled upon a local officer, Air Vice-Marshal George Jones.

RAAF graves at Ploudaniel, France

At 2.55 am, an RAF Walrus amphibian took off from Plymouth Sound on a mission to collect 18 the wife and children of General Charles de Gaulle from the coastal village of Carantec in northern Brittany, and take them to England ahead of advancing German forces. The pilot and June navigator of the four-man crew assembled for this mission were members of No 10 Squadron, RAAF. Precisely what happened during the flight is not known, but at about 4.40 am the Walrus was observed on fire as it passed over a farming village some distance west and inland from Carantec. The captain appeared to be seeking a place for a forced landing, but on making an attempt at Kerbiquet the aircraft crashed and all on board were killed. The victims were buried in church grounds at Ploudaniel, France. Madame de Gaulle escaped to England by other means.

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25 June On this same day that France accepted its defeat by Germany, the crew of a RAAF Sunderland flying boat of Britain-based No 10 Squadron flew from Calshot, Hampshire, on a special mission to Rabat in French Morocco. On board were two high-ranking British Government representatives who were tasked with attempting to persuade the French in North Africa to continue the fight against the Nazis. Soon after arrival, it became apparent that local officials were unsympathetic to Allied overtures, and when the aircraft’s captain, Flight Lieutenant Dick Cohen, attempted to contact the party ashore with an urgent warning message, they were all detained. After Cohen shot their way to freedom, the party re-embarked at 4 am next day. Cohen then got the Sunderland airborne in hazardous circumstances shortly before dawn, safely returning the aircraft’s important passengers to Gibraltar and eventually England. For this exploit he was 21 awarded the DFC in September. June The Walrus amphibian operated by a No 9 Squadron detachment on HMAS Sydney was attacked by RAF fighters and forced to crash-land at Mersa Matruh, . At dawn that day, a naval force comprising a French with British and Australian cruisers and had bombarded the Italian- held port of Bardia, on the Libyan frontier with Egypt. The large ships in the squadron each had an aircraft aloft to spot for their guns, but apart from a few ineffectual rounds fired at these from Italian anti-aircraft batteries there was no opposition encountered from the shore. Sydney’s Walrus was, however, 01 mistakenly ‘shot up’ by British fighters and badly damaged. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant July Thomas Price, managed to reach the British base at Mersa Matruh, where the aircraft broke In the early hours, a Sunderland flying boat of No 10 Squadron, RAAF, was sent from Mount up on landing but without injury to the crew. Batten, near Plymouth, to help protect a convoy which had one of its vessels torpedoed during For his work in Sydney, Price was awarded the the night off the Scilly Isles. The damaged ship was located at daybreak, with two warships Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1941. standing by on watch. After the initial attack, the U-boat had been counterattacked with depth charges and was thought to be damaged. At 6.12 am the Sunderland sighted the U-boat about 50 kilometres from the scene of the original attack, at the same time as lookouts in the corvette HMS Rochester also spotted it. Both ship and plane attacked together, causing the U-boat captain to give the order to scuttle and abandon. Although Rochester rescued the 41 survivors, credit for the sinking was divided equally between the flying boat and the whose depth charges originally inflicted damage.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 65 1940

13 August While approaching to land at Canberra, bomber A16-97 carrying VIPs stalled and crashed into low hills beside the airfield. Killed in the disaster were the Minister for Air (James Fairbairn), Minister for the Army (Geoffrey Street), Vice-President of the Executive Council (Sir Henry Gullett), Chief of the General Staff (General Sir Brudenell White), two officials, and the four-man crew. Although rumours immediately began circulating that Fairbairn (himself a civil pilot) may have been at the controls of the Hudson while on its fatal approach, a Judicial Court of Inquiry into the accident found no evidence to support such claims. Instead, the inquiry issued a warning to RAAF pilots regarding the stalling characteristics of the Hudson when the aircraft’s speed was allowed to drop too far.

Margaret Lang, Matron-in-Chief RAAFNS, 1940–46 26 July From 1922, the RAAF had been directed to use ‘existing army machinery’ in regard to medical services for reasons of economy. In June 1940, after the newly-appointed Director- General of Medical Services, Air Commodore Victor Hurley, suggested that the wartime Air Force should have its own nursing service, a proposal was forwarded by the Air Member for Personnel, Air Commodore W.H. Anderson, to the Minister for Air, James Fairbairn, and approved that same month. Officially formed on this day, the RAAF Nursing Service was organisationally structured along the lines of the Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service in Britain, but rates of pay and conditions approved by the Air Board in August were similar to the Australian Army Nursing Service. A provisional establishment provided for an initial 38 nursing sisters in five RAAF hospitals. By December 1945 the Service had grown to 616 members.

66 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1940

Hudsons over Singapore

With the arrival at Singapore of the liner Strathallan, the air contingent Australia pledged for the 26 defence of Britain’s main naval base in the Far East was complete. On board were the ground staff of No 8 Squadron, and the personnel and Wirraway ‘fighter’ aircraft belonging to No 21 August Squadron. The Lockheed Hudson reconnaissance bombers of No 8 Squadron had already been flown from Australia, arriving on 9 August at air base north of Singapore city. There they joined the Hudsons of No 1 Squadron, which had arrived the previous month. Also in the Strathallan were Group Captain Ray Brownell and the staff of a station headquarters to administer the RAAF squadrons in Malaya. While No 1 and 8 Squadrons’ Hudsons were the first aircraft to occupy the still uncompleted Sembawang base, No 21 Squadron’s Wirraways used the main RAF Station at nearby Seletar.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 67 07 September Roughly halfway through the four-month period designated as the , Flight Lieutenant P.C. (‘Pat’) Hughes was killed in action. He was attacking a Dornier Do-17 bomber at close range when the German aircraft blew up in front of him, causing such severe damage to his Spitfire that he lost control and crashed. Having already been credited with 15 combat victories, Hughes was the third-highest-scoring ace of the battle (although shared this total with four other pilots, none of them Australians) and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 18 August. Before the war he received his pilot’s wings with the RAAF at Point Cook, but on graduating in December 1936 had elected to accept a short service commission in the RAF. Although flying with British squadrons, Hughes remained proud of his Australian links and wore his dark-blue RAAF service uniform to the end. 1940

25 September When the HMAS Australia took part in a British effort to neutralise Vichy French naval forces at Dakar, West Africa (now the capital of Senegal), the French refusal to negotiate led to several naval engagements from 23 September 1940. On this day, the British ships lying offshore catapulted their gun-spotting aircraft before again approaching the anchorage. As Australia moved to engage, it was hit by several enemy rounds but without sustaining serious damage. Its own fire went unreported by the ship’s amphibian (A2-L2247), which had been set upon by three Vichy Curtiss Hawk fighters and shot down into the sea. Two crew were seen to bail out as the Walrus went down, leading to a belief that the pilot, Flight Lieutenant George Clarke from No 9 Squadron, had been disabled in the attack. Attempts to rescue the crew were not successful, however, and all three men died.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 69 HMAS Australia in pre-war colours, shown carrying a Walrus amphibian 1940

29 September Two Avro Ansons from No 2 Service Flying Training School at , NSW, became involved in a remarkable incident after they collided in midair. The accident occurred above the village of Brocklesby, in the district, when the crews lost sight of each other while on a cross-country flight. The aircraft collided one on top of the other, but fortunately both crewmen from the lower machine were able to bale out and parachute to safety. The pilot of the upper Anson, Leonard Fuller, told his observer to jump as well, but on finding that he had control of both aircraft (even though they were locked together) he decided against following suit and opted for a forced landing. This he successfully did after a 13-kilometre glide onto a farmer’s property. LAC Fuller’s achievement received worldwide publicity as a unique happening in aviation history.

HMAS Australia in pre-war colours, shown carrying a Walrus amphibian 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 71 1940

No 3 Squadron Gladiators return to landing ground near Salum, Egypt, January 1941

Less than three months after arriving in Egypt from Sydney in August, the RAAF’s No 3 Squadron 19 had its first taste of combat in the Western Desert. In mid-September the Italian 10th Army crossed the frontier from and occupied Sidi Barrani, about 100 kilometres inside Egyptian November territory. Today, four of the Australian unit’s Gladiator single-seat biplane fighters (supplied by Britain) were conducting a tactical reconnaissance 35 kilometres south of Sidi Barrani when they were attacked about 2 pm by 18 Italian CR-42 fighters. In a fight lasting 25 minutes, one Gladiator was shot down and its pilot killed, but at a cost to the enemy of three aircraft definitely destroyed (their wrecks found by Army units on the ground) and possibly another three which had been sent down spinning out of control behind the Italian lines.

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18 December Squadron Leader R.A. Holmwood was appointed commanding officer of No 615 Squadron, RAF, and thus became the first RAAF officer to lead a British unit in World War II. The appointment was especially meritorious because the squadron had distinguished itself in earlier fighting and Prime Minister was its Honorary Air Commodore. Holmwood had pursued a career in the RAAF since transferring from RMC Duntroon at the end of 1930 and gaining his wings at Point Cook in December 1931. He had demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities and professional competence before being sent on exchange to the RAF in July 1940. Promoted Wing Commander in January 1941, he was still leading 615 Squadron on 26 Embarkation in Nestor, Sydney February when his Hurricane was shot down during an engagement with fighters over Kent. On baling out of his aircraft, he fell 14 to his death after his parachute caught fire. December The first draft of 40 RAAF personnel arrived in Southern Rhodesia (now ) to commence pilot training under the Empire Air Training Scheme to support the Royal Air Force during World War II. They had sailed from Sydney in the ship Nestor a month earlier, and began their training at Belvedere, a former civil aerodrome. A further 11 drafts followed over the next year, the last–comprising 154 trainees–arriving on 11 January 1942. In total, 674 Australians were sent to Rhodesia. Of these, 514 graduated as Service pilots, the last group on 30 April 1943. Of those who failed to qualify as pilots, 61 became navigators and eight were made air gunners. Twenty-one of the trainees were killed in flying accidents. Commissions were granted to 156 members under training. A RAAF Liaison Office in Salisbury (now Harare) administered the Australian personnel until May 1943.

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25 February Government House at Yarralumla, Canberra, about 1946 The Minister for Air, John McEwen, issued a press statement announcing the immediate enrolment of female wireless and teleprinter 04 operators to fill RAAF ground staff vacancies. Proposals to raise a Women’s Auxiliary April Australian Air Force (WAAAF) had been before Two Wirraways from No 4 Squadron based at RAAF Station Canberra (later renamed Fairbairn) the War Cabinet since July 1940, but not until were involved in a collision almost directly above Government House at Yarralumla. Both pilots 4 February was approval given; the Advisory were able to escape from their machines, which crashed several hundred metres from the house, War Council agreed with the decision the next but a corporal crewman in one aircraft died in the crash. Pieces of wreckage fell within the day. McEwen’s announcement made clear that grounds, including a large section that had to be dragged off the road leading to the residence. the women were wanted only ‘until they could Among the rescuers who hurried to the separate crash sites were the Governor-General be replaced by qualified men’, and––because (Lord Gowrie) and the Acting Prime Minister (Mr Arthur Fadden) who had been discussing official legal doubts existed over whether women business, and also Lord Gowrie’s Official Secretary (Captain Bracegirdle) and the Chief of the Air could be enlisted under the Air Force Act–– Staff (Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett), who had been staying at Yarralumla for a few days they were at first enrolled only as auxiliaries for and was walking in the garden when the crash occurred. renewable periods of 12 months. Nonetheless, the other Services quickly followed the RAAF in establishing women’s Services for general war duty. The WAAAF grew to reach a strength of 18 664 in October 1944.

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11 June Flight Lieutenant Donald Thomson gave a lecture to a largely Army audience at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, in which he argued for utilising the Aboriginal population of the for defence purposes. An anthropologist in civilian life, Thomson had spent several years in east Arnhem Land and had developed a special relationship with the Balamumu people of the region. As a result of his talk, he was seconded to the Army and tasked with raising an Aboriginal force called the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit (NTSRU). This was meant to aid in the defence of unguarded RAAF airfields at Groote Eylandt, Milingimbi and Bathurst Island, and also provide early warning of any flank attack

Flight Lientenant Thomson training NTSRU on Darwin. Once established by February 1942, Thomson’s unit continued to operate until disbanded in April 1943 when its role was largely taken over by the North Australian Observer Unit.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 75 1941

Two D.H.86A of the RAAF’s No 1 Air Ambulance Unit arrived in Cairo to begin service 03 in the Middle East, providing evacuation of battlefield casualties suffering serious chest and abdominal wounds. The arrival of A31-3 and A31-7 concluded an epic flight which began at July the end of April from Laverton, Victoria, and entailed travelling via Singapore, India, Bahrain and Iraq. Accompanying A31-7’s three-man crew as a passenger was Group Captain Edward Daley, Deputy Director General of Medical Services for the RAAF. The bulk of the unit’s personnel had traveled by sea in the carrier Queen Elizabeth, embarking on 10 April. These were reunited with the aircraft and crews at Heliopolis, the airfield eight kilometres north-east of Cairo, before moving on 22 July to the RAF station at Gaza, Palestine, from where the first medical evacuation was conducted on 3 August.

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29 No 3 Squadron Tomahawks patrol over Syria August 11 This night, a single Handley Page Hampden bomber from No 455 Squadron, RAAF, took July off from Swinderby in Lincolnshire to make the first attack by an Australian aircraft on On this day––the last day of the British campaign against the Vichy French in Syria and . The medium bomber joined Lebanon—No 3 Squadron, RAAF, suffered its first loss in combat. Operating in conjunction with aircraft from other squadrons within No 5 No 260/450 Squadron (a hybrid unit combining the Hurricane fighters and aircrew of No 260 Group of RAF Bomber Command to attack Squadron, RAF, which arrived in theatre without its ground organisation, with 450 Squadron, Frankfurt. Squadron Leader Dereck French, RAAF, which had no pilots), 3 Squadron attacked airfields in the Aleppo-Hama area of northern an Australian officer serving with the RAF Syria. When the P-40 Tomahawk flown by Flying Officer Frank Fischer was shot down by a and one of the very first Australians to join Dewoitine D.520 fighter, the French aircraft was itself immediately destroyed by Flying Officer the squadron, was captaining the aircraft. R.H.M. (‘Bobby’) Gibbes. Fischer managed to crash-land unhurt and eventually rejoined his unit. Squadron records indicate that visibility over The Dewoitine was Gibbes’ first victory; he went on to become an ace with an official tally of the target city was good and the operation 10½, although his score was often reported as 12 destroyed. was considered a success. Both the aircraft and aircrew returned safely. This attack was the beginning of Australia’s involvement in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany that would, over the next four years, involve over 10 000 members of the RAAF and claim the lives of almost 3500 Australian airmen.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 77 HMAS Sydney with embarked Walrus 1941

19 November Late this afternoon, the RAN’s Sydney (II) clashed with the German commerce raider Kormoran 250 kilometres off Geraldton, Western Australia, resulting in the sinking of both vessels. After sighting and giving chase to the unidentified ship (the German was disguised as a Dutch freighter), the captain of Sydney apparently prepared to launch his Walrus amphibian A2-L2177 in anticipation of possible combat. This aircraft, operated by a six-man detachment drawn from No 9 Squadron of the RAAF, was, however, observed to be still sitting on its catapult platform with its engine running as the distance between the ships closed to barely 1500 metres. As soon as the two ships engaged each other at 5:30pm, the aircraft was quickly destroyed by a direct hit from the German guns. The RAAF men were among the 645 personnel lost when Sydney sank after midnight.

HMAS Sydney with embarked Walrus 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 79 1941

01 December In anticipation that Australians trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme would soon be manning a total of 18 squadrons within the RAF, the War Cabinet decided in May to establish a separate headquarters in London to look after the welfare of Australian personnel. During September, Air Marshal Richard Williams flew from Melbourne to establish the new office, arriving at Bristol on 5 October. RAAF Overseas Headquarters was opened in Kodak House, Kingsway, on this day, with Williams as (AOC) and Air Commodore Frank McNamara, VC, as his deputy. The Air Liaison Office formerly operating from the High Commission at Australia House (which

McNamara previously ran) was closed. Within Caldwell soon after his ace-in-a-day effort a week entered the war in the Pacific and Williams was recalled to Australia in late January 1942, leaving McNamara to take over 05 the new London headquarters (with acting rank of Air Vice-Marshal). December Flight Lieutenant was leading a formation of Tomahawks from No 250 Squadron, RAF, with No 112 Squadron, RAF, flying as top cover, when they encountered about 60 enemy aircraft—both bombers and fighters––over the Western Desert south of , Libya. Leaving 112 Squadron to deal with the fighters, Caldwell led 250 Squadron against the Ju-87 Stukas and during this one engagement accounted for five of the enemy. Although he had only received his wings under the Empire Air Training Scheme a year before, Caldwell was already an ‘ace’ and was about to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for an exploit back in August. His success in this action earned him a Bar to the DFC also. After returning to Australia in September 1942, he reached the highest tally of combat victories of any Australian pilot in World War II (28½).

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Hudson engine snared in fishing net off , 1976 08 December VAOC operations centre Japanese forces commenced an amphibious invasion of northern Malaya at about 00.30 am, striking at the airfield at Kota Bharu on 22 which No 1 Squadron of the RAAF was based. It was thus this Australian unit, equipped December with Hudson bombers, which launched Orders for raising the Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) were given by the Air Board the first Allied blows against the Japanese. today, with formal War Cabinet approval following nine days later. Regulations approved by the At 02.08 am––barely 15 minutes in real time Minister for Air, , on 22 January 1942 provided that the Corps was to comprise after Japanese carrier aircraft appeared over principally civilians who gave their time in a voluntary and honorary capacity to report sightings to begin the bombing of Pearl Harbor–– of enemy aircraft over Australian territory. Accordingly, it was decided the VAOC would not be the first of seven Hudsons took off and part of the RAAF, even though controlled by the Air Board. By the end of March, a network of commenced attacks on enemy ships located 500 observation and control posts linked to RAAF Fighter Sector Headquarters was in operation, off the coast. Two of these aircraft were shot covering 240 kilometres inland from the coast from , Queensland, to Port Lincoln, South down with their four-man crews; there was Australia, and from Albany to Geraldton in Western Australia. By July 1942, these posts were only one survivor, who was captured. Strikes manned by approximately 26 500 volunteers, both men and women. continued until dawn, when 1 Squadron was joined by RAAF Hudsons from No 8 Squadron based at Kuantan, but the Japanese could not be prevented from establishing themselves ashore.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 81 1942

A Wirraway ‘fighter’ from No 24 Squadron engaged in the first RAAF air combat with a Japanese 06 aircraft in the South-West Pacific. At 6 pm, nine Type-97 Kawanisi ‘Mavis’ flying boats attacked Vunakanau airfield south of Rabaul, New Britain, from an altitude of 12 000 feet. There was January practically no warning of the raid, and enemy bombs damaged facilities and parked aircraft, and also holed the making it temporarily unserviceable except by Wirraways. Of four Wirraways which got airborne, only that piloted by Flight Lieutenant Bruce Anderson managed to engage the enemy. Making a climbing rear attack which brought him within 275 metres of his opponent, he expended all his ammunition without causing any apparent damage, while fire was returned from the dorsal gun turret of the Mavis. The other Wirraways failed to make contact, and the enemy formation was able to withdraw safely.

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09 January A Lockheed Hudson Mk IV bomber from No 6 Squadron took off from Kavieng, New Britain, before 6 am to carry out an armed 30 photographic reconnaissance of Japanese forces in the Truk Islands to the north. Arriving January over the target, the pilot of the aircraft, When the Hurricane fighter flown by Pilot Officer , an Australian serving in No 232 Flight Lieutenant Robert Yeowart, spent 25 Squadron, RAF, was damaged by Japanese Zeros over Singapore, he decided to put down on minutes making two passes to photograph Bintan Island in the Riau Archipelago, 45 kilometres south-east of Singapore. The landing went Toll Harbour and an island airfield, dodging wrong when his aircraft hit a concealed obstacle and overturned, and he smashed his face on anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters sent up to the instrument panel. Initially thought to have succumbed to his injuries, he was subsequently intercept him. Returning first to Kavieng, the rescued by an RAF launch sent to retrieve another pilot downed in his vicinity. They were Hudson flew on to Rabaul and, after a brief both evacuated to Batavia (Jakarta), but their ship was sunk en route. Reaching Australia, stopover, returned to Townsville on 10 January. he underwent a period of recuperation before joining No 77 Squadron, RAAF, at Perth. The 2260 kilometres flown during the mission The unit moved to Darwin, where Gorton survived another forced landing on Bathurst Island; made this the longest sea reconnaissance he also escaped injury in a later mishap at . In 1968 he became Australia’s undertaken by the RAAF in a land-based 19th Prime Minister. aircraft. The enemy shipping and aircraft observed at Truk confirmed expectations that New Ireland and New Britain would soon be attacked.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 83 1942

In two attacks this day, Japanese aircraft caused widespread destruction to the port of Darwin, 19 including the town’s civil aerodrome and RAAF air base. The first raid, carried out at 9.55 am by 188 carrier-based aircraft, focused on the harbour before turning on the town itself. With the February advantage of numbers, the element of surprise and the absence of significant fighter opposition, Japanese dive-bombers were largely untroubled as they selected their targets. While buildings, installations and aircraft at the RAAF base were damaged in the first raid, the worst destruction came in a second attack carried out by 54 land-based bombers at 11.55 am. This wrecked the remaining buildings, including many of the living quarters, and caused the majority of the RAAF’s casualties (seven dead and five injured). Allied losses totalled 23 aircraft, eight ships and 255 people killed. Only five Japanese aircraft were definitely downed.

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26 February HMAS Perth, 15 February 1942 (Walrus visible between funnels) A Japanese ‘Glen’ single-engine floatplane from the submarine I-25 reported passing 01 over the RAAF base at Laverton while on a reconnaissance mission against Melbourne. March According to Japanese accounts, after being When the RAN light cruiser Perth was sunk by Japanese torpedoes and gunfire just east of the launched in Bass Strait two hours before Sunda Strait at 12:25 am, lost with the ship was the Walrus amphibian (A2-L2319) carried on dawn, the aircraft flew north along the western board and half the detachment from No 9 Squadron, RAAF, that operated it. In the one-sided shore of Port Phillip Bay in heavy cloud before action which developed after Perth and the USS Houston blundered into a heavily-escorted descending to obtain bearings, only for the invasion force preparing to make a landing on the north-western end of Java, both Allied ships two-man crew to discover they were directly were surrounded and overwhelmed. Three airmen of the RAAF detachment were among the 353 above an airfield containing ‘three large type personnel from Perth who died during the melee. The pilot, Flying Officer Allen McDonough, planes’. Proceeding to overfly Melbourne’s a corporal and a leading aircraftman (LAC) survived the sinking and were among the 329 central district and the eastern bayside crewmen who became prisoners of war. The LAC was among the 106 members who did not suburbs, the floatplane then rejoined I-25 survive their time in captivity. off King Island. The reported mission can be confirmed from RAAF records, which state that an unidentified aircraft described as ‘a dark colored twin-float monoplane with a perspex covered cockpit’ had been spotted flying at 1000 feet over Laverton ‘at 5.45 in the morning’. Claims about attempted RAAF interception of the floatplane cannot be verified.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 85 1942

Gavutu (at left across causeway) and Tanambogo, in Japanese hands and under attack, 7 August 1942 02 May The Advanced Operational Base (AOB) maintained by the RAAF on Gavutu Island in Tulagi Harbour, in the southern , was abandoned just ahead of a

75 Squadron pilots at Port Moresby Japanese amphibious landing. The base, with 30 RAAF ground staff and an Army platoon for protection, was used to support 21 long-range patrols by Catalina flying boats of Nos 11 and 20 Squadrons based at Port March Moresby. As sustained air attacks from the previous day had made the base inoperable, No 75 Squadron––formed at Townsville, Queensland, only 17 days earlier—arrived at Port the RAAF detachment was withdrawn Moresby. Japanese aircraft had been subjecting the town and its surrounding defence at 11 am to nearby Florida Island. The installations to air attacks since early February. The squadron began fending off the Japanese remaining personnel followed that evening, by launching its P-40 Kittyhawk fighters on an attack of its own against the very next day, after destroying buildings and supplies with in a highly successful operation that destroyed 12 enemy aircraft on the ground and damaged demolition charges, and the whole contingent another five. No 75 Squadron continued an unequal fight against superior Japanese numbers was evacuated in the lugger Balus to the New alone until the end of April, when US units equipped with Airacobras began to arrive. Just two Hebrides (now Vanuatu). The Japanese forces serviceable Kittyhawks were left to return to Australia on 9–10 May. During 75 Squadron’s epic six that landed next morning were themselves weeks in action, it claimed 35 enemy aircraft destroyed and 58 damaged, for the loss of 12 of its attacked on 4 May by American carrier-based own pilots. aircraft, in what is regarded as the opening action of the Battle of the .

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In preparation for an attack on Allied warships 29 at Sydney by midget submarines, a Japanese 30 ‘Glen’ single-engine floatplane was flown off May submarine I-21 at 3 am to reconnoitre the May naval anchorages. Coming in over North When RAF Bomber Command mounted its Head, the aircraft flew up the harbour at a first thousand bomber raid against a single height of 300 metres as far as Cockatoo Island German target, the RAAF was represented before retracing its course and heading out by 18 Wellingtons from No 460 Squadron. to open sea at 5 am. The pre-dawn visit had This unit was the most ‘Australian’ of the not gone unnoticed, with No 1 Fighter Sector national squadrons formed within the RAF control reporting to the RAAF’s Eastern Area under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Headquarters that unidentified floatplanes Scheme. The target was Cologne, the third- were over Sydney at 4.40 am. Last reports largest city in Germany with a population of had the mystery aircraft circling over the sea 700 000. The raid was a great success, with north-east of Sydney. P-39 Airacobra fighters 600 acres of the target area (half in the city of the American 41st Pursuit Squadron were centre) destroyed. Of 1047 aircraft dispatched, sent up to investigate, but found nothing 868 reached the target and successfully before returning to base. The famous raid on bombed during the 90 minutes allotted for Sydney Harbour by three Japanese midget the entire raid. Although 41 bombers were submarines was launched that night. lost (none from 460 Squadron), only half this number became casualties over or near Cologne––most of the others fell victim to night fighters between the coast and Cologne. The ‘Thousand Bomber’ raids had made their mark on history.

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26 June After completing a bombing mission in the Solomon Islands, a Catalina flying boat of No 11 Squadron returned to Havannah Bay, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), to refuel before continuing on its way back to Noumea, New Caledonia. As the RAAF aircraft prepared to alight, it was attacked by a US Wildcat fighter, whose pilot later said that the red in the RAF-style red-white-and-blue roundels on the Catalina’s wing seemed ‘so distinct’ that he mistook them for Japanese markings. Although holed in many places, the Catalina was able to land safely and no-one was hurt, but the RAAF immediately took action to have the red painted out in the upper-wing roundels on all its operational and second-line aircraft. This course was formalised in orders issued on 31 July, and within months had been extended

Horn Island Airstrip to all roundels on all RAAF aircraft in the South-West Pacific Area (SWPA). During the fifth air raid mounted by Japanese 07 forces against the airstrip at Horn Island in the , the RAAF station there suffered June serious damage. While previous attacks had succeeded in destroying or damaging a few aircraft, physical destruction of facilities had been generally slight. At midday this day, however, a formation of 16 ‘Nell’ bombers arrived in formation and without any fighter escort, knowing that the base lacked any defending aircraft. The enemy machines proceeded to drop between 180 and 200 bombs, devastating the tented camp which served as RAAF living quarters, airfield buildings and much equipment besides. Three airmen in the tent lines were also wounded. The next raid, an early morning attack by a lone flying boat on 30 July, managed to hit five Hudsons of No 32 Squadron in their dispersal area, but only one machine suffered serious damage. Further raids were ineffectual.

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26 June Shortly after midday, the temporary Commanding Officer of 3 Squadron, Flight Lieutenant A.W. (‘Nicky’) Barr, was shot down while on his third sortie providing escort to bombers attacking targets in the Mersa Matruh area. Barr was already his unit’s highest scoring ace, with 12 enemy aircraft destroyed, two probable and eight damaged, and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He had also been shot down himself twice before, but this time was badly wounded when he baled out of his burning Kittyhawk. Captured by the Italians, he was hospitalised at Tobruk before being transferred to Italy. After two escape attempts ended in recapture, Barr regained Allied lines in early March 1944 leading 10 other prisoners. He was awarded a Bar to his DFC in 1943, and in December 1944 received one of only five Military Crosses awarded to members of the RAAF in World War II.

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1942

16 July Six months after the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd (CAC) was given approval to locally develop a front-line , the RAAF took delivery of the first CA-12 Boomerang. The design was based on the Wirraway advanced trainer adapted to take the 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney twin row Wasp engine, and purposely utilised Wirraway parts as far as possible. An order for 100 aircraft was approved even before the first example had been built. Soon after the prototype flew on 29 May, it was realised that the Boomerang was probably outclassed by the Japanese Zero, yet in some areas of its performance it was equal or superior to other Allied fighter types, such as the Kittyhawk or Airacobra. In the event, the Boomerang was not employed in the fighter role originally envisaged for it, but performed well as a ground support aircraft.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 91 1942

11 HMAS Canberra the morning after the Savo Island battle August When the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra After spending five dangerous months 09 suffered crippling damage in a night action reporting weather conditions and Japanese in the Solomon Islands, the ship’s Walrus aircraft, ship and troop movements from August amphibian (A2-P5715) and most of the behind enemy lines at Salamaua, New Guinea, detachment from No 9 Squadron, RAAF, Flying Officer Leigh Vial was finally relieved. which operated it were lost. Within minutes A patrol officer before the war, he had joined of discovering seven Japanese cruisers and a the coastwatching organisation as a Pilot destroyer in waters between Guadalcanal and Officer in the RAAF on 28 January 1942 and Savo Island, Canberra was overwhelmed by a month later established an observation more than nearly 30 hits from enemy gunfire. post overlooking Salamaua with the help of The ship was left a silent, shattered hulk as two New Guineans. The radio messages he the Japanese force moved off against other transmitted, often as many as nine a day, Allied warships nearby. The RAAF pilot, Flight earned him the nickname ‘Golden Voice’. Lieutenant Duncan Murchison, and three of Accepting even greater risk of discovery, he his airmen were among the 73 personnel moved his post closer to Salamaua in June. posted as missing presumed killed when the Failing health necessitated his relief, after Canberra went down at 8 am. One other which he took command of Allied propaganda airman was among 11 who died of wounds activities out of Port Moresby until his death after the battle. Only two RAAF maintenance in an aircraft crash in January 1943. Though personnel survived. not the only RAAF coastwatcher, Vial was undoubtedly the most famous.

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455 Squadron men outside Vaenga billet 27 04 August September The Commanding Officer of No 76 Squadron, No 455 Squadron, RAAF, and No 144 Squadron, RAF––both equipped with Handley Page Squadron Leader Peter Turnbull, DFC, died Hampden bombers––departed from Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands on a ferry flight to North during operations to repel a Japanese landing Russia. The planned route took the aircraft over German-occupied and Finland, and at Milne Bay at the eastern tip of Papua. entailed 30 minutes flying time beyond the normal endurance of Hampdens. No 445 Squadron When 2000 Japanese marines came ashore lost three aircraft, and 144 Squadron six, but the remaining 23 reached Afrikander or other shortly before midnight on 25 August, they Russian airfields. The day after arrival, the Hampdens transferred to Vaenga on the Kola Inlet, were supported by two Type 95 Light Tanks. 40 kilometres north of Murmansk. From there, the two squadrons flew only one operation on On the afternoon of 27 August, Turnbull 14 September to protect the inbound Allied convoy PQ18 from surface attack, but the German and another pilot of 76 Squadron were on warships stayed in harbour. After the convoy arrived, the squadrons were ordered to hand over a mission to locate and destroy these tanks their aircraft to the Russians and return to Britain by sea. The last Australians left Vaenga when they came across a large party of enemy in November. instead. Turnbull immediately attacked, ignoring the heavy ground fire directed back at him. His colleague reported then seeing Turnbull’s Kittyyhawk suddenly flick onto its back and dive into the ground. An Australian Army patrol found his body still strapped in the wrecked aircraft eight days later. The RAAF had lost an exceptional pilot, and 76 Squadron an inspirational leader.

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Air Vice-Marshal Bostock

05 ‘100 Squadron training off Jervis Bay’ by Frank Norton (1943) September 07 While claiming not to intrude into RAAF command arrangements, Major General September (the US officer commanding Allied Air Forces, South-West Pacific Area As the Battle for Milne Bay (25 August–7 September 1942) was in its closing stages, Bristol (SWPA)) issued an order forming all Australian Beauforts of No 100 Squadron mounted the first RAAF attack of World War II. units falling under his control into a new ‘RAAF The Beauforts had been hurriedly transferred from Laverton, Victoria, to the newly-constructed Coastal Defence Command’ under Air Vice- ‘No 1 Strip’ at Milne Bay to join in the Allied effort against enemy ships in the area. After failing Marshal W.D. (‘Bill’) Bostock. The decision was to capture Allied airfields beside the bay, Japanese marines had retreated along the north shore promulgated to RAAF units on 18 September to await evacuation by sea. In an operation also involving RAAF Beaufighters, Hudsons and in a RAAF Organisation Memorandum, which Kittyhawks, six Beauforts lifted off at 1630 hours to attack two Japanese warships sighted off specifically stated that the new entity would not Normanby Island. Unfortunately, the American Mk XIII torpedo carried was notoriously erratic in have ‘administrative control’. The new force performance and the attack failed. Although unsuccessful, the Australian crews had experienced was renamed ‘RAAF Command, Allied Air the first combined operation of its kind conducted by the RAAF. Forces’ on 21 September. Despite assertions that the organisation of the new command did not alter the functions and responsibilities of RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne, such issues came directly into dispute over the next 18 months and effectively split the loyalties and effectiveness of the RAAF for the remainder of the war in the SWPA.

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Rankin surveys the Beaufighter he crash landed on Morotai, December 1944 Norton (1943) 10 November Nine Beaufighters of No 272 Squadron, RAF, flew from the Mediterranean island of to attack a German airfield at El Aouina in North Africa, near the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The operation was led by Flying Officer Ronald Rankin of the RAAF, who before the war had been a schoolteacher at Creek, via Braidwood, NSW; he was also an 23 Australian international rugby union footballer for four years. On arrival over the target, the November raiders found a long line of transport aircraft Wing Commander Richard (‘Dick’) Cresswell, the 22-year-old Commanding Officer of No 77 assembled on the ground. Nine enemy planes, Squadron, was scrambled from the unit’s base at Livingstone, Northern Territory, at 3:27am hours mostly Ju-52s, were claimed as destroyed— to mount patrol over Darwin against incoming Japanese raiders. Shortly after 5am he saw clearly seven by Rankin alone—and a further silhouetted against the moon three Mitsubishi G4M ‘Betty’ bombers in formation heading south 15 aircraft and two gliders were believed at 23 500 feet, and moved to engage them. On his first attacking pass he raked all three aircraft damaged. The raid had been unopposed. with a four-second burst from his P40E Kittyhawk’s six guns. The bombers immediately turned This successful mission resulted next month to port, except the outside Betty which fell behind. Singling out this aircraft, Cresswell made two in Rankin being awarded the Distinguished more passes which left it blazing fiercely and losing height. Shortly afterwards the Betty exploded Flying Cross; in 1944 he received a Bar to and fell to earth in two parts. Cresswell’s ‘kill’ was the first time that an enemy aircraft had been his DFC serving with 30 Squadron, RAAF, shot down over Australian soil at night. in New Guinea.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 95 Painting (1949) by David Smith

Flight Sergeant Rawdon (‘Ron’) Middleton captained a bomber of the RAF’s No 149 29 Squadron during a mission which earned him the (VC). Taking off from Lakenheath, England, his crew was sent against the Fiat works at Turin, Italy. After a dangerous night crossing November of the Alps, Middleton’s aircraft was attacking through heavy flak when a shell burst in the cockpit wounding both pilots. Although shockingly injured, he finished bombing the target before setting course for England. Five crewmen baled out as the coast was crossed, and two more as the aircraft headed back out to sea (both drowned), leaving Middleton alone at the controls when the Stirling crashed in the sea. His remains washed up on a Dover beach and were buried in February 1943. The previous month he had been posthumously awarded the VC––the first award to a serving member of the RAAF. His commission as Pilot Officer was backdated to 15 November 1942.

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26 December While on a tactical reconnaissance mission off Gona, Papua, the two-man crew of Wirraway A20-103 from No 4 Squadron spotted a Japanese fighter approaching them about 1000 feet below. The pilot, Flying Officer John Archer, immediately engaged the enemy machine and caused it to crash in flames into the sea. Archer’s victory was unique, as the Wirraway was developed from a design intended for nothing more than advanced training. Although the RAAF had armed and employed some as ‘fighters’, the Wirraway proved totally outclassed in earlier combat with high-performance Japanese types such as the Mitsubishi Zero. In this case, however, the enemy machine encountered was probably not a Zero but a Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar of the Japanese Army’s recently-arrived 11th Sentai. Very likely, the Japanese pilot had himself mistaken the RAAF machine for a Zero. For his singular success, Archer was awarded the Silver Star by the Americans. Drawing by Roy Hodginson (1943)

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12 19 February February When problems of command of the RAAF Shortly after 7 pm, a ‘Glen’ floatplane took off from submarine I-21, lying 160 kilometres north- were discussed at a war conference in east of Sydney, on a mission to identify Allied ships in the harbour. The aircraft was detected by Canberra, the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) No 19 Radar Direction Finding (RDF) Station located at Bombi, about 20 kilometres south-east of of the Australian Military Forces, General Sir Gosford, as it cruised south along the coast at 9000 feet. As the floatplane came in over Sydney Thomas Blamey, suggested to Prime Minister Heads, it received a hot reception from searchlights and anti-aircraft batteries. Despite this, the that the ‘best course’ would be to crew descended to 3000 feet and passed above Garden Island and the Harbour Bridge before appoint him as C-in-C of both the Army and heading towards Mascot. After about 20 minutes over the city area, the Glen overflew South the RAAF. To Curtin’s observation that this Head on its way back out to sea. Although two P-39F Airacobras had been scrambled by No 24 would ‘invoke a great outcry’, Blamey readily Squadron at Bankstown shortly after 8 pm, and another two at 9.08 pm, none made contact with agreed, and declared that he ‘would not relish the intruder. the idea’ of his suggestion being adopted. It would, he said, be ‘highly advantageous’ to appoint a British officer as Air Officer C-in-C, and proposed Air Vice-Marshal R.M. (‘Peter’) Drummond, who was actually Australian by birth. Drummond had been suggested in 1942 for appointment as the RAAF’s Chief of the Air Staff, but he rejected an approach at that time. Blamey’s renewed suggestion came in for more serious consideration two months later.

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Penfoei airfield under attack, February 1943 28 February This morning, eight Beaufighters of No 31 Squadron based at Coomalie Creek, south of Darwin, surprised the Japanese airfield at Penfoei near Kupang, Timor, after making an overnight refuelling stop at Drysdale Mission, WA. Their single pass over the airfield, in 03 line abreast, lasted barely a minute, but left two bombers and eight fighters completely March wrecked on the ground and another three Alerted by signals intelligence in February 1943 that the Japanese were preparing to ship bombers and 11 fighters severely damaged. reinforcements to the north coast of New Guinea, the Allies began planning to prevent the enemy Several Zeros reportedly intercepted and troops from reaching their destination. Air attacks were launched soon after reconnaissance damaged two of the Beaufighters, which still revealed that the convoy of eight troop transports and eight escorting destroyers had sailed from returned home safely. The highly successful Rabaul on 28 February, but bad weather hampered the effort and only one transport was sunk. operation stemmed from radio traffic On this day, however, the convoy was found in the Huon Gulf, heading towards Lae in bright intercepted by No 51 Section of the Army’s sunlight. RAAF Beaufighters of No 30 Squadron led the attack, followed by a mix of US bombers Special Wireless Group, which for several and other strike aircraft, including A-20 Bostons of the RAAF’s No 22 Squadron. In what became days had tracked the movement of Japanese known as the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, all the remaining transports were sunk, along with half aircraft from Oebu to Kupang, apparently the convoy escorts, making this one of the most awesome displays of air power in the Pacific. in preparation for an attack on Darwin, which was now not made. The Air Officer Commanding No 22 Group wrote a letter expressing appreciation for the tip-off.

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18 March During a raid by six RAAF Bostons of No 22 Squadron on Japanese storage buildings at Salamaua, New Guinea, the aircraft captained by Flight Lieutenant William (‘Bill’) Newton was crippled by 40 mm cannon fire from the ground. Turning his bomber away from the target, he crash-landed in the sea a kilometre from shore. Newton and his wireless operator/air gunner managed to escape the wreck before it sank and swam to the beach, where they were captured shortly afterwards. After they were taken to Lae for a week of interrogation, Newton’s crewman was bayoneted to death outside the town. Newton himself was returned to his captors at Salamaua and beheaded on 29 March. A series of missions he had performed with great gallantry prior to being shot down led to him receiving in October the only Victoria Cross awarded to a member of the RAAF in the .

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24 April A RAAF Liaison Office at Air Headquarters India was established upon the arrival in New Delhi of Wing Commander George Pape as liaison officer. The office was set up to coordinate the administration of some 330 Australian aircrew serving in RAF units in the India-Burma theatre under the Empire Air Training Scheme. Pape immediately attempted to have RAAF personnel––who were scattered among 42 RAF squadrons––brought together in a few units, which would then become recognisably Australian. In March 1944, Chips Rafferty he was asked to nominate just two squadrons into which Australians could be concentrated. Actor John Goffage, better known by He did so, but by January 1945 had to 24 his screen name of ‘Chips Rafferty’, concede that nothing had been achieved was appointed as a Pilot Officer in the towards ‘dominionisation’ of the Australian April Administrative and Special Duties Branch of presence, because 923 RAAF members then the RAAF. He had enlisted on present were still spread in small numbers 29 May and was a Corporal at the RAAF across 60 operational squadrons. After the School of Administration at the time he war Pape became a judge of the Victorian was commissioned. Fulfilling welfare and Supreme Court and was knighted in 1968. entertainment duties in Australia, New Guinea (including Milne Bay) and the Netherlands East Indies (including Morotai), he was promoted to Flying Officer in before being demobilised in February 1945. While still serving, he was released to perform in propaganda films for the Department of Information. In 1944 he had a leading role in Charles Chauvel’s war classic, The Rats of Tobruk. After World War II he continued to obtain roles in feature films made overseas as well as in Australia, and during the 1950s even had his own local production company.

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1943

02 May When Japanese aircraft appeared in strength at 10.15 am to raid the RAAF airfield and floating dock at Darwin, the defence mounted by the Spitfires of No 1 Fighter Wing, RAAF, resulted in a fiasco. The Wing claimed one of the enemy’s 21 ‘Betty’ bombers probably destroyed, along with nine of the 20 escorting fighters, and another seven fighters damaged. In reality, it subsequently transpired that the Japanese suffered six aircraft destroyed. This tally came, however, at the cost of 12 Spitfires destroyed and two damaged––out of 49 engaged—and the loss of two pilots. Only five Spitfires had been downed by enemy action, the other nine having been lost through engine failure or shortage of fuel, due largely to the inexperience of many pilots. The Wing lived with the embarrassment of this action for a considerable period.

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15 May At 2pm, an Anson from No 71 Squadron based at Lowood, Queensland, was returning to base after providing an anti-submarine patrol for a convoy at sea when its crew observed ‘a ship’s life-boat containing 30 live persons’. The aircraft captain sent a signal to one of the ships in the nearby convoy requesting they provide rescue services, and the aircraft then dropped a smoke flare before returning to Lowood to refuel. This was the first indication that a ship had been lost in the area. It turned out that the Australian hospital ship Centaur had been attacked by Japanese submarine I-177 at 0410 hours the previous day, while steaming north about 20 miles north- east of Cape Moreton. Although clearly marked, and well lit in good visibility, the Centaur was torpedoed and sank in under three minutes, killing all but 64 of the 332 people on board.

Möhne Dam breached 17 May At about 9.30 pm on 16 May, a force of 19 Lancaster bombers of No 617 Squadron, RAF, took off from England on a precision low-level bombing raid against four dams supplying water to German industrial centres in the Ruhr and Weser valleys. The aircraft carried novel bouncing mines specially designed to breach the retaining walls of the targeted dams. Sixteen machines of the force succeeded in penetrating enemy territory to carry out the attacks; among their crews were 13 RAAF members, and four aircraft were captained Painting by Ross Shardlow by Australians. After the Möhne Dam was destroyed at about 1am on this day, the attacking force moved on to the Eder Dam, which was also breached about an hour later. Strikes on the Sorpe and Lister Dams failed. Two participating Australians died in the operation, and one survived to be taken prisoner.

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17 August No 460 Squadron (an ‘Australian’ unit under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme) took part in a special raid mounted by RAF Bomber Command against the research establishment at Peenemünde, on Germany’s Baltic coast, where V-2 rockets were being built and tested. Although planned as a precision raid, nearly 600 aircraft took part in the moonlight operation, which devastated the rocket assembly area and workers’ living quarters (killing 500–600 forced labourers).

Two of the three U-boats taking evasive action Forty bombers were lost in the raid, some against attacking aircraft to German fighters with Schräge Musik weapons (upwards firing cannons) which Blenheim from No II Squadron, RAF, attacking road appeared for the first time. No aircraft from transport in Buthidaung, Burma, June 1943 30 460 Squadron were shot down, although one July Lancaster suffered considerable damage after 31 encountering flak and a night fighter. The pilot A Liberator bomber sighted three German of this aircraft succeeded in returning safely U-boats travelling together on the surface in July to base and was awarded an immediate the Bay of Biscay. Soon after the find was Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. The raid reported by radio, six Allied aircraft were No 11 Squadron, RAF, carried out its final coincided with 460 Squadron celebrating the circling the enemy boats, which remained in mission in Blenheim light bombers with an completion of 1000 sorties. close formation to maximise the effectiveness attack from eastern India against the railway of their anti-aircraft fire. Eventually, a Halifax station and town centre at Myingyan, on the breached the vessels’ defensive perimeter Irrawaddy River in central Burma. Although and dropped three 600-pound bombs which formally identified as British, the unit had such damaged and slowed one of the submarines. a high proportion of Australians among its Among the attackers was Sunderland W6077 aircrew (nearly 90 per cent) that it had become of No 461 Squadron (commonly called the known as the ‘Australian Squadron in the ‘Anzac Squadron’) which was returning from Royal Air Force’. Its Commanding Officer was the coast of Spain when called to the scene Wing Commander H.C. Stumm, a 30-year-old of action. While the enemy’s fire was directed Queensland . Over two-thirds of the elsewhere, this aircraft’s captain managed 36 airmen in the 12 aircraft which took off from an attack on the damaged boat with depth Feni airfield, north of Chittagong (in what is charges which blew it apart, and joined in an now Bangladesh), were members of the RAAF. attack on another sub. The action eventually Following this raid, the unit became one of five accounted for two submarines sunk, for one that converted onto single-seat Hurricanes, Liberator badly damaged. which meant that most of the Australian aircrew became surplus to requirements and were posted to other squadrons.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 105 No 3 Squadron ground staff waiting to move from Agnone 1943

14 September After landing in Salerno Bay, near the Italian port city of Naples, on 9 September, Allied forces were subjected to such heavy German counterattacks that it became necessary to intensify the Allied air campaign mounted in support of the troops. No 3 Squadron, RAAF, was this day hastily deployed from Agnone, Sicily, to the recently-captured airfield at Quinn recovered as Prisoner of War in Japan, 1945 Grottaglie, in the ‘heel’ of Italy, to bring it closer to the main area of operations. The squadron arrived at 2:40pm hours, along with 12 C-47 22 04 Dakota transport aircraft carrying ground October December crews, munitions and fuel, and were met by an advance party. The unit’s Kittyhawk fighters Lancaster B111 ED930 (“Q for Queenie”), A raid against Rabaul, New Britain, turned out were quickly made ready, with personnel with the RAAF tail number A66-1, made an to be the last occasion on which RAAF aircraft using locally-acquired wheelbarrows to move unauthorised flight under the Sydney Harbour used aerial torpedoes. The plan required ammunition and bombs, and by 6:15pm hours Bridge while on a public relations tour. Beauforts of Nos 6 and 100 Squadrons to the aircraft began flying interdiction missions. Originally sent to Australia as a prototype for carry out high-level bombing attacks on the Though supplied only through airlift, from 14 local production (which did not eventuate), the town’s airfields while six Beauforts from No to 18 September the squadron flew 115 aircraft was used after its arrival in June 1943 8 Squadron swept into the harbour to attack sorties in support of the Salerno landings. to promote sales of war savings bonds around shipping. Entering Blanche Bay shortly after Australia. “Queenie” arrived at Richmond on 7.30 pm, one crew reportedly hit a Japanese 20 October in preparation for carrying out a vessel and set it on fire, but elsewhere the series of exhibition flights over Sydney. During attack had little success. The aircraft piloted one of these sorties the crew, captained by by the unit’s Commanding Officer, Squadron Flight Lieutenant Peter Isaacson, decided to Leader Noel Quinn, was tracking to release its ‘buzz’ the building housing the headquarters torpedo when it appeared to hit an obstruction of RAAF Eastern Area at Edgecliff, on Double and crashed. Quinn and his observer survived, Bay, before taking A66-1 beneath the harbour but both were taken prisoner. This was the bridge—in defiance of a 1931 regulation nineteenth operation undertaken by the banning such flights. The Lancaster was not RAAF’s torpedo strike force, and by then it the first aircraft (nor even the last) to break this was considered that the weapon system had prohibition, but it was the largest. proved a failure.

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09 March The RAAF suffered considerable embarrassment and damage to its professional standing when the US commander of Allied Air Forces in the South- West Pacific Area, Lieutenant General George Kenney, grounded its three squadrons 18 of Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers in No 10 Operational Group. The Vengeance February units formed half the operational strength of 10 Group, a new mobile force formed by The RAAF’s No 464 Squadron was one of the RAAF to keep up with its American allies two units which carried out a daring raid as they advanced north-west through New to strike a prison outside Amiens, France, Guinea. Kenney, however, considered the US- 10 where the German Gestapo was planning the built Vengeance to be a failed and inefficient imminent execution of members of the French type, and was unwilling to have them taking up March Resistance among the prison’s 700 inmates. space on overcrowded airfields in the forward Senior Sister A.J. (‘Jean’) Wheatley became The second wave of attackers comprised area. The Vengeances had only taken part in the first member of the RAAF Nursing Service five Mosquito fighter-bombers from 464 operations for a few weeks when he ordered to be decorated when she was appointed Squadron led by Wing Commander Robert them out of New Guinea. Australia had an Associate of the Royal Red Cross. In Iredale, accompanied by a sixth flown by the purchased 400 of the aircraft, and all except November 1942, she led the first group of RAF operation leader, Group Captain Percy 56 of these had been shipped when the order RAAF nurses into a combat zone, arriving Pickard. Striking with surprise and precision was cancelled. at midday, the raid succeeded in breaking the with five other sisters to staff No 3 Medical outer prison wall, and also breaching the main Receiving Station (3MRS) at Port Moresby. prison building and destroying the guards’ The MRS operated under canvas close living quarters. Although 174 prisoners were to Ward’s Strip in June Valley, so was in a killed or injured in the attack, 258 had escaped direct line for enemy air raids. The Japanese (including 50 Resistance members). Lost in the attacked the airfield the second night after the operation were two aircraft from the second nurses arrived. In September 1943, Wheatley wave (including Pickard’s) and two Typhoons was transferred to Milne Bay, as Sister-in- of the fighter escort. Charge of the first nurses sent to staff 2MRS, and in November she became Area Matron for No 9 Operational Group in New Guinea. She returned to Melbourne in 1944, and in 1946 became Matron-in-Chief. She retired and was appointed on Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1951.

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19 March The MV Wanaka, the largest vessel chartered by the Air Board for use as a supply ship, arrived through Sydney Heads after being salvaged from the Great Barrier Reef. The ship was returning south on 15 December 1943 when a cyclone drove it onto Eden Reef and tipped it onto one side shortly after midnight with the loss of 10 lives (one RAAF, three naval gunners and six members of the Australian Merchant Navy). In February, a salvage operation was organised by RAAF No 1 Transportation and Movement Office at Sydney. Once the ship was towed into Cairns, the interior had to be cleared of tons of sand, coral and rotting foodstuff before towing commenced. The ship finally reached Sydney––dirty, rusty, and with a pronounced MV Wanaka at Cairns wharf, February 1944 list––but with the RAAF Ensign proudly flying. After repairs, the vessel resumed supply duties until returned to civilian ownership in 1946.

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28 March The award was announced of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Pilot Officer David Paul, an indigenous Australian pilot who had been serving in North Africa with No 454 Squadron (an RAAF Baltimore unit in the RAF). At the time of the announcement Paul was a prisoner of war in Germany, having been shot down by Me-109F fighters over the Aegean Sea on 4 December 1943 while making the final trip of his operational tour. Surviving the crash, he was plucked from the sea and became a captive. He had enlisted in the RAAF in January 1941 and trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme in Rhodesia. After his release from Stalag IVB POW camp at Muhlberg in 1945, he returned to Australia and joined the New South Wales Police Force, becoming a detective sergeant. He also served in the RAAF Reserve and reached the rank of Squadron Leader.

Flight Lieutenant David Paul, c.1945

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03 August Wing Commander of the RAAF was appointed to command No 239 Wing, RAF, in Italy, with acting rank of Group Captain; he was just 27 years old. The fighter-bomber formation under his command included two RAAF squadrons among its six units––No 450 and No 3, which Eaton had previously commanded from late April 1943 until late February 1944. While Commanding Officer of 3 Squadron, he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Distinguished Service Order (DSO); as commander of 239 Wing, he received

Captured airmen relax in a hut at Stalag Luft III, Sagan a Bar to the DSO and the American Silver Star, making him one of the most decorated Australian airmen of the war. He had also been 29 06 shot down three times. Undoubtedly one of the outstanding young leaders of the wartime March June RAAF, Eaton became an Air Vice-Marshal in 1966. After 76 prisoners from Britain and When Allied forces invaded France under Commonwealth countries escaped by tunnel , seven squadrons from Stalag Luft III, a German camp for regarded as ‘Australian’ under Article XV of the captured Allied airmen outside Sagan (now Empire Air Training Scheme Agreement took in south-west Poland) on the night of 24/25 part in attacks on the Normandy beaches March 1944, the Gestapo––the Nazi Secret and surrounding areas. Lancaster bombers Police––was ordered to kill 50 of the 73 men of No 460 Squadron attacked two towns recaptured. Five were nominally Australian, adjacent to the westernmost beach, although only three wore RAAF uniform. codenamed Utah, while No 463 and 467 Three were murdered on this day. Squadron Squadrons struck at gun emplacements Leader James Catanach, who enlisted in covering the adjoining . Halifax Melbourne in August 1940 and served with bombers from No 466 Squadron hit a German No 455 Squadron, was killed at Kiel while battery in the same area. Spitfires of No 453 making for . Squadron Leader John Squadron flew 43 sorties in support of the (‘Willy’) Williams, RAF, and Flight Lieutenant landing forces on the first day, while Mosquito Reg (‘Rusty’) Kierath, both members of night fighters of No 456 and 464 Squadrons No 450 Squadron who had attended the same struck at enemy rail and road communications, school in Australia, were killed in Reichenberg bridges and enemy troop convoys on the jail after being arrested near the border with nights of 5/6 June and 6/7 June. Another three Czechoslovakia. The remaining two were ‘Australian’ squadrons—Nos 10, 461 and retaken in the Sagan area and died around 455––also participated in anti-submarine and 30 March, although details of their fate are anti-ship strike operations that prevented the unknown. German Navy from interfering with Allied plans.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 111 05 August A Consolidated B-24 Liberator from No 24 Squadron undertook an armed reconnaissance over the Banda Sea from Manbulloo airstrip in the Northern Territory, carrying eight 300-pound (140-kg) bombs and 30 000 propaganda leaflets. In the early afternoon, a 1500-tonne Japanese freighter was sighted off the island of Bandalontar and the crew brought their aircraft down to 1300 feet to make an attack. The Liberator’s bombs were dropped in two salvos, which missed, while the gunners raked the vessel’s superstructure with 0.5-inch machine guns. Meanwhile, the enemy ship put up a barrage of light anti-aircraft fire which scored hits in the aircraft’s port fin and one wing. One shell penetrated the rear fuselage and exploded in the rear turret, killing the gunner, Flying Officer Bert Middleton. This action was the first time a RAAF Liberator had seen action since entering operational service in early July.

Liberators of Nos 21 and 24 Squadrons over , June 1945 1944

31 21 August October The RAAF first attained its highest strength The day after General Douglas MacArthur during World War II of almost 182 000 began a campaign to retake the personnel (162 846 males and 19 031 with an invasion landing at Leyte Gulf on females). The Service stayed at this level for 20 October 1944, the first element of a the next six months, and on 28 February 1945 radio intercept party from the RAAF’s stood at 181 976 (163 336 males and No 6 Wireless Unit (6WU) was also landed to 18 640 females). Among the males, 20 304 begin operations ashore. During the afternoon, were officers and 143 032 were other ranks; six members of the detachment, embarked 11 277 aircrew and 129 777 ground staff in the personal command ship of MacArthur’s were serving in the South-West Pacific Area, Chief Signal Officer, were taken to the beach including Australia, while 14 938 aircrew to set up camp four kilometres south of and 3499 ground staff were serving in the provincial capital, Tacloban. There they other theatres, and the rest were missing or were joined on 23 October by the other 18 prisoners. Of the females, 495 were nursing members of the party, who had landed from sisters in the RAAF Nursing Service and 18 an LST (landing ship tank) at Palo the previous 145 were members of the Women’s Auxiliary day. This combined group, dubbed the Australian Air Force (including 629 officers). ‘Foreign Legion’ by Australian journalists who The Air Force declined in size from this point had been led to believe that only American and, by the Japanese surrender in August and Filipino ground troops were involved in the 1945, was down to 173 622. invasion, were joined by the rest of 6WU five days later. 25 October The RAAF’s No 10 Operational Group at Noemfoor, Netherlands East Indies, was renamed First Tactical Air Force in an attempt to impress upon Australia’s American allies that the RAAF expected to be included in the northward drive towards Japan. Both 10 Group and its predecessor, No 9 Operational Group, had been formed to create mobile strike forces outside the RAAF’s static area command organisation that were capable of carrying operations rapidly forward. With the Americans already engaged in the southern Philippines, the RAAF assembled an attack wing, two fighter wings, two construction wings and all their associated support units into First Tactical Air Force. Another three fighter units were under orders to join, making a total of 20 000 men available for operations. However, instead of moving north with the Americans, most units went to Morotai for use during the recapture of Borneo.

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31 October The RAF’s 140 Wing mounted a precision raid against Gestapo Headquarters in Denmark, housed in three college buildings on the university campus in the coastal town of Aarhus, on the eastern side of the Jutland Peninsula. The aim was to destroy records and evidence against Danish patriots, and free prisoners held in the complex. Among the units taking part was No 464 Squadron, RAAF, which contributed eight Mosquitoes (of 26 used) along with their crews. The 1000-kilometre route from England was flown at very low level (more than half of it over sea), and the attack was delivered in misty conditions and very bad light––even though just before midday. Complete surprise was 14 achieved, so that two of the target buildings were totally destroyed and the third severely November damaged. None of the attacking Mosquitoes After joining the RAAF in August 1942 and serving as an aircraft mechanic, applied were lost to enemy action, but two suffered for pilot training. Among the top five in his course at No 5 Service Flying Training School at birdstrikes. , New South Wales, he graduated as a sergeant pilot. He completed an operational conversion course on the P-40 Kittyhawk with No 2 Operational Training Unit at , Victoria, at the end of which he was posted to No 78 Squadron on this day. Waters thus became Australia’s first (and only) Aboriginal fighter pilot. While serving with 78 Squadron at Noemfoor (West New Guinea), Morotai (Netherlands East Indies) and (Borneo), he flew 95 sorties; as the Japanese had few aircraft in these areas by this stage, his missions did not entail air combat. Promoted to Flight Sergeant in January 1945, he became a 17 days before discharge in January 1946.

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14 December On 11 December, 12 Catalina flying boats of Nos 11 and 43 Squadrons took off from Darwin heading for Leyte in the Philippines, which had recently been captured by American forces. They were followed the next day by 13 ‘Cats’ from Nos 20 and 42 Squadrons. On this day, the RAAF aircraft took part in a major operation to lay mines in Bay and thereby bottle up Japanese shipping using this vital waterway. With the loss of only one aircraft (believed to have flown into a hill), the mission was achieved. While U-862 at Trondheim, Norway, before beginning its Pacific voyage, May 1944, the units of No 76 Wing went back to Darwin, the six Catalinas of No 11 Squadron returned to their base at Rathmines, New South Wales, 09 each having flown some 14 500 kilometres. For these crews, this had been the longest, as December well as the largest, single minelaying operation About midday, German submarine U-862 surfaced behind an unsuspecting Greek cargo vessel carried out by the RAAF in the war. off Kingston in the south-east of , and at about 2.15 pm began shelling the ship with its deck gun. When the U-boat found itself under return fire from the ship’s own 4-inch gun, the German captain was forced to break off the action and submerge. The freighter made off at top speed and reported its lucky escape on the distress frequency. In response, RAAF Southern Area Headquarters dispatched Beauforts, Ansons and Beaufighters from No 1 Operational Training Unit at East Sale and from Laverton, Victoria. These aircraft conducted a thorough search around the scene of the incident but could find no trace of the enemy submarine, which had immediately departed the area and was already headed south, steering around Tasmania on its way to finding fresh prey off Australia’s eastern coast.

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16 December A day after landing on Mindoro Island in the Philippines, No 3 Airfield Construction Squadron (3ACS) began building an airfield near San Jose. The unit was the first to unload from three landing ships (LSTs), which came ashore behind the assaulting infantry at 8.45am on the 15th. Due to misplaced or bogged equipment and a lack of communications, it had spent the first night in a temporary bivouac sorting these problems out. Next day, while under constant air attack, 3ACS worked with two American aviation engineer battalions to start the necessary runway and taxiways that enabled the airfield to accept its first landings on 20 December. The RAAF unit suffered its first casualties on 16 December, with two men hit (one killed) by debris and flaming petrol from a suicide plane which tried to dive through the open doors of an LST on the beach.

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27 January Six B-24 Liberator heavy bombers of No 24 Squadron took off from Truscott operational base in Western Australia to attack hydro- electric power installations at Siman and Mendalan, 80 kilometres south-west of Surabaya in Japanese-held Java. The raids followed weeks of planning and training by the RAAF’s newly-formed No 82 Wing. Most of the attacking aircraft encountered bad weather and were forced to turn back, but two Liberators got their bombs on target and cut eastern Java’s power supply. The stations on the Konto River were so important that further 13 attacks were attempted. The first of these, on February 28 January, was abandoned due to weather, but missions on 5 and 8 February completed More than 770 British bombers launched a night bombing raid on the old and beautiful German the stations’ destruction. The 3700-kilometre city of Dresden which then stood in the path of the advancing Russian army. The attack was part round trip entailed by these raids made them of a campaign called Operation Thunderclap, aimed at collapsing German morale and inducing the longest mounted from the Australian a surrender as soon as possible. The raid was carried out by two waves of Lancaster heavy mainland during World War II. bombers, with 15 from No 463 Squadron, RAAF, and 17 from No 467 Squadron included in the first wave. In the second were 24 Lancasters of No 460 Squadron. The 2650 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs delivered onto the target produced a catastrophic firestorm which consumed the city and killed 40 000–50 000 of its inhabitants. During the following day, 311 American Flying Fortresses dropped a further 770 tons into the inferno, adding to a pall of smoke which rose 15 000 feet into the air.

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Following a successful air attack on Aarhus five months earlier, Danish Resistance leaders 21 requested a strike against the headquarters of the German Gestapo located in the five-storey ‘Shellhus’ (the prewar Shell Oil offices) in Copenhagen. Six Mosquitoes of No 464 Squadron, March RAAF, comprised the second of three waves for the attack mounted in the raid. To avoid a long flight over Germany, aircraft taking part were sent from France back to England, to begin the attack from Fersfield, Norfolk. After a rough crossing of the North Sea at low level, the attack was delivered at 11.14 am. Early hits on the target building soon had it ablaze; however, the crash of one of the attacking aircraft into a city boulevard caused confusion among later-arriving crews— some of whom bombed the burning wreckage. More than 150 civilian casualties were caused, including more than 80 children killed in a school.

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19 April Eight prominent officers (led by the famous ace, Group Captain Clive Caldwell) submitted identically worded letters of resignation to the commander of the First Tactical Air Force, Air Commodore . The men were expressing their discontent and frustration at the pointless and often wasteful operations on which RAAF units were being employed while stationed at Morotai, in the Netherlands East Indies. Their action was investigated not just by the Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command (Air Vice-Marshal ) MZ467 at Foulsham three weeks before it was shot down but prompted a visit by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal George Jones. When Lieutenant General George Kenney, the US 17 Commander of Allied Air Forces, South-West April Pacific Area, also intervened, Jones attempted to tell him that he could not interview the Three weeks before the end of World War II, Halifax Mk BIII bomber MZ467 of No 462 Squadron, Australian officers. After it was concluded that RAAF, became the last Allied bomber shot down by a German night fighter. The aircraft took off the affair disclosed dangerously low morale shortly before midnight on 16 April from Foulsham, on a bombing mission against Gablingen in First Tactical Air Force, Cobby and the two fighter airfield near the Austrian border. In addition to its load of incendiary bombs and flares, it senior staff officers on his headquarters were was fitted with two long-range fuel tanks. Near Augsburg at 3.40 am, the Halifax encountered a transferred. Ju-88G-6 which blasted it with 200 rounds of 20 mm ammunition and sent it into a steep dive. The bomber caught fire and exploded before it hit the ground. Only the Australian pilot and two others were able to escape the final blast; two RAAF men were among the five crewmen who perished. The survivors were made prisoners until liberated by advancing American forces a few weeks later.

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30 April After the European winter of 1944–45 became one of the severest on record, known as the ‘Hunger Winter’, more than three million civilians in parts of western Holland that had yet to be liberated from five years of German occupation were facing starvation. In response to this critical situation, the Allied High Command negotiated a truce with the Germans to allow 33 squadrons of RAF Bomber Command and 37 squadrons of the US Army Air Forces to drop food supplies at low level in designated areas. After an initial trial drop was conducted on 29 April, Operation Manna—later described as one of the greatest humanitarian feats undertaken in modern war–– got officially underway the next day and continued until Germany capitulated on 8 May. Among the British units taking part was No 460 Squadron, RAAF, which contributed 139 sorties and 312 tonnes to the totals of 10 834 sorties and 10 740 tonnes achieved by the Allies overall. 30 July The RAAF formed No 11 Group at Morotai, Netherlands East Indies. Unlike its predecessors, Nos 9 and 10 Operational Groups (the latter renamed First Tactical Air Force late in 1944), the new group was a static and not a mobile formation. It was intended to free First Tactical Air Force from its administrative responsibilities in newly- occupied areas of former Dutch territory north of latitude 7 degrees south and east of longitude 108 degrees east, and in British and . Apart from taking control of units garrisoning Morotai, it was intended to provide local air defence, protect sea lanes, support adjacent formations, attack

AIRCDREAir Commodore Brownell Brownell at Morotai, at Morotai, November November 1945 1945 enemy targets within range and maintain lines of communication. Air Commodore Ray Brownell, formerly Air Officer Commanding Western Area, was appointed first commander. The war ended before the group became fully functional, although it had operational control of No 79 Squadron (Spitfires) and No 82 Wing (Liberators).

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During the ceremony at which Japan formally surrendered, held in Bay on board the 02 US battleship Missouri, the RAAF was represented by both Air Vice-Marshal George Jones (Chief of the Air Staff) and Air Vice-Marshal William Bostock (Air Officer Commanding RAAF September Command). Immediately after the Japanese representatives signed the instrument of surrender, they were followed by the leader of each Allied delegation. General Sir Thomas Blamey was to sign for Australia, and as he stepped forward he called the names of other delegates he wished to ‘support’ him. The RAAF representative named was Bostock, who joined three others (one Navy and two Army) in standing behind the General as he added his signature to the document. Although Jones and Bostock had engaged in a protracted and destructive personal feud for much of the Pacific War, Blamey’s choice––for all three Services—appeared to intentionally favour operational over staff figures.

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18 September Dakota transport A65-61 from No 38 Squadron took off from Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies (now ) but disappeared without reaching its destination at Townsville, Queensland. On board were 18 former prisoners of war, three RAAF passengers, five aircrew, two nursing sisters of the Morotai- based No 2 Medical Air Evacuation Transport Unit, and an Army officer not recorded on the flight manifest. The loss of the aircraft on the leg between Biak, on the north coast of Dutch New Guinea (now Irian Jaya), and Higgins Field on the northern tip of Cape York Peninsula, became one of the great aviation mysteries of the time. Not until April 1967 was the wreckage of the missing Dakota finally located some 14 200 feet up the side of the rugged Carstairs Mountains in Irian Jaya. RAAF teams visited the site in 1970 and 1999, before a further party arrived in May 2005 to recover the last remains of those killed.

Crash site from the air in 1970

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10 December Four months after the end of World War II, a deadly accident occurred at , off the north-west coast of Borneo, which killed six RAAF personnel including the Officer Commanding No 86 Wing, Group Captain L.C.M. Holswich. The Commanding Officer of No 93 Squadron, Squadron Leader D.K.M. Gulliver, was embarking on a communications flight in Beaufighter A8-184 when the aircraft swung on take-off and collided with two stationary Mustangs of No 77 Squadron parked alongside the strip. The Beaufighter sheared the engines off both Mustangs, A68-761 and A68-714, before bursting into flames. Five personnel on the ground were killed. Squadron Leader Gulliver died in hospital 12 hours later as a result of burns. The cause of the accident could not be determined.

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09 March Eight Mustangs of No 76 Squadron arrived in Japan after making the long flight from Labuan (North Borneo), via the Philippines and Okinawa, as the first RAAF element contributed to BCAir, the air group of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). Australia had undertaken to contribute No 81 Wing of three fighter squadrons (Nos 76, 77 and 82), joining two Spitfire squadrons provided by Britain and another from India, and a Corsair squadron from New Zealand. All told, the RAAF contribution entailed Squadron Leader Cuming shows Chief of the Air Staff Jones over the Meteor approximately 1750 personnel. Based at Bofu on Honshu, the RAAF Mustangs carried out surveillance patrols over surrounding 05 prefectures. From early in 1948, the Australian wing relocated to a former Japanese naval June airfield at Iwakuni. Later that year, No 81 Wing An ex-RAF F.3 took off from Laverton, Victoria, on the first test flight of a jet commenced to disband, until only No 77 aircraft in Australia. It was flown by Squadron Leader Derek (‘Jell’) Cuming, who earlier that year Squadron remained. became the first RAAF officer to complete the Empire Test Pilots course. The Meteor had been received at No 1 Aircraft Depot the previous month and was provided on loan by the British War Ministry to enable the RAAF to gain experience in operating a radical new type. Two days later the aircraft was taken on RAAF strength with the tail number A77-1 and allotted to No 1 Aircraft Performance Unit for trials. Australia did eventually acquire the Meteor for squadron service, but only in 1951. By that time the had already become, in 1949, the first jet acquired in numbers for the RAAF.

124 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1946

18 July The newly-formed No 86 Wing Headquarters took over RAAF Station Schofields, outside Sydney, and assumed responsibility for running the longest regular air transport service in the world using twin-engined aircraft. Since late 1945, RAAF Dakotas had frequently flown to Japan from bases at Morotai and Darwin, carrying mail, supplies and personnel for the Australian component of the Allied occupation forces. Following the concentration of RAAF transport units at Schofields, however, aircraft from Nos 36 or 38 Squadrons undertook scheduled courier flights three times a week entailing a 21 000-kilometre round trip. Each aircraft flew first to Laverton in Victoria, then via Adelaide to Darwin, before heading for Japan with stops at Morotai, the Philippines Painting by Geoffrey Mainwaring (1948) and Okinawa along the way. In December 1947, the Japan route was taken over by Sixty members of the RAAF (including seven Airways, and the last RAAF courier 08 women) were in the 250-strong Australian returned to base on 13 January 1948. contingent which took part in the London June parade to celebrate Allied victory in World War II. Personnel from 21 nations marched past King George VI, who took the salute from a dais in Pall Mall. The main body of the Victory March Contingent had sailed from Australia in the RAN heavy cruiser Shropshire on 19 April, arriving at Portsmouth on 30 May. In the days leading up to the march, the contingent was visited in its tented camp in Hyde Park by various dignitaries, including Britain’s wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (now no longer in office), who caused some consternation to the commander of the RAAF contingent, Wing Commander Rollo Kingsford-Smith, by confusing the distinctive Australian uniform with the Free French Air Force. After taking leave, the contingent arrived back in Australia on 16 August.

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11 15 February March Dr E.G. (‘Taffy’) Bowen, the chief of the Lincoln A73-2 from No 1 Air Performance Division of Radiophysics, Council for Scientific Unit at Point Cook, Victoria, conducted a and Industrial Research, announced that he pioneering flight from mainland Australia to had caused rain to fall over the Blue Mountains the edge of the Antarctic zone, collecting No 19 Squadron Dakota landing at Ulin airfield in of New South Wales, between Bathurst and meteorological data and photographing South Borneo, 1946 Katoomba. During four flights in a RAAF B-24 Macquarie Island which lies 1466 kilometres Liberator bomber, he used dry ice to ‘seed’ south of Tasmania. The aircraft was airborne 01 suitable clouds and initiate precipitation. Later for 14 hours 35 minutes and completed the that year, further experiments were conducted flight in deteriorating weather. This effort was January with other RAAF aircraft, including a Douglas seen as an essential precursor to the scientific C-47 in July (involving the dispersion of silver voyages launched by the Australian National No 19 (NEI) Squadron formally ceased to be iodide from burners) and a Beaufort bomber Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) from part of the RAAF and joined other Dutch forces in September. Artificial rainmaking trials December 1947. attempting to reimpose Dutch colonial rule in continued throughout the 1950s but by the Indonesia after years of Japanese occupation early 1960s fewer RAAF aircraft were involved during World War II. Two other national in this research. From 1965 only civil aircraft squadrons formed within the RAAF—No 18 took part in the program. Squadron (with Mitchell bombers) and No 120 Squadron (Kittyhawk fighters)—had previously moved to Java in 1946, after shedding large numbers of Australian ground staff. No 19 Squadron, a transport unit, remained at Archerfield, Brisbane, and continued using Australian callsigns, even though its main operations took it back into the Netherlands East Indies (NEI).

126 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History Squadron Leader Spence (second from right) on arrival at Dokjakarta, 14 September

Squadron Leader Louis Spence was in a team of four Australians which arrived in Batavia 13 (now Jakarta) on board a RAAF aircraft, becoming the first (UN) peacekeepers deployed in the field. Australia had been the first country to respond to a request for military September observers to support the work of a Consular Commission established the previous month by the UN, to supervise a ceasefire between Dutch forces seeking to reimpose colonial rule in the East Indies and Indonesian nationalists seeking independence. Spence became ill after only two weeks in country and had to return home, but RAAF members were among the more than 60 personnel eventually sent from Australia to monitor the sporadic outbreaks of violence before Indonesia became fully independent in 1949.

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09 October The RAAF entered the helicopter age when its first rotary wing aircraft, a Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly, was test-flown at Laverton air base, Victoria. The four-seat aircraft had been ordered from the US for trials and evaluation in November 1946, and arrived in Australia on board SS Spitfire on 25 August. After its first flights, the S-51––now designated A80- 1––was used for a variety of public relations purposes, including flying a photographer from the Department of Information over the centre of Melbourne to take pictures for a film during the early afternoon of 27 November. Two more S-51s were ordered in April 1950. When these arrived in May 1951 they were allocated to Citizen Air Force squadrons in Sydney and Brisbane, to ensure that the eastern capitals each had one for emergency purposes.

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02 February The first group of 53 youths aged 15––17 who had been selected for engineering training under the RAAF’s new apprenticeship scheme entered the Ground Training School at Forest Hill (Allonville) outside Wagga Wagga, NSW. Five days later, a group of 16 youths similarly joined a separate Radio Apprentice School (RAS) established at the former wartime RAAF establishment at ‘Frognall’, in the Melbourne suburb of Canterbury. Recruitment of a second intake of apprentices began almost immediately, leading to another 84 joining at Wagga and 18 at RAS by the end of July. When the apprenticeship scheme ended 45 years later, a total of 6151 tradesmen and technical specialists had graduated into the RAAF.

RAAF College buildings, 1958 25 February The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal George Jones, formally opened the RAAF College at Point Cook, Victoria, to conduct a four-year academic course for officer cadets along the lines of the RAF College at Cranwell, England. The College had been formed as a unit on 1 August 1947, but it was another six weeks before Air Commodore V.E. Hancock was appointed as . Seventeen cadets of the first intake arrived two days before the opening ceremony, and during April the number increased to 22 with late inductions. Renamed the RAAF Academy in 1961, Point Cook continued degree-level education in association with Melbourne University until the Academy opened in 1986.

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Line-up of Mustangs of No 22 Squadron Citizen Air Force

Under Plan ‘D’ approved for the Permanent Air Force in 1947, a quarter of the postwar strength 01 of 16 squadrons was to be drawn from the part-time Citizen Air Force (CAF). Four squadrons— No 21 (City of Melbourne) at Laverton, No 22 (City of Sydney) at Schofields, No 23 (City of April Brisbane) at Archerfield, and No 25 (City of Perth) at Pearce––were raised on this day to fill the intercept fighter role for the RAAF. A fifth squadron—No 24 (City of Adelaide)––was added in 1951. When jet operations began in the 1950s, Nos 22 and 23 Squadrons moved to Richmond and Amberley respectively. Initially the CAF units operated Australian-built Mustangs, but from July 1951 Vampire jets progressively re-equipped all but No 24 Squadron; from 1956 onwards, No 22 and 23 Squadrons operated Meteors as well.

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13 July The Air Board decided to adopt a distinctive new national Ensign for the RAAF, replacing the RAF device which most British dominion air forces had been using since the 1920s. After discovering that the Royal Canadian and Royal Indian Air Forces had introduced new Ensigns, the Chief of the Air Staff (George Jones) decided that the RAAF should also adopt a new design which ‘exemplified the Australian national character’. A flag featuring the Union Jack in the top left-hand corner, with a seven-pointed Federation Star representing the Commonwealth in the bottom left-hand corner, the Southern Cross constellation in the centre and the Air Force roundel (RAF) in the bottom right-hand corner—all set against a light blue background––was designed by the Chester Herald at the College of Arms RAAF York crew logged 3000th Airlift load, 19 July 1948 in London. It was formally approved by King George VI in January 1949 and remained in use until a further redesign in 1981 which 01 incorporated the ‘leaping kangaroo’ roundel in July place of the RAF cockade. A week after the Allied airlift began in response to the land blockade of Berlin imposed by the in June 1948, two five-man RAAF crews serving on a two-year period of exchange duty with the RAF’s No 24 (Commonwealth) Squadron joined the relief effort. These crews, who had been previously flying C1 transports on VIP duties, were dispatched to Wunstorf, Germany, and contributed to the airlift until November, when they returned to England to resume their normal duties. In September an unnumbered RAAF ‘squadron’ comprising 10 Dakota crews arrived from Australia and joined the airlift effort. Operating from Blankensee airfield, outside the north German city of Lübeck, the squadron’s 41 personnel remained committed to the Berlin Airlift for the next 11 months. Although 16 members of the contingent returned to Australia in March 1949, only six replacements had been sent.

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04 August A RAAF Catalina amphibian made a seven- and-a-half-hour flight to Macquarie Island to deliver an engineer needed to replace a man with the Antarctic Expedition party who had drowned in an accident. The Catalina had been at Point Cook undertaking Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) tests when the call came for RAAF assistance. Interrupting the trials, the aircraft (A24-104) was flown to Hobart and prepared for the mission. A first attempt on 25 July had to be aborted, but a second attempt succeeded despite steadily deteriorating conditions. After delivering the replacement member, stores and mail, A24-104 took off again from the restricted waters of Buckles Bay using four solid 28 propellant rocket bottles for additional thrust. As westerly winds made it impossible for the September Catalina to reach Tasmania, the return flight Rathmines-based No 11 Squadron suffered the loss of a Catalina amphibian and seven crewmen diverted to air base near Canterbury, in a night crash on Lord Howe Island. The aircraft (A24-381) had completed the outward leg of New Zealand. a navigation exercise to the island and altered course for home when a serious fuel leak began filling the compartment with petrol vapour 20 minutes into the return leg. The captain decided to turn back to Lord Howe and attempt a landing on the island’s sheltered lagoon. After crossing the island west to east, the aircraft turned back before clipping the ridgeline below Malabar Hill at about 7.30 pm local time. The Catalina careered down the slope before exploding in flames. Local residents who rushed to the scene extracted two seriously injured crew from the wreck. The death toll was the highest suffered by the RAAF in a peacetime accident up until that time.

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Staff of the Australian Embassy at Nanking, China, in January 1948

A RAAF C-47 based with the occupation forces in Japan arrived at Nanking (Nanjing) to evacuate 20 women staff and the wives and children of male staff at the Canadian and Australian embassies. Fighting in China’s civil war had reached the stage where Communist armies were closing in on November the Nationalist capital and preparing to overrun the city, prompting the transfer of much of the government administration to Canton. When the aircraft, captained by Flight Lieutenant David Hitchins, touched down at the airfield in the grounds of the former Ming Palace about mid- morning, its cabin had been stripped of seats and filled with 44-gallon drums of aviation fuel. The drums were unloaded and hand-pumped by the crew to refuel the aircraft, before being discarded beside the tarmac. The passenger load of 39 women and children then boarded, huddling on the floor for the five-hour return flight to Japan.

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01 March For nearly 45 minutes a large aerial ‘’ undertook a ‘mobility exercise’ above Parliament House, Canberra, to demonstrate the RAAF’s ability to quickly gather a balanced striking force to meet unexpected contingencies. Involving a mix of aircraft types drawn from bases in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, the exercise was intended to counter recent criticism of deficiencies in the Service and claims that the RAAF could not muster even one effective squadron of up-to-date machines during an emergency. The Air Force’s chief, Air Marshal George Jones, was mistaken in later claiming that 200 aircraft were assembled for the fly-past, as contemporary Headquarters building, RAAF Staff College, at Point Cook accounts state that only 50 machines were involved. In Parliament two days later, the The RAAF Staff College was officially formed Minister for Air replied to claims that only one with a nucleus staff of three (Air Commodore 15 in 50 of the aircraft were suitable for battle by Ulex Ewart as Commandant, and two Wing responding that ‘misrepresentation had been ) in temporary accommodation February resorted to recklessly for political purposes’. at Albert Park Barracks, Melbourne. The new College replaced the wartime RAAF Staff School at Mount Martha, Victoria, which before disbanding had conducted staff and unit commander courses during the last two years of World War II. When it was realised that a need would still exist for staff trained officers in the postwar Air Force, planning for a new facility began in October 1948. The first course, initially of six-month duration, began with 15 students on 13 June 1949 at Point Cook, where the Staff College continued to function for the next 10 years, before moving to RAAF Base Fairbairn at Canberra.

134 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1949

The RAAF suffered its only fatality of the Berlin 22 Airlift when a RAF Dakota crashed at Lübeck, 10 in northern Germany. The aircraft was one March of three returning to base at night when the December weather suddenly deteriorated. With low cloud At the federal elections which brought to reducing visibility, the captains of each aircraft power the Liberal Party led by R.G. Menzies, were forced to make a radar-guided approach Air Vice-Marshal William (‘Bill’) Bostock was using the Beam Approach Beacon System elected as Liberal Member for Indi, Victoria, (BABS). Aircraft KJ-970 experienced problems in the House of Representatives. While on approach which caused the pilot, Flight serving as Australia’s senior operational air Lieutenant Mel Joseph Quinn (a member of leader during World War II, Bostock had the RAAF on attachment to No 27 Squadron, engaged in a bitter feud with the Chief of the RAF), to abort the landing. He turned the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal George Jones. aircraft with the intention of making a second As a consequence of his compulsory and attempt, but crashed three kilometres south- premature retirement by Jones in 1946, east of the airfield. Quinn and the navigator Bostock spent much of his time in Parliament on board were killed outright; a third crewman as an active and vociferous critic of the RAAF died later of injuries. Quinn was buried in and its administration, not even hesitating the British Military Cemetery at Ohlsdorf, when it came to criticising the Government. Hamburg. He also continued his attacks through the columns of the Melbourne Herald, until defeated at the general elections in November 1958. Bostock was the first former RAAF officer of air rank to sit in Federal Parliament, and he remains the most senior.

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90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 137 1950

15 19 23 May June June From July 1944, the RAAF operated a The first C-47 Dakotas belonging to Two Australians—Major Stuart Peach language school in Sydney to provide training No 38 Transport Squadron arrived at Changi and Squadron Leader Ronald Rankin–– in written and spoken Japanese, and in airfield, on Singapore Island, to fulfill an completed a two-week visit along the December this became a joint enterprise Australian Government commitment to assist 38th parallel inspecting Republic of Korea (though still under RAAF control) to meet Army Britain during the ‘Emergency’ declared across Army dispositions, activities, defences and needs also. After moving to Melbourne in Malaya. Commanded by Wing Commander weaponry. Australia had been the first country August 1945, then to Point Cook in February J.F. (‘Ginty’) Lush, the unit’s eight aircraft to provide trained military observers to assist 1946, the school closed in October 1948. were used to move cargo, troops and VIPs, the work of the United Nations Commission On this day, the RAAF School of Languages sometimes as far as Ceylon, Hong Kong or on Korea (UNCOK), and they were the only re-opened at Point Cook, initially offering Japan, carry out supply and paratroop drops observers in Korea. Returning to Seoul on Russian to a mix of Army and Air Force and casualty evacuations, and participate 24 June, they reported that the South Korean students; a course in Chinese (Mandarin) in psychological operations involving leaflet Army was organised entirely ‘for defence and followed early next year. Other languages drops. Australia’s commencement of a … in no condition to carry out an attack’. were progressively added: Indonesian in concurrent commitment in Korea, within a The next day, North Korea invaded across 1956, Vietnamese (1961), French (1962), Thai week of the Dakotas’ arrival, led to the transfer the parallel. It was the Peach-Rankin report (1965) and Japanese again (1969). Burmese, of half the squadron’s aircraft to that theatre showing unequivocally that North Korea was Arabic and German were offered in the 1980s, of operations in November 1950. Two years an aggressor which on 27 June convinced followed by Khmer in 1990. On 1 February later, with the RAAF’s commitments having the UN Security Council to act. Concluded 1993, the school became the Australian continued to escalate beyond the capacity of the official historian: ‘Thus the journey of Defence Force School of Languages, although its transport fleet, 38 Squadron was withdrawn Peach and Rankin ranks as one of the still administered by the Air Force. to rejoin No 86 Transport Wing at Richmond, most consequential reconnaissances ever New South Wales. conducted by Australian service officers’.

Rankin (second from right) visiting positions on the 38th parallel

138 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1950

‘RAAF’s first operation over North Korea, 2 July 1950’ by Robert Taylor (1986)

After the North Korean People’s Army launched an all-out offensive against the territory of South 02 Korea on 25 June, the RAAF’s No 77 Squadron (then based at Iwakuni, Japan, and preparing to return home on completing post–World War II occupation duties) was directed on 30 June July to join in the fighting as part of the response by the United Nations. Bad weather prevented the squadron from flying on 1 July, but next day the unit’s Mustang fighters flew 16 sorties during three separate missions over the Korean peninsula. The last of these actually entailed RAAF aircraft crossing the 38th parallel into North Korea, although this breached the terms of the Australian Government’s agreement for the unit’s use. It was not until 3 July, however, that 77 Squadron was ordered by the US Fifth Air Force to undertake its first attack mission of the war.

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31 August Pilot III (Flight Sergeant) G.J. McDonald of No 38 Squadron was lost when a Dakota transport from No 110 Squadron, RAF, crashed into the sea about 150 miles off the coast of Trengganu, Malaya. He was copilot in the aircraft which took off from Changi airfield in Singapore (where 38 Squadron had arrived in June to support British operations during the ‘Emergency’) at 4 am on a routine courier flight to Hong Kong. When the Dakota failed to make a scheduled fuel stop at Saigon, a large-scale air search commenced. This produced no sightings, but at about 4 am the next morning a naval launch picked up a officer who had been a passenger on the aircraft and was the sole survivor from its crash. The search was called off at 6.30 pm on 1 September and that evening McDonald was classified as ‘missing believed killed’. Spence receiving US Legion of Merit on 22 August 1950 09 September Two months after No 77 Squadron was committed to operations in Korea, the unit’s Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Lou Spence, was killed in action. He led four Mustangs in an attack on storage facilities at Angang-ni, north of Pusan in South Korea, which had been recently captured by Communist forces. His aircraft failed to pull out of a steep dive at low altitude and was seen to crash into the centre of the town, exploding on impact. Spence was succeeded by Squadron Leader Richard (‘Dick’) Cresswell, who had twice before led 77 Squadron in war; his previous periods in command were both during World War II—the first, in April 1942, when he was aged just 21. In Korea, Cresswell again demonstrated the qualities which had seen him rated as an exceptional leader of a combat squadron on war duties.

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RAAF tent lines at Pohang, 1950

No 77 Squadron moved its combat base to an airfield at Pohang, on the east coast of the 12 Korean Peninsula. Up until then, the unit operated out of Iwakuni in Japan, which it had been using during Occupation duties even before the start of the . The move shortened the October distance entailed for sorties flown by the Australians by nearly 500 nautical miles, enabling them to range far and wide across the peninsula in pursuit of targets. Two squadrons of the US 35th Fighter Interceptor Group had moved into Pohang the previous week, but conditions were still largely improvised. Tents and other equipment needed to establish a base camp were flown in on C-47 transports of the RAAF’s No 30 Communications Flight. Several of the Australian pilots completed a mission before landing at Pohang, then proceeded to erect their tents in the freezing late autumn weather.

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19 November To keep pace with the UN Command’s pursuit of retreating North Korean forces, No 77 Squadron transferred its operations from Pohang to the one-time Japanese naval air station at Hamhung (also called Yonpo), near Hungnam on the north-east coast of North Korea, just 160 kilometres from the Yalu River marking the border with China. By this time, Chinese forces had already

Sir William Dean on graduation begun appearing on the ground and in the air on the side of the North Koreans, and the severe peninsula winter had also arrived and was creating some of the most trying operating conditions imaginable for 77 Squadron’s aircrew and ground staff. Within a fortnight of occupying Hamhung, 16 enemy guerrilla and then main force activity had begun threatening security of the base itself. On 3 December the squadron was forced to withdraw, and never again would the RAAF have its October ground base so far north. The first RAAF University Squadron was raised at the Recruiting Centre in Sydney. By the end of the month, Sydney University 30 Squadron was followed by similar squadrons for the Universities of Melbourne, Western December Australia and Queensland; squadrons for the A RAAF Wirraway (A20-212) crashed onto a public beach at Maroochydore, 100 kilometres north Universities of Tasmania and Adelaide were of Brisbane, killing three children (aged 6, 6 and 11) and injuring the pilot and 13 other people. formed in November. The units existed to The aircraft, from No 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron based at Archerfield, was carrying out shark attract and train potential officers for two years patrol duties along the coast when at about 11.15am a sighting was made of what was thought while they were also studying, with those who to be a shark at the edge of the breakers. The pilot turned towards the nearby surfing beach did not join the regular Air Force being required which was crowded with hundreds of holidaying bathers, attempting to warn swimmers of the to serve for a further five years in the Citizen shark’s presence using hand signals. After circling several times and each time coming down Air Force Reserve. More than 2000 members lower, the aircraft was seen to suddenly stall and plummet onto a sand-bank on the beach. The trained with the University Squadrons (before Wirraway bounced on impact and catapulted more than 40 feet before crashing into the crowd, these were all disbanded in late 1973) and causing mayhem and panic. many went on to fame or distinction in later careers, among them Sir William Deane, Governor-General of Australia 1996–2001. The Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide squadrons were renamed in 1967 to reflect their State rather than city basis.

142 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1951

First WRAAF officers meet Minister for Air, T.W. White (left), and CAS, Air Marshal Jones, December 1950

The Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force which functioned during World War II was disbanded 30 in December 1947, but in July 1950 the re-formation of women’s services in Army, Navy and Air Force was approved, in principle, by Cabinet. This time, the RAAF’s women’s service would no January longer be an ‘auxiliary’ but a branch of the Permanent Air Force. By the time the Minister for Air, Thomas White, announced in November that the new Service would be known as the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF), more than 2000 applications had been received. The first two officers were appointed on 27 November and, next month, applicants underwent screening at Laverton air base, Victoria. After the first 50 trainees commenced recruit training in two separate courses conducted at Laverton and Richmond, New South Wales, 30 January came to be accepted as the official birthday of the WRAAF.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 143 03 February A Mosquito Mk 41 from No 87 (Photo Reconnaissance) Squadron crewed by Flight Lieutenants V.D. Guthrie (pilot) and J.C. Jordan (navigator) began taking aerial photographs around Mount Lamington in following a devastating volcanic eruption. The mountain, located 15 kilometres from Popondetta on the coastal plain north of the Owen Stanley Range, had not been recognised as a volcano until a few days before its northern side blew apart on 21 January, releasing pyroclastic flows that reached up to 20 kilometres away. At least 20 villages were destroyed and more than 3000 lives lost in the disaster. Rescue parties were hampered by suffocating dust and fumes, and hot ashes on the ground. The Mosquito was flown up from RAAF Base Fairbairn, Canberra, on 1 February, to help officials coordinating the relief effort to define safe areas around the mountain in the face of continuing volcanic activity. 1951

The first of two Pika aircraft (piloted versions of the Jindivik remotely-controlled target drone) 05 stalled and crashed during a demonstration flight over the aerodrome at Woomera, South Australia, injuring the RAAF pilot, Flight Lieutenant Fred Knudsen. The aircraft (A93-1) had April taken to the air for the first time only six months earlier, with the test pilot for the Government Aircraft Factory at the controls. After the crash, the flying of both Pika and Jindivik became the responsibility of the RAAF’s Aircraft Research and Development Unit. Pika was the one and only manned pure-jet designed and built in Australia that actually flew, and it also claimed the record for having the smallest retracting undercarriage ever built. The second aircraft undertook the type’s 214th and final flight in June 1954. Meanwhile, Jindivik achieved over 500 sales in Australia and overseas and stayed in use for more than half a century.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 145 1951

Meteors arriving on HMS Warrior, February 1951

No 77 Squadron was withdrawn from Korea to Iwakuni, Japan, to begin replacing its propeller- 07 driven Mustang fighters with Gloster Meteor Mk VIII twin-engined, straight-wing jet interceptors. Fifteen single-seat Meteor Mk VIIIs and two dual-controlled Mk VIIs had reached Japan on April the HMS Warrior on 24 February, followed by 22 more Mk VIIIs on 23 March. The decision was made to withdraw the squadron entirely from Korea to effect its conversion, in preparation for the unit assuming a role in air-to-air combat. None of the RAF instructors who provided transition training had any experience flying against the MiG-15 fighters in service with the Communist forces in Korea, and no fighter instructors were sent from Australia to provide specialist tuition in tactics and weapons employment, which would have been normal. Not until mid-July was the squadron judged ready to re-enter the air war over Korea.

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‘Skirmish over Korea’ by Norman Clifford (1990) 29 August When Warrant Officer Ron Guthrie was forced to abandon his Meteor jet fighter over Korea For the first time in its history, the RAAF on this day, he unintentionally notched up ceased being an all-volunteer force, after the 01 several ‘firsts’. During this first clash between first batch of 2009 trainees under the National RAAF Meteors and Soviet MiG-15s, Guthrie’s May Service Act 1950 arrived at bases around aircraft sustained gunfire hits which caused Australia to begin training. Two previous it to enter a nose-down dive at 36 600 feet. schemes of conscription had not included the With all controls gone, he decided to eject Air Force. Under the new scheme, the RAAF using the Martin Baker seat with which the was expected to receive two intakes annually Meteor was fitted. This was actually the first (totaling up to 5000 18-year-old males) for time that a Martin Baker seat had been used a continuous period of training lasting 176 in combat, and his altitude is still the record for days, after which trainees would be required the highest combat ejection in the RAAF. The to serve in the Reserve for a further four and altitude of his ejection has only been exceeded a half years. The initial training period was in the RAAF by peacetime ejections at 38 000 reduced to 154 days from September 1953, feet from two Sabre jets involved in a midair and in following months actual training was collision in 1960. On landing, Guthrie was transferred from existing base units to seven captured by Communist forces and spent newly-raised National Service Training Units. two years as a prisoner of war. The scheme was discontinued for the RAAF in May 1957, by which time between 15 000 and 18 000 young Australians had completed training with the Service.

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13 08 January February Air Marshal George Jones retired after a A new air-fired rocket devised at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, was sent to 10-year term as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS)–– No 77 Squadron in Korea for trials under active service conditions. Dubbed the ‘Flaming second only to that of the first CAS, Air Onion’, the missile was given some preliminary tests during September 1951, but on this Marshal Sir Richard Williams, who had filled day it underwent evaluation during a real attack mission against an iron mine at Chaeryong, the post, off and on, for 17 years. The first five North Korea. As the Americans were interested in the rocket as well, they provided an F-80 years of his term were spent as an Air Vice- reconnaissance aircraft to photograph the attack as it was carried out by Wing Commander Marshal, although his Service had expanded Ron Susans, the Commanding Officer of 77 Squadron. Unfortunately, the rockets did not impress in size during that time from 9000 to a peak greatly, because they contained insufficient napalm to generate enough heat for more major strength in August 1944 of 182 000 personnel. destructive effect. The weapons were not employed again until June, but thereafter proved He was promoted Air Marshal in January reasonably effective against troop billets and supply points—especially after high-explosive 1947, although by next year the RAAF had rockets had been used first to break up the target. demobilised to only 8000 full-time members. Twelve months after his retirement he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). He was succeeded by Air Marshal J.D.I. Hardman of the RAF, who was appointed Knight Commander of the (KCB) in June. When Sir Donald’s term ended in 1954, he became the last British officer to command the RAAF.

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Portrait by Ivor Hele (1952) 08 May Memorial to Cocos drownings (in foreground) Pilot Officer W.H. (‘Bill’) Simmonds scored the only fully confirmed RAAF victory over a 06 Communist MiG-15 in the Korean War. He was in a flight of four Meteors of No 77 Squadron April protecting US bombers, making the biggest single attack of the war so far against an The crews of two Royal Navy ships visiting the Cocos Islands were invited ashore to be important supply depot at Sunan (now the site entertained by the RAAF’s No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron, which was working to of airport), when MiGs attacked ‘rehabilitate’ the wartime RAF airstrip on West Island for use in a direct air service between from behind. Simmonds was able to get onto Australia and . Although the visitors were warned about the dangers of swimming on the tail of one of the MiGs as it passed less the western foreshore, this advice was ignored by five seamen who were soon seen to have been than 10 metres below him and blasted it swept off the coral reef. A large-scale rescue effort ensued, which lasted more than two hours with a long burst of cannon fire. Two other and involved at least a dozen RAAF members entering the heavy surf. It was finally established members of the RAAF flight reported seeing that an RN Able had drowned, along with RAAF members, LAC Michael Rowan and AC the enemy pilot eject as his aircraft went into Peter Eccleston. On 31 October, Corporal Robert Stewart was awarded the for his a spin and crashed to earth. Australian pilots bravery during the tragedy. reported a total of five MiGs shot down during the war, but this was the only occasion where there was absolutely no doubt about the claim.

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1952

28 July When asked by Britain to assist in the defence of the Middle East, Australia agreed in March 1952 to contribute a fighter wing to the garrison of the Mediterranean island of Malta. On 4 July 1952, the RAAF dispatched 260 personnel of No 78 Wing (comprising 75 and 76 Fighter Squadrons, both at half- strength; 478 Maintenance Squadron; and 378 Base Squadron) to Valletta on board the liner Asturias. Upon arriving on this day, the Australian contingent took up residence at Hal Far, a Royal Navy airfield in the south of the island, operating 18 Vampire jet fighters leased from Britain. For the next two years, 78 Wing trained with the RAF and often took part in exercises with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) forces, although Australia was not formally a member. The unit ceased flying operations in December 1954 and by January 1955 the entire contingent had departed for home.

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17 September The Queen’s Colour was presented to the RAAF by the Minister for Air, Mr William McMahon, at a special parade held at Laverton. The Royal Colour had not been presented in Australia before, and the ceremony took place in front of 2500 officers and airmen and airwomen assembled in formation against a backdrop of five Lincoln heavy bomber aircraft. The presentation was to have been made by the Governor-General, Sir William McKell, but his flight from Canberra was delayed by engine trouble. Although known as the ‘Queen’s’ Colour, the colour actually bore the monogram of King George VI. This was because the colour was originally to have been presented during a royal visit to Australia that was planned for 1952, before the King died in February. It was the wish of the new Queen Elizabeth that her father’s colour should be presented in her name. 03 October When Britain conducted its first nuclear bomb test off Trimouille Island, near Monte Bello Islands located 125 kilometres west of Dampier, Western Australia, the RAAF assisted by providing aircraft and crews for various support missions. was designed to show the damage to be expected from a nuclear explosion in a coastal maritime environment similar to the British Isles. Seven RAAF Lincolns from No 82 Wing and No 10 Squadron were based at Broome, WA, and from there flew meteorological, reconnaissance, communications and transport tasks. Following the detonation, five of the aircraft tracked the atomic cloud and three of them actually entered the cloud to collect samples of radioactive dust in underwing canisters and take readings on Geiger counters. No special precautions were taken with personnel, either air or ground crews, and the Lincolns were not decontaminated but simply returned to normal duties afterwards.

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Air Vice-Marshal Scherger (right) on arrival

Air Vice-Marshal F.R.W. Scherger took up appointment as Air Officer Commanding (AOC) the 01 RAF in Malaya. This was the first British command to be given to an Australian air officer since the end of World War II. The mixture of RAF and RAAF squadrons under his command was then January engaged in anti-terrorist operations during the , and the AOC was responsible for directing those operations under the overall authority of the Commander-in-Chief Far East Air Force (whose command ranged from the to Hong Kong). Scherger quickly decided that his Air Headquarters should not be located in Singapore but alongside the Army’s Director of Operations, General Sir , in . When Scherger’s term ended after two years, the AOC post alternated between RAF and RAAF officers (three more Australians being appointed) until terminated in 1968.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 153 1953

Sergeant Hale with his Meteor ‘Halestorm’

Two Gloster Meteor Mk 8 jets of No 77 Squadron, flown by Sergeants George Hale and David 27 Irlam, were conducting a road reconnaissance over North Korea near Sinmak when Hale saw what he thought was a lone MiG-15. It was only as he dived into the attack that he realised he March was opposed by three enemy aircraft. In the ensuing , Hale’s cannon fire sent one MiG down on its back, belching black smoke and shedding bits of fuselage as it dropped from view. Immediately confronted by another pair of MiGs, he scored hits on one of these also and saw it trailing white smoke as it climbed away from him. Having expended all his ammunition, Hale broke off contact. This was the last time that 77 Squadron aircraft engaged in aerial combat in Korea, and indeed the last time that any RAAF unit has been involved in air-to-air fighting since.

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14 August During a 20-minute test flight, the prototype Sabre swept-wing jet fighter built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation became the first aircraft to break the sound barrier over Australia. Taking off at 11.40 am from CAC’s Avalon airfield outside Geelong, Victoria, aircraft A94-101 (the first local version of the North American F-86 Sabre fitted with the Rolls Royce Avon RA7 engine) reached a height of 25 000 feet before entering a shallow dive over Port Phillip Bay. As the aircraft’s speed reached 670 mph (1078 km/h), it generated a sonic boom that was heard in Melbourne. The pilot on this occasion, 28-year-old Flight Lieutenant William Scott, was actually not the first RAAF member to achieve supersonic sound. This feat had apparently been achieved two years earlier on A detachment of Vampire and Meteor jets of an American F-86 by Wing Commander 15 No 78 Wing represented the RAAF during ‘Dick’ Cresswell, while he was briefly attached the Royal Review conducted at Odiham, to a US fighter group in Korea. July Hampshire, to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II six weeks earlier. In May, the RAAF contingent had flown from Malta, where 78 Wing was stationed, with 12 Vampires and two Meteors. Operating from the RAF station at Horsham St. Faith, near Norwich in Norfolk, the RAAF detachment had practised formation flying in the lead-up to the grand occasion. The review involved a massed aerial salute to the Queen by 639 aircraft (193 propellor-driven and 446 jet-powered) which took 30 minutes to pass over the Royal Dais, followed by a static aircraft display of 320 aircraft (including 78 Wing’s Meteors) which was also inspected by the Queen and the Duke of . On 21 July the RAAF Vampires flew to Germany to take part in Exercise Coronet until 3 August, the largest and most realistic North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise since the end of World War II.

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01 15 October October As announced on 3 September by the Totem I, the first of two British atmospheric atomic trials conducted uringd October at Emu Minister for Air, , the RAAF Field, 480 kilometres north-west of Woomera, SA, resulted in contamination of eight of the nine began reorganising along functional command RAAF Lincoln bombers used on air-sampling and cloud-tracking tasks. Exposure to radioactive lines, replacing the system of commands fallout experienced was far greater than had been predicted, with the result that there were many based on geographical areas which had been changes for Totem 2 conducted on 27 October. Two aircraft from the first test were again used, in use since World War II. Under the first but this time with crew members required to wear protective gear, radiation film badges and use phase of changes, RAAF Headquarters was oxygen; contact with the radioactive cloud was also limited to 10 minutes. Ground personnel integrated into the Department of Air and took faced similarly restrictive precautions. At the end of the Totem series, four aircraft were so responsibility for policy, financial control and contaminated that they never flew again but lay abandoned at RAAF Base Amberley for several units overseas. Three functional commands years before being scrapped and buried. were also established, with Home Command at Glenbrook, NSW, replacing Eastern Area Headquarters; Training Command at Albert Park, Melbourne, replacing Southern Area Headquarters; and Maintenance Command, also at Albert Park, replacing Maintenance Group Headquarters. A second phase of the reorganisation came into effect on 1 February 1954, when Home Command took over from North-Eastern, North-Western and Western Areas. With these changes, the RAAF dispensed with regional commanders Totem ground zero marker disposed to think at times like ‘warlords’ and operated along more unified lines.

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22 14 March June His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke Leading Aircraftwoman Kathleen Pearson of Edinburgh, opened the new RAAF Base performed the act which led to her receiving Edinburgh outside Adelaide, South Australia. the British Empire Medal for bravery. Originally called Mirrabooka, the site was the An airwoman was standing before an open location of the Salisbury ammunition factory fire in the recreation room of the Women’s during World War II. After the war, it was Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) barracks chosen for a base to take over from RAAF at No 1 Stores Depot at Tottenham, Victoria, Mallala and construction began in 1953, when her clothing caught fire. As the panic- culminating in its official opening while the stricken victim fled towards the door, LACW Queen and Prince Philip were making their first Pearson—the only other person in the Royal Visit to Australia. A Headquarters for the room—caught her, and despite the victim’s base was not established until the following struggles forced her to the floor and rolled January, followed by a Base Squadron in her in a carpet. While putting out the flames, March 1955. A small detachment to handle LACW Pearson suffered second degree the Bristol Freighters and RAF Hastings burns and risked igniting her own clothing. transports operating into Woomera, along with 22 Her efforts undoubtedly saved the life of her Nos 1 and 2 Air Trial Units, were the base’s companion who duly recovered from serious main residents, until No 1 Recruit Training April and extensive burns. When the BEM was Unit moved in from Wagga Wagga, NSW, in announced in January 1955, LACW Pearson A RAAF Dakota transport played an 1964 and the first Orion unit (No 11 Squadron) became the first member of the WRAAF to unheralded role in the sensational defection followed in 1968. receive a bravery award. of a diplomat from the Soviet Embassy in Canberra. Australians were shocked by filmed images of Mrs Evdokia Petrov, wife of the defecting diplomat, being hustled onto a commercial flight out of Sydney by two burly ‘escorts’ returning her to the Soviet Union. After establishing that Mrs Petrov wished to stay in Australia, Commonwealth officials intervened during the flight’s refuelling stop at Darwin and rescued her. She was placed on board a RAAF DC-3 and flown back to Sydney. With the press converging on likely landing points—Canberra, Mascot Airport or the RAAF base at Richmond—the aircraft put down into the now virtually unused ex- RAAF airfield at Schofields, which had been a naval air station since 1953. Mrs Petrov was assisted down the aircraft steps, escorted to a car, and driven away through a back gate.

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The first version of the F-86 Sabre produced 30 by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, 03 the CA-27 Sabre 30, was handed over to August the RAAF at a formal ceremony at Laverton December attended by the Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies, The RAN aircraft carrier HMAS Vengeance and other members of the Cabinet. The berthed in Sydney carrying personnel, 41 North American company’s F-86 design had Meteor jet aircraft and 12 000 tonnes of been re-engineered by CAC to accept the equipment belonging to No 77 Squadron British Avon RA7 engine built by the Rolls of the RAAF. During the 11 years that the Royce company. The resulting aircraft was squadron had spent outside Australia—a an important technological milestone for record absence for a RAAF unit from home the RAAF, even though both the US and soil—it had served in New Guinea, the USSR were already introducing new aircraft Netherlands East Indies and Borneo during into service which were superior. It was World War II, in Japan during the Allied Australia’s first swept-wing aircraft, the first occupation and in Korea during the Korean with powered flight controls, and the first War. After settling into its new base at capable of supersonic speed. Test pilot Wing Williamtown, NSW, the squadron resumed Commander D.R. Cuming was on hand to operations on 5 January 1955. Beginning on give an impressive demonstration of the new 21 January, it embarked on a month-long Sabre’s performance to the crowd assembled ‘welcome home’ tour around Australia which at Laverton. entailed undertaking a ‘Double Seven’ fly-past at each capital city, ending at Sydney on 18 February.

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08 April On this Good Friday, a Lincoln Mk 31 of No 10 Squadron (A73-64) undertook a 24 mercy flight to transport a newborn baby requiring an urgent blood transfusion from January Townsville to Brisbane. The Commanding Officer, Wing Commander John Costello, had The main party of No 78 (Fighter) Wing, RAAF—including most of its unmarried personnel–– volunteered his own crew for the mission, embarked in the passenger ship SS New Australia, for return to Australia after two years based at and a nursing sister accompanied them. Malta. The first draft of Australian personnel had left, many with their families, on board the liner The weather deteriorated during the flight, Stratheden on 4 January, while most of the married senior NCOs followed a few days later on the which was conducted at low altitude to Strathaird. Since the Wing’s arrival in July 1952, about 60 members had married, many taking ensure the warmth and comfort of the infant British and Maltese wives; about 40 children had been born to contingent members, creating being transported. As the aircraft reported a considerable headache for the authorities arranging the Wing’s repatriation. It was during the its approach to Brisbane, it was cleared to voyage of the Strathaird that Flight Sergeant Evan Rees, a young replacement pilot, was lost–– descend to 4000 feet before communications having accidentally fallen overboard on the night of 3 February between Aden and Colombo. were abruptly lost. Five hours later, a searching RAAF Canberra sighted the smoking wreckage of the Lincoln near the town of Warwick, on the western slope of Mount Superbus about 200 feet below its 4200-foot summit. All six people on board had been killed. A navigation error was suspected as the most likely cause of the tragedy.

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An advance party from No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron (2ACS) arrived at Butterworth, on the 08 north-west coast of Malaya, to begin work on bringing the airfield up to jet standards. The move followed Prime Minister R.G. Menzies’ announcement in April 1955 that the RAAF had been July offered a free loan of the RAF airfield at Butterworth as the base for an Australian air contingent to a Commonwealth Strategic Reserve in the Far East. Australia planned to commit a composite wing of two Sabre fighter squadrons and a squadron of Canberra bombers, which needed more and better facilities than currently existed. It was not until 12 September that the main body of 2ACS arrived and began work in earnest. Working around the threat of attack by Communist Terrorists, by May 1958 the runway, taxiways, fighter and bomber hardstands were all ready for operational use––a month ahead of schedule.

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A95-201 with ‘standing roo’ applied, at Mawson base, Antarctica, 1956–57

An upright ‘fighting’ kangaroo insignia was applied to three RAAF aircraft—two Avon Sabre 12 fighters, and a De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (A95-201) which was subsequently transferred to the Antarctic Flight—as part of an experiment to find a suitable national emblem to distinguish RAAF September from RAF aircraft. Although credit for proposing the kangaroo design was given to the Director of RAAF Public Relations at the time, the image had actually been around since the 1890s and was known to have adorned Australian-crewed aircraft at Singapore in 1941 and England in 1943. Ultimately, this design was rejected in favour of the ‘kangaroo in motion’ in 1956, but the Beaver continued to serve in Antarctica still bearing the ‘standing roo’ insignia until the aircraft suffered major damage in a storm in December 1959.

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12 February RAAF Base Richmond had to be evacuated as a result of some of the most severe flooding ever seen along the . When the floodwaters peaked at a record of 14.8 metres on 10 February, all roads into the base were closed and the only access was along the railway line. Sandbag levees were thrown up to protect important buildings such as the Communications Centre. Disruption was also caused to water supply across the Windsor and Richmond areas, and when the base’s sewerage treatment plant was inundated a crisis quickly developed. After two cases of enteritis were reported on this day, the evacuation of all personnel was ordered–– except for those whose presence was deemed essential. An emergency camp was set up at Bankstown to receive the evacuees until it was safe to reoccupy the Richmond base.

Bomb pattern achieved in Kingly Pile 21 February Lincoln bombers of No 1 Squadron made the RAAF’s most successful strike of the Malayan Emergency when they took part in Operation Kingly Pile. Seven Lincolns, led by Wing Commander Ken Robertson, dropped 98 450-kilogram bombs on a jungle camp used by Communist Terrorists in swampy country in the Kluang-Renggam area of central Johor, followed by a second wave of four Canberra jet bombers of No 12 Squadron, RAF. The Australian aircraft returned to base at Tengah, Singapore, rearmed, and made a second strike later in the day. Ground troops who later entered the target area found the camp appeared to have contained 21 members of the 7th Independent Platoon, Malayan Races Liberation Army. The bodies of 14 of these were identifiable, including the notorious political commissar of southern Johor.

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RAAF Canberras at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, DC, in May 1956

Five Canberra bombers from No 82 Wing at Amberley, Queensland, departed on a goodwill 12 mission to help the US Air Force celebrate Armed Forces Day. Staging through Townsville, Guam, Wake Island, Honolulu and San Francisco, the aircraft proceeded to Washington, DC, May where one provided a static display at Bolling Air Force Base. While passing through Omaha, the detachment was entertained by the mercurial chief of the US Strategic Air Command, General Curtis LeMay. Owing to the RAAF’s lack of a suitable supporting transport, the USAF provided a C-124 Globemaster to carry ground crews and spare parts for the Canberras. On the return trip, aircraft A84-227 suffered an engine failure at Honolulu which necessitated it being dismantled and shipped back to Australia for repairs. By the time the remaining aircraft returned to Townsville on 6 June, many valuable lessons about high altitude endurance had been learnt.

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02 July The Minister for Air approved the adoption of a new Air Force roundel which featured the ‘kangaroo in motion’ in the centre, replacing the red-white-and-blue roundel of the RAF which the RAAF and Royal Australian Navy both used. During 1955 the RAAF followed the lead of other Commonwealth air forces by looking at options for replacing the centre of its roundel with a distinctive national emblem. Designs suggested by Mrs Pamela Brinsley, the staff artist at the Department of Air (whose husband was a serving RAAF officer), included Loading flame for flight to Cairns the Southern Cross, a boomerang and a sprig of wattle, but eventually the ‘kangaroo in motion’ (as depicted on Australia’s penny 09 coin) was chosen by the Air Board on 8 June 1956 as the most appropriate symbol, and November the Minister endorsed this choice. Initially the The flame for the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne was carried on board a RAAF new emblem was displayed only on aircraft Canberra jet bomber from Darwin to Cairns, Queensland, which was the start point for a torch fuselages, but in September 1965 the Air relay down the eastern coast of Australia. The flame, carried in two miners’ safety lamps (one Board ordered its use on wings as well. a spare), had arrived from Greece on a Qantas airliner on the evening of 6 November and was handed to the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Station at Darwin for custody. After a civic reception next day, the flame was placed in a Canberra aircraft and flown nearly 1500 kilometres to Cairns. The weather on arrival was poor, with heavy rain and low-lying clouds giving rise to doubts about whether the bomber would be able to land, but these concerns were dispelled when the aircraft appeared on the runway and the 4500-kilometre torch relay was able to begin.

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09 January The last ten biplane trainers in service with the RAAF were flown in a group from Point Cook to Tocumwal, on the Murray River, where they were to be put up for sale to private owners. Australia’s air force had been the first in the world to adopt the Moth type for training purposes. It purchased its first Gypsy Moths in 1927, before even the RAF acquired them. At the height of their use, during World War II, the RAAF operated over 860 of these aircraft, including 732 delivered from De Havilland’s factory at Bankstown, Sydney. With the departure of the last Moths from Point Cook, the RAAF bid farewell to the biplane age.

Minister for Air Osborne and returning Neptune crews at Richmond 04 April Three Neptune maritime patrol aircraft from No 11 Squadron arrived back at Richmond, New South Wales, after completing Operation Westbound—the first round-the-world flight by the RAAF. The aircraft had departed on 20 February, tasked with conveying the Minister for Air (Frederick Osborne) from Karachi, , to Accra, the capital of Britain’s former West African colony of Gold Coast, where he was to represent Australia at celebrations marking the independence of Ghana on 6 March. After an eight-day stay at Accra, the aircraft continued flying west, crossing the Atlantic, the US, and the Pacific via Fiji, for what was intended as a test of the mobility and navigational capabilities of the Neptunes and their crews. The four weeks planned for the flight was extended by an unscheduled engine change on one aircraft in the Azores.

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13 June Company Sergeant Major R.G. Halverson graduated from the 10th course at the Army’s School (OCS) at Portsea, Victoria, with the Sword of Honour. He was one of four RAAF cadets on this course. The Air Force had begun sending its potential ground defence officers to Portsea to receive 12 months training only in June 1955, and there had been one RAAF graduate in June and December 1956; three more followed in December 1957. After creating its own short courses for a time, the Air Force tried using the Officer Cadet Wing of the Army’s School of Artillery, and the Officer Training Unit at Scheyville which opened in 1965, but then returned its candidates to Portsea in 1967. Up until 1983, a total of 30 RAAF officers had graduated from the OCS.

30 May Squadron Leader David Hitchins took up command of No 24 (Commonwealth) Squadron of the Royal Air Force for a period of two years. Equipped with Hastings long- range transport aircraft and based at Colerne Officer Cadet School class graduating June 1957, including Halverson (seated centre) in Wiltshire, England, the unit conducted VIP and general transport operations all over the world, and was the current champion squadron of RAF Transport Command. Under an arrangement with dominion governments, No 24 Squadron included crews from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and often had a dominion officer in command. Hitchins is believed to be the last RAAF officer to have command of an RAF unit. Having previously served with transport units in Japan (during the Korean War) and Malaya, he subsequently commanded No 36 Squadron (a C-130 Hercules transport unit) in 1964–67. He retired in 1978 as an Air Commodore.

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13 December Shortly before noon, a RAAF Lincoln bomber located a car which had gone missing on the Alice Springs–Adelaide road six days earlier. The car was discovered hidden behind trees about 90 metres from the road, near Kulgera on the South Australia–Northern Territory border. After failing to observe any sign of the missing three occupants of the vehicle, the 12 crew summoned land parties to the scene and the missing people––a 45-year-old September station owner’s wife, her 14-year-old daughter and a 21-year-old Adelaide man––were Three squadrons at two separate locations found murdered and concealed under a were presented with the first Squadron tarpaulin and branches a kilometre from their Standards awarded to any RAAF units. At abandoned vehicle. The RAAF had been Tengah, Singapore, No 1 Squadron received involved in the search for four days, when a its Standard from Air Marshal the Earl of Winjeel from Woomera first began sweeps Bandon, the Commander-in-Chief Far East along stretches of the road. A Air Force, RAF. The unit had been stationed from Edinburgh took over the next day, until at Singapore since 1950 to conduct bombing relieved by the Lincoln on 12 December. The operations during the Malayan Emergency. case attracted media attention across Australia Meanwhile back in Australia, at RAAF Base and internationally. Williamtown, Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons were both presented with their Standards by Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams at a parade of No 78 (Fighter) Wing, which formed part of Air Force Week celebrations.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 167 Five Lincoln bombers of No 1 Squadron arrived at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, under 17 command of Wing Commander K.V. Robertson, after an absence from Australia of eight years spent bombing the jungle hideouts of Communist Terrorists in Malaya. The return flight home July entailed a tour of Australian cities, beginning at Darwin and taking in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Launceston, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane, before finally reaching the unit’s home base. On hand to greet the Lincoln crews when they arrived at RAAF Base Laverton, outside Melbourne, on 13 July was Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, first Commanding Officer of 1 Squadron in 1916. During nearly 4000 sorties flown in Malaya, the unit delivered 14 385 tonnes of bombs which was 85 per cent of the total tonnage dropped during the campaign. At Amberley, 1 Squadron began retiring its Lincoln Mk 30s and replacing them with Canberra jet bombers.

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03 September Canberras of No 2 Squadron made the RAAF’s first jet bomber strike on this day, carrying out an Operation Firedog mission against Communist Terrorists in Malaya. A formation of five aircraft––operating in conjunction with RAF Canberras and Venoms––attacked a jungle camp near Ipoh, with each RAAF Canberra dropping six 1000-lb (454-kg) bombs through cloud onto the target. A second attack obliterated an enemy camp near Grik on 30 September, this time in company with RAF and RNZAF Canberras. A third strike on 2 October against another base camp in the Ipoh area again produced such destruction that a ground patrol later reported that it was impossible to even assess whether any casualties had been caused. During 10 individual sorties flown on the morning of 8 December against a camp in a swamp at Sungei Tinggi, 60 bombs were dropped but 13 once more with inconclusive results. December The first C-130A Hercules touched down at Richmond airbase on delivery from the United States, beginning a new era in RAAF airlift which lasted more than half a century. A total of five aircraft arrived under command of Wing Commander Ian Olorenshaw, who captained the first machine to touch down. Although a formal ceremony had been held on 6 November at the Lockheed factory in Marietta, Georgia, at which the aircraft were handed over to Australia’s Ambassador to the US, Howard Beale, a further ceremony was arranged at which the recently retired Vice-President of Lockheed represented the company. In receiving its first Hercules just two years after the US Air Force accepted its first aircraft of this type, the RAAF became the first international operator. In later years, the RAAF also became the only country (apart from the US) which has flown four generations of this one type.

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Uranquinty, 1943

The Air Board announced that No 1 Basic Flying Training School was to move from Uranquinty, 19 New South Wales, to Point Cook, Victoria. Originally established during World War II to meet the needs of the Empire Air Training Scheme, the Uranquinty base had been retained after the war December to provide refresher courses for qualified pilots. After that function was relocated to Point Cook in 1948, the base’s facilities were turned over for use as a migrant centre. In September 1951, however, in line with the Menzies Government’s belief that Australia faced the prospect of being involved in another major war within three years, the Minister for Immigration was informed that the RAAF required Uranquinty once more and arrangements were made to relocate the 900 migrant residents. By 1958, with the RAAF facing a diminishing need for aircrew, the decision was taken to finally close the base.

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13 August The RAAF’s two squadrons of Sabre jet fighters at Butterworth Air Base in Malaya were both used on an Operation Firedog mission on this day. Twelve aircraft, six each from Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons, strafed two jungle camps near Bentong in Northern Pahang after these had first been bombed by RAAF, RAF and RNZAF Canberras. No results were observed from these attacks. Several other missions were flown before a formal end to the Malayan Emergency was declared on 31 July 1960. These were the last operational missions flown by RAAF fighter aircraft for more than 40 years. 17 August Canberras of No 2 Squadron flew the RAAF’s sixth jet bombing mission in Malaya. The target, located on the northern slopes of Bukit Tapah in Perak, was attacked by four aircraft. This was the last offensive No 3 Squadron at Williamtown in late 1958 air support provided by the RAAF in the Malayan Emergency, even though the campaign continued for a further 11 months. 18 The Canberra missions––like those flown by February No 1 Squadron’s Lincolns between 1950 and 1958––had produced few worthwhile results, Operation Sabre Ferry ended with the arrival of the last Sabre jets of No 78 Wing at Butterworth yet were valued for having incalculable effects Air Base, Malaya. In 1958, Australia had pledged to send the two units of No 78 (Fighter) on enemy morale and providing one of the Wing––Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons––to join a new British Commonwealth Strategic Reserve in the few ways of maintaining pressure on the region. Getting the relatively short-ranged Sabres to their new base was a major undertaking. Communist Terrorists in their remote jungle No 3 Squadron set off first along the 9700-kilometre route, with 19 aircraft leaving Williamtown, hideouts. NSW, in groups of three to four on 27 and 29 October 1958. Their movement was supported by other RAAF aircraft (Canberras, Neptunes and Dakotas). From 5 February 1959, the first of 16 aircraft from No 77 Squadron left from Richmond, this time with two of the RAAF’s new C-130 Hercules transports taking the place of the Dakotas. By 18 February, 78 Wing was complete at its new location.

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The two DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by the RAAF Antarctic Flight at Mawson station were 28 wrecked after the steel ropes anchoring them on the ice snapped in gale-force winds. Although both aircraft A95-201 and A95-203 were secured a second time, the ferocity and shifting December direction of the wind eventually caused them to break up, tearing the wing off one and collapsing the undercarriage on the other. The loss of 201 came despite the valiant efforts of the Flight’s commander, Squadron Leader J.C. (‘Jim’) Sandercock, who got into the cockpit and started the engine, then kept the aircraft’s nose pointed into the wind in freezing temperatures for nearly two hours. During this time, the Beaver was actually in flight on the ground, with Sandercock using rudder control and engine revs—often at full power––to keep it stationary until other Flight members again anchored it to the ice.

172 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 19 SIXTIES

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22 July When two Sabre jet fighters of No 77 Squadron collided at 48 600 feet (14 800 metres) over Malaya, nine days before the Malayan ‘Emergency’ was declared at an end, both pilots ejected from their damaged aircraft at 38 000 feet (11 600 metres) and made a safe landing by parachute. The pilot of A94-961 was quickly rescued by a group of villagers, but the pilot of A94-976 (Flight Lieutenant Owen Worth) was less fortunate. He was forced to spend three nights alone in the jungle before a ground party was able to reach him. Contact with the downed aviator was made using the ‘SARAH’ homing system from an RAF Whirlwind helicopter. Although he could not be seen from the air, owing to the dense jungle cover, supplies were dropped to him over a two-day period until he was successfully recovered. The altitude of these ejections is still a record in the RAAF.

Flight Lieutenant Worth after three nights in the jungle

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15 September Twenty-eight RAAF personnel in three Canberra jet bombers from No 2 Squadron and a Hercules transport aircraft from Richmond-based No 36 Squadron departed Amberley, Queensland, on a 30 000-mile trip to attend independence celebrations in Nigeria, Africa. The aircraft flew via the Pacific to the US and across the Atlantic, then continued their return journey via the Indian Ocean. This reversed the first round-the-world course taken by three RAAF Neptunes to attend Ghana’s independence in 1957. In the days before formal independence on Thompson at centre (wearing cap) 1 October, the Canberras took part in exhibition flights over Lagos on 29 and 30 September. In addition to maintenance spares, 19 the Hercules carried official gifts for delivery to Australia’s representative, the President of August the Senate (Sir Alister McMullin), to hand over Sergeant Anthony Thompson, a theatre orderly from No 6 RAAF Hospital at Laverton, departed to the new Nigerian Government. The aircraft Sydney for the Congo, in Central Africa, with a Red Cross team drawn from the Australian armed landed back at Amberley on schedule on forces. Thompson was described as ‘one of the most experienced medical orderlies’ in the Air 9 October. Force, having joined in 1943. The team of four doctors and two orderlies, led by a Navy doctor, was needed because the former Belgian colony had descended into civil war almost immediately upon gaining independence, leaving the population of 14 million without medical help. After a week in Leopoldville, the team was sent by the United Nations to Bakwanga in Kasai Province. In mid-September Thompson moved to Luluabourg, also in Kasai, where he helped run a 600-bed hospital for five months.

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14 October The Air Force flag was lowered for the last time at the RAAF base outside the southern NSW border town of Tocumwal, as it was formally closed by Group Captain George Pither, the Commanding Officer of No 1 Aircraft Depot at Laverton. The 12 men normally stationed there were transferred immediately after the ceremony. About 50 aircraft of various types remained, awaiting disposal by the Department of Supply. When built in 1942, the base (then known as McIntyre Field) was the largest in Australia, covering 20 square kilometres and with 100 kilometres of roads. Originally intended to take heavy bombers of the USAAF, the strategic need for the base had already passed by the time it was completed and it became a Repair and Supply Depot instead. Placed on a care and maintenance basis in 1946, it had operated 17 as Detachment B of No 1 Aircraft Depot since 1950. October The Department of Air began to occupy its permanent offices at the Russell Hill Defence precinct in the national capital, a move expected to take three working days. Building No 1 was the first of four office blocks under construction on the site, and was planned to house the Air Staff and Secretariat of the Department of Air. The rest of the Department would occupy a second building scheduled for completion by May 1961. Over 200 members of staff already working in the Administrative Building in nearby Parkes began the move, along with a further 120 (being the remainder of the Air Staff and Secretariat, together with the Directorate of Works and Buildings) who transferred directly from Melbourne. Until the second building was ready, the Department remained split between Russell and Parkes (where the Air Member for Personnel and his staff were staying), and Victoria Barracks in Melbourne.

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01 December No 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron was formed at Amberley, Queensland, by renaming No 16 Air Observation Post (AOP) Flight which had been in existence since 1958. With the role of providing light aircraft support for the Army, the new squadron initially operated Cessna 180 fixed-wing aircraft from the disbanded AOP Flight (transferred from Canberra) and the first three Bell 47G-2 Sioux helicopters delivered from a total of 11 on order from the US. The squadron was planned to function as an integrated unit, with 72 Army and 65 RAAF personnel. Commanded by Wing Commander K.V. Robertson––the Missing Dakota A65-81 found RAAF’s first helicopter pilot—the new unit’s pilots were all from the Army, while technical and ground maintenance staff came from the 09 Air Force. By April 1966, the squadron had been renamed as 1 Aviation Regiment, and December on 1 July 1968 the The 12-man RAAF Antarctic Flight providing air support to the scientific program conducted Corps was formed. by the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) suffered the loss of both its aircraft in a summer cyclone. When blizzard conditions had been predicted for the afternoon of 8 December, the aircraft were tied down at Rumdoodle airstrip, located on a rock plateau in the Masson Ranges 24 kilometres from the main base at Mawson, to ride out the storm. When personnel checked on the aircraft at 8.40 am next day they found the DHC-2 Beaver on its back against a wind fence with its wings ripped off. Of the Flight’s Dakota there was no sign. This aircraft was eventually located pushed against a heavily-crevassed ice cliff 13 kilometres away. As a result of these losses, the RAAF decided against providing an aerial presence for ANARE’s operations during the 1961 season.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 177 11 January No 30 Squadron was re-formed as the first (and only) RAAF unit to operate the British-built Mk 1 surface-to-air missile (SAM). Acquisition of these weapons was in response to the widespread belief during the 1950s that guided missiles would replace manned fighter aircraft, particularly for point defence of high-value ground targets. The Bloodhound utilised a semi-active pulsed radar system and was suited to static defence against single and multiple targets travelling at altitudes up to 60 000 feet and at a range of up to 45 kilometres. No 30 Squadron was a World War II Beaufighter unit which had previously been re-raised for target towing duty in 1948–56. Stationed at Williamtown, New South Wales, from February 1962, the unit became operational in January 1963. In June 1965 a detachment was sent to Darwin, where it remained until the squadron disbanded in November 1968. 1961

Major Petre at controls of antique Deperdussin trainer 26

January Air Vice-Marshal Frank McNamara VC, 1942 The RAAF base at Point Cook received a nostalgic visit from Major Henry Petre, DSO, MC—the man who selected the area as home of Australia’s first military airfield. He was a solicitor in 02 England when appointed during 1912 to become instructor at Australia’s future flying school. Arriving at the end of January 1913, he inspected various sites before recommending Point Cook November on 13 March. Lieutenant Petre commanded the school when it commenced operations a year Air Vice-Marshal Frank McNamara—the first later, and was promoted honorary Captain shortly before the first pilots graduated in November and only Australian airman of World War I 1914. Petre himself saw war service with the Australian Flying Corps in Iraq in 1915–16, before awarded the Victoria Cross—died in England returning to England and the Royal Flying Corps. Leaving the RAF in September 1919, he where he had been living in retirement. Having resumed legal practice until retiring in 1958. Not long after his return visit to Australia, he died in won his VC in March 1917 for an exceptional London on 24 April 1962. act of bravery performed in Palestine as a 23-year old Australian Flying Corps officer, he was the only Australian who survived to 29 wear the award while serving in the RAAF. A founding member of the RAAF in 1921, January he had become Australian Liaison Officer to the Air Ministry in London in 1937, and after An eight-man team headed by Group Captain Ron Susans left Sydney on a Qantas flight for the RAAF formed an Overseas Headquarters Paris, to establish a project office following the RAAF’s decision to purchase the French-designed there, he became the Air Officer Commanding Mirage III jet fighter. On arrival, the team members were accommodated at the Hotel Palais as an Air Vice-Marshal from early 1942. d’Orsay, close by the Australian Embassy, and proceeded to set up office in what little space was Subsequently he held an RAF command at available in the Chancellery. As this was the first time that the RAAF had chosen to buy military Aden until early 1945. Retired from the RAAF aircraft from , Australia had no military representation on the continent. To facilitate the flow in July 1946, he continued to work in Britain of classified information about the aircraft to the team, Susans was accredited as the first ever until 1959 and never returned to Australia. RAAF Air Attache in Paris.

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No 79 Squadron flew into a base at Ubon, 80 kilometres from the Laotian 01 border, as part of a South-East Asia Treaty Organization plan to defend north-east against an expected communist invasion. The unit had been hastily cobbled together at June Singapore on 28 May, taking F-86F Sabre Mk 32 jet fighters from RAAF units at Butterworth, Malaya. Over the next 10 days, RAAF C-130 Hercules from Richmond, New South Wales, also flew in a base squadron of 200 men and 450 tonnes of supplies and equipment to establish a tented camp. Although the crisis which prompted the deployment was defused by negotiation, 79 Squadron remained at Ubon until August 1968, as part of an integrated air defence system protecting American forces engaged in bombing North Vietnam from communist retaliation.

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On this day, six RAAF pilots graduated from a 06 special course in helicopter instrument flying at 04 the US Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, July Alabama. Australia was then in the processing August of purchasing Bell 204 (Iroquois) turbine- Mr David Eric Fairbairn was appointed Minister engine helicopters to equip a RAAF unit to for Air to administer the RAAF––23 years after specialise in ‘’ work. The his cousin, J.V. Fairbairn, first held this post. RAAF pilots had already completed conversion He was only the second holder of the office training on piston-engine helicopters at to have served in the RAAF since T.W. White Amberley, Queensland, before proceeding to (1949–51). Enlisting at Melbourne in 1941, the US, where they joined pilots from Britain, he had won the Distinguished Flying Iran, Iraq and , who were Cross in 1944 as a Flight Lieutenant similarly receiving training on the Sikorsky H34 with No 4 Squadron, Royal Air Force, over Choctaw (known in the RAAF as the S-58). France, and later served in New Guinea with After this first phase, the Australians—led by No 79 Squadron before being discharged in Squadron Leader R.A. Scott––moved onto January 1945. He remained Minister for Air instrument and night flying, and cross-country until June 1964 when he switched to National navigation, in the Iroquois. Within two years, Development. Other ministerial appointments the RAAF had some of its new helicopters followed before he left Parliament in 1975. flying in support of 28 Commonwealth Infantry Knighted in 1977, he was Australia’s Brigade Group on operations in Malaysia. Ambassador to the Netherlands 1977–80.

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08 December A RAAF C-130A of No 36 Squadron joined an airlift to deploy British troops and equipment from Singapore to British territories on the island of Borneo to contain an Indonesian- supported rebellion. This was the start of ‘Confrontation’—the four-year period of tension between Indonesia and the Federation of Malaysia which was formed in 1963. For the next 15 days, the RAAF C-130A (flown by three crews on rotation) joined RNZAF and RAF aircraft transporting British troops into to support local police and prevent the rebellion from spreading. The Borneo airfields used were primitive and could come under attack at any time. This airlift was the first occasion that RAAF C-130s were used to deploy ground forces directly into a combat zone, and flights supporting Borneo operations would continue for the next five years. The newly-established ‘Red Sales’ aerobatic 15 team from the , East Sale, crashed while rehearsing for a August performance at the base’s Air Force Week display the following month. Four Vampire T.35 jet trainers, two carrying passengers, took off from East Sale at 1.44 pm. Disaster struck about 20 minutes later, during recovery from a formation barrel roll at low level. All four aircraft ploughed into a timbered rise some 12 kilometres south-west of the base and exploded on impact, killing instantly the six men on board. Debris was scattered over a wide area, and the wreckage cut telephone and power lines in the area.

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31 May ‘Detachment B’ of No 2 Aircraft Depot at MiG-19 at an Indonesian air base RAAF Base Richmond, NSW—known as the Marine Section at Neutral Bay, Sydney––was closed down and disbanded. For the 10 years of its existence, the Section had performed 17 tasks such as search and rescue, torpedo and July sonobuoy recovery, radar tests, towing, and survival exercises for civil and RAAF aircrews. Pilots of RAAF Sabre jet fighters on air defence duty made two separate sightings of unidentified But with the search and rescue function aircraft near the Malayan coast, 100 kilometres south of Penang, during the period of Indonesian taken over by UH-1B Iroquois helicopters, ‘Confrontation’ with the newly formed Federation of Malaysia. The aircraft were believed to be the Section’s boatshed, slipways, crash Indonesian MiG-19s, and one was pursued across the Strait of Malacca towards the Indonesian boats and associated equipment were no town of Medan, in Sumatra. Rules of engagement at this stage did not allow intruders to be fired longer needed. The main building, formerly on without orders; however, this changed after further Indonesian aggression and, by October known as ‘Halvorsen’s Boat Shed’, and two 1964, British and Australian pilots were instructed to ‘engage and destroy’ any Indonesian aircraft adjoining historic properties (‘Craignathan’ found definitely operating within the air space of Malaysia or Singapore. By then, consideration and ‘The Hastings’) that had been taken was also being given to retaliating with heavy air attacks against Indonesia’s jet-operable air over in September 1953 for offices and bases, but this plan (codenamed Althorpe) was never implemented. accommodation, were handed over to the Department of Excise and Customs. Two 63-feet yellow and black air-sea rescue launches (02-104 and 02-108) were left on slips on the site pending sale by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 183 1964

Caribou flight line at Richmond

Three DHC-4 Caribou Mk 1 light transports arrived at RAAF Base Richmond on delivery from 22 the De Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada factory at Downsview in Toronto, Ontario. The Australian Government had placed an order for 18 of these aircraft in May 1963, the intention April being to completely re-equip No 38 Squadron (then operating C-47/DC-3 Dakotas) by December 1964. A second consignment of three Caribous was similarly received in June, following a route across the Atlantic to Europe and through the Red Sea, but then the third and fourth batches were diverted to Vietnam instead. In September, seven more Caribous were ordered––six to enable the re-equipment program to continue, plus another to replace one wrecked in a landing accident in July. Eventually a total of 29 airframes of this type joined the RAAF.

184 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1964

Four UH-1B Iroquois helicopters belonging to the newly-formed No 5 Squadron were flown on 21 board the former aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney (converted for duty as a fast troop transport) at Garden Island, Sydney, for shipment to Malaysia. The previous month the Australian Government May had announced additional military assistance to the newly-formed Federation of Malaysia which included the dispatch of 5 Squadron to strengthen Army operations against Communist Terrorists. Arriving at Penang in mid-June, the Iroquois were flown ashore to the RAAF base at Butterworth where the unit shared quarters with No 110 Squadron, RAF, equipped with Westland Whirlwind helicopters. After initially flying short-range transport missions into central Malaysia, by September the RAAF helicopters were operating along the northern border with Thailand. In May 1966, 5 Squadron returned to Australia to allow the RAAF to concentrate its helicopter lift effort in South Vietnam.

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1964

08 August Three DHC-4 Caribou Mk 1 transports arrived at Vung Tau, a coastal city 60 kilometres south-east of the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, marking the start of a RAAF presence during the which would last until February 1972. The aircraft were on their delivery flight from Canada when they were diverted at Butterworth, Malaysia, to equip RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV)—a new unit brought into existence at Butterworth on 20 July. After taking over from the delivery crews, members of the RTFV flew the Caribous to Vietnam. Two days later the aircraft were flown from Vung Tau to Saigon’s airport at Tan Son Nhut, for an official welcome ceremony, and four days after that the crews began their first operational missions. A second batch of three aircraft and the additional crews and ground staff to operate them reached Vung Tau by the end of the month. On 1 June 1966, the RTFV was renamed 35 Squadron.

Official welcome at Saigon, 10 August 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 187 1964

06 November An Amendment to the Air Force Act came into force that established an Air Force Emergency Force in an attempt to develop greater flexibility in the RAAF’s reserve capability. Whereas members of the Citizen Air Force were considered to be under training, recruits into the AFEF were drawn mainly from suitably qualified and ‘productive’ ex-Permanent Air Force personnel and specialists. These could notionally be called-out at the Government’s discretion in situations short of a declared emergency, to backfill deployed PAF members and later provide reinforcements to operational units. Enlistment in the all-volunteer AFEF was for four years and members had to complete 14 days continuous training annually. Despite the financial inducement of a tax-free No 114 MCRU at Butterworth annual gratuity, the scheme never proved All leave in No 114 Mobile Control and hugely popular. Against an establishment 03 Reporting Unit (114MCRU) at RAAF Base of 259 officers and 1079 airmen, the AFEF Butterworth was cancelled, and the unit began in 1970 had only 668 airmen on its books. September a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week operation. As a result, the Air Board decided to cease The previous day, about 100 Indonesian recruiting in 1973. paratroops had been airdropped into northern Johore, signalling a disturbing escalation in Indonesia’s policy of confrontation with the newly-created Federation of Malaysia. As a precaution against possible air raids, the operations room and the unit’s power station were sandbagged. Small arms and ammunition were also issued to technical and operations personnel, as a self-defence measure against possible attacks by saboteurs, and armed guards and area patrols were instigated. A month later, a detachment of 114MCRU was dispatched to Kampong Changkat, south of Butterworth, to operate an Army Mk 7 light anti-aircraft ‘gap filler’ radar, but by the following month the alarm created by the Indonesian landings had largely dissipated.

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25 March Air Marshal Sir became the first Australian airman apppointed to Air Chief Marshal as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). He was also the first Chairman and the first graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, to reach four-star level. He had then held the COSC job for nearly four years, since relinquishing the RAAF’s top post of Chief of the Air Staff in May 1961. Originally appointed for two years, after less than a year in the job the Government extended his term to four years, then extended him again in September 1964 through to May 1966. Special amendments to Air Force Regulations were required to allow Scherger’s promotion, on his existing pay and allowances. His advancement in rank nonetheless helped to cement the authority and prestige of the Chairman’s role, and the practice was continued for his successors.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 189 1965

26 October A detachment of six Sabres from No 77 Squadron (based in Malaya) arrived at Labuan, in northern Borneo, to take over air defence duties from No 20 Squadron, RAF, during the period of Indonesian confrontation against the new Federation of Malaysia. As well as maintaining aircraft on alert to respond to any intrusions of Malaysian airspace, the Sabres carried out combat patrols near the border with Kalimantan where aircraft were known to be strafing villages on the Malaysian side. Pilots were authorised to carry out direct armed action with enemy aircraft, though no raiders were actually encountered. Scrambles were ordered on several occasions, but these were often too late and no interceptions were achieved. The 77 Squadron detachment was relieved on 27 November by No 3 Squadron, which continued the mission until late December.

190 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1965

04 December Viet Cong commandos detonated an explosive-laden truck outside the Metropole Hotel in Saigon, South Vietnam, blowing the façade off several floors of the eight-storey building and leaving a four-metre wide crater in the pavement. Normally, the hotel accommodated around 160 American enlisted men and personnel of allied armed forces, including some New Zealanders and one member of the RAAF, Flight Sergeant Raymond Beagle. An equipment assistant assigned to attend to Australian air movements between Bien Hoa and Saigon, Beagle was attached for administration to the RAAF Transport Flight based at Vung Tau—an arrangement which required him to visit that unit periodically. The attack happened to coincide with one such visit, and meant that he only lost some of his personal and Service possessions, instead of being among the eight people killed or 137 injured; four New Zealanders were among the casualties.

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12 March During the night, about 60 mortar rounds were fired on the US airfield at Vung Tau, South Vietnam, from the direction of mud islands situated in the river estuary to the north-east. Two rounds impacted in the standing area RAAF members of 161 Flight in 1966-67 used by the RAAF Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV), while another two landed close by. The Flight’s hangar had a hole torn in its roof from 13 one explosion, and two of the unit’s DHC-4 Caribou Mk 1 transports inside the building May were peppered by shrapnel fragments––one When 161 Reconnaissance Flight (an being holed in 18 places, the other in three. Australian Army aviation unit) departed Bien Despite having a third of its aircraft temporarily Hoa, 30 kilometres north-east of the Republic out of commission, the Flight carried on with of Vietnam capital, Saigon, for the coastal its operational schedule without disruption. town of Vung Tau, about one-quarter of the 50 After the airstrip and hangars were cleared of personnel involved in the move were members debris in the early hours following the attack, a of the RAAF. Twelve were technicians who had RAAF Caribou took off at first light. been serving with the unit since its arrival in Damage to hangar roof at Vung Tau September 1965, and there was one officer, Flight Lieutenant Don Tidd, who had arrived in late April. For the previous seven months, 161 Flight had supported the Australian battalion which operated from Bien Hoa. With the imminent arrival of an Australian Task Force in June, however, the Flight was required to transfer its operations to Phuoc Tuy province. The move was accomplished in an Army landing assault craft down the Saigon River, with the unit reaching its destination three days later. Although 161 Flight expanded in both numbers of aircraft and Army personnel, it retained a RAAF presence until November 1968.

192 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1966

BSF cooks at Vung Tau, 1966 12 June At 9 pm, the main party of Base Support Flight departed from Sydney on a civil charter flight and proceeded to Saigon via Manila, to provide the domestic services (barracks, catering, motor transport, etc) and personnel administrative functions required by the Officer Comanding D Company 6 Royal Australian Regiment thanks Flight Lieutenant Dohle (right) after Long Tan growing RAAF contingent in South Vietnam. Until this point, the RAAF presence at Vung Tau had comprised a single flight of Caribou 18 transports (a unit renamed as No 35 Squadron that month), but the arrival of a second flying August squadron––No 9 Squadron operating Iroquois Late in the afternoon, a company of Australian infantry found itself heavily engaged in the Long helicopters—meant that the level of support Tan rubber plantation four kilometres from the Australian base at Nui Dat, South Vietnam. The provided needed to be upgraded. The strength 108 Australians quickly faced being overwhelmed by the vastly superior numbers of the enemy of the BSF stood at 82 officers and men by the force. When the beleaguered company found itself running critically short of ammunition, end of June, and at the end of September had the RAAF’s No 9 Squadron was tasked with resupplying them. Two UH-1B Iroquois helicopters, grown to 103. By August 1968 it had grown captained by Flight Lieutenants Frank Riley and Cliff Dohle, took off in torrential rain and failing to 169, leading to it being renamed as No 1 light and flew to the location at treetop height. Arriving overhead about 6 pm, the aircraft hovered Operational Support Unit the following month. at 30 feet while the crews dropped boxes of ammunition wrapped in blankets through the trees directly into the company positions below. After the enemy withdrew about an hour later, the squadron’s helicopters returned to assist with evacuating the wounded to hospital.

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09 February When 11 members of the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force flew out of RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales, to take part in Exercise Southern Cross in the North Island of New Zealand, they became the first Air Force females (other than nurses) to serve outside Australia. Fourteen RAAF aircraft (eight Canberras, three Hercules and three Caribous) joined 44 from the RNZAF in the exercise, which was the first ever held in New Zealand by the two Air Forces and involved offensive and defensive operations against airfields, bridges and railways. A total of 160 RAAF personnel took part, before the exercise ended on 21 February. The women were C-130E at Vung Tau loading for medevac flight, 1967 led by Squadron Officer J.A. Dines and filled A new ‘E’ model Hercules transport from important positions at Ohakea air base, which No 37 Squadron took off from Vung Tau, was the air operations centre for the exercise. 27 South Vietnam, to carry out the first medical February evacuation flight direct to Australia. The older ‘A’ model Hercules of No 36 Squadron had 17 previously performed this work as part of normal courier flights, usually routed through February the RAAF base at Butterworth, Malaysia, A South Vietnamese Army outpost near the fishing village of Lang Phuoc Hai came under attack where patients were stabilised at No 4 RAAF and called for assistance from the Australian Task Force at nearby Nui Dat. A full battalion Hospital before onward movement. These (6 RAR) was sent in response, the first companies of which were inserted by American Army and aircraft had, however, proved to be less than RAAF Iroquois helicopters; a fourth rifle company travelled across country in armoured personnel ideal as air ambulances, leading to efforts carriers. Although the landing zone had not been secured, seven aircraft from No 9 Squadron to improve the comfort of patients. For this and eight from the US Army were used to fly in three companies for what was called Operation first flight, the crew led by Squadron Leader Bribie. The enemy force unexpectedly stood its ground during what became a major action that R.E. Bateson carried 51 cases over the did not favour the Australian Army, resulting in 35 casualties (including eight killed) before fighting 7165-kilometre distance from Vung Tau ended next day. Throughout the battle, RAAF helicopters flew in food, water and ammunition, to Richmond, non-stop, in 14 hours and and evacuated the dead and injured. 10 minutes. The normal crew was increased to nine, and the aircraft carried four medical officers, five nursing sisters and four medical orderlies to provide inflight care.

194 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1967

03 October When an American gunship helicopter crashed into dense jungle inside enemy-held territory eight kilometres from the Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat, Corporal John Coughlan, a crewman with No 9 Squadron in Vietnam, volunteered to be winched down to provide assistance to the badly injured crew. The downed aircraft was burning fiercely, its ammunition and rockets exploding dangerously, and he was frequently forced to take cover from shrapnel. Three months later he performed a similar feat in aid of another downed US helicopter. On 17 June 1968 Coughlan was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, the highest flying award for non-commissioned ranks (other than the Victoria Cross). He was the first RAAF member awarded the CGM since World War II, and only the tenth to receive the medal since it was instituted in 1943.

Painting by Rex Bramleigh (1973)

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 195

1968

12 April A new P-3B Orion (A9-296), awaiting delivery to the RAAF following acceptance from the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation factory at Burbank, , was destroyed by fire after the undercarriage failed on landing at Moffett Naval Air Station. The aircraft was one of the first three of this type due to reach Australia on 29 April, but the arrival date was deferred until 13 May while the cause of the crash was investigated. Australia’s order was initially for ten Orions to equip No 11 Squadron (relocated from Richmond, New South Wales, to Edinburgh, South Australia) for maritime patrol duties. The serial numbers for these aircraft ranged from A9-291 to A9-300, but an additional Orion (A9-605) was purchased to replace the lost aircraft. A second order for 10 P-3Cs re-equipped No 10 Squadron (moved from Townsville, Queensland, to Edinburgh) in 1978.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 197 1968

Telstars in box formation

The ‘Telstars’ gave their final public performance of formation flying over Yallourn, Victoria, after 18 five years as an official RAAF aerobatic team. Established six months after disaster overtook the first team formed at the Central Flying School in 1962, the elstarsT began using Vampire May Mk 35A jet trainers. Over the period December 1967 to January 1968, the team converted their sequences onto the Aermacchi MB-326H with which the School was then re-equipping. Slippages in deliveries of Macchi aircraft meant, however, that flying hours for purposes other than new pilot training had to be restricted, and approval for display flying by special aerobatic teams was withdrawn by the Chief of the Air Staff on 19 April 1968. The Telstars were formally suspended on 23 April. Their final display went ahead under provisions that allowed continuation training within allotted flying hours, but was not publicised as an official exhibition.

198 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1969

13 February Mr Dudley Erwin (Liberal Member for Ballarat, Victoria) became the third Minister for Air who had wartime experience with the RAAF. After enlisting in January 1940, he served as a navigator in the South-West Pacific theatre. While a member of No 31 Squadron, he took part in the highly successful Beaufighter raid on the Japanese base at Taberfane, in the Aru group, north of Darwin, on 12 June 1943 which resulted in the destruction of seven enemy float planes and damage to another two. He was discharged in October 1945 in the rank of Flight Lieutenant. In addition to his ministerial responsibilities, Erwin was Leader of the Government in the House of Representatives. He remained Minister for Air for only nine months, before being succeeded by Senator Thomas Drake-Brockman, who was also ex-RAAF. Erwin retired at the 1975 election and died in 1984.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 199 1969

Ten CAC Sabre Mk 32s which had formerly 01 been in service with RAAF squadrons were 12 officially handed over to the Royal Malaysian October Air Force, along with spare parts, ground November equipment, and a simulator for training, as Senator Thomas Drake-Brockman became a gift worth some $10 million. This followed Minister for Air in the Federal Coalition an announcement made in April by Prime Government formed on this day. A Country Minister John Gorton, as part of Australia’s Party Senator from Western Australia since commitment to provide military assistance to 1958, he was appointed after Prime Minister its allies in South-East Asia. A Sabre Advisory John Gorton (himself a member of the Senate Flight comprising 90 RAAF personnel had 1950–68) was returned at general elections been formed that same month to conduct in October. Like Gorton, and also the Leader training of Malaysians at the Butterworth of the Opposition (), Drake- base. Among the aircraft delivered were two Brockman had served with the RAAF during non-flying airframes for use as training aids. World War II. As a rear gunner in Wellington An additional six aircraft were provided as a and Halifax bombers, he flew 63 missions over further gift to the RMAF in December 1971, Europe, including numerous sorties against before the RAAF disbanded its Advisory Flight major targets in Germany. He was a Flying in March 1972. Officer in No 460 Squadron when awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in September 1944, and was a Flight Lieutenant when discharged in December 1945. Serving as Minister for Air until the Liberal-Country Party Government lost office in December 1972, he remained in the Senate until 1978 and was knighted the following year.

200 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 19 SEVENTIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 201 1970

Remains of Langton’s Bronco 08 February Flight Lieutenant Chris Langton was shot down in Vietnam near the Cambodian border while serving as a Forward Air Controller with the US Air Force. After a long-range reconnaissance patrol found itself in need of immediate extraction, Langton took off from Dau Tieng in an OV-10 Bronco accompanied by an Army colleague as observer. While directing artillery cover for the patrol and also coordinating lift helicopters and strike aircraft to make the extraction, he felt the Bronco’s controls suddenly freeze forcing both him and his passenger to eject. An LOH6 helicopter arrived to lift Langton out of his predicament but it also was shot down. Another helicopter reached the scene and winched up Langton and the crew of the downed machine before taking them to safety. He thus survived being the first and only Australian FAC to lose his aircraft on operations in Vietnam.

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Corporal Power on patrol 11 29 February March At about 2:30am, an eight-man section of Caribou A4-193 from No 35 Squadron became the first and only RAAF aircraft of this type lost RAAF on listening as a direct result of enemy action. The transport had landed at 9 am with the first of five loads patrol outside the US airbase at Phan Rang, of drums of helicopter fuel at That Son, a South Vietnamese Army training base close to the South Vietnam, fought an enemy party of Cambodian border south-west of Saigon, when it came under accurate mortar fire from nearby unknown size. In two earlier incidents that hills. The aircraft suffered a direct hit on the starboard wing from the second of nine rounds which night, pairs of enemy were repelled as they crashed around it as the crew evacuated and sought cover. None of the crew members were attempted to penetrate the base’s perimeter. hurt, and during a lull in the attack they were flown out to another base. The aircraft left behind As a result, Corporal Noel Power shifted his sustained further mortar hits when the base came under renewed attack early the next morning; section’s position to cover two canal crossings the Caribou was set on fire and completely destroyed. most likely to be used by withdrawing intruders. Moments later the patrol exchanged fire with an unseen enemy in an action lasting five minutes. After contact was broken, Power conducted several sweeps of the area without locating anything. During a further search at dawn, however, his men found a wounded enemy from whom it was learnt that a raid by North Vietnamese sappers had been foiled. Power received the first awarded to a RAAF member since World War II.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 203 1970

01 April No 4 Forward Air Control Flight was formed as an independent unit at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, to train RAAF, RAN and Army pilots in all facets of Forward Air Control (FAC) work. The unit commenced with four CAC Winjeel aircraft fitted with radios compatible with Army tactical networks, smoke grenade dispensers for target marking, and an establishment of just two personnel. It flew its first mission in conjunction with the Army at Singleton, New South Wales, on 6 April, using aircraft A85-413. The Australian- designed and built Winjeel had been the RAAF’s basic trainer since 1955. Although it had been planned to retire the type from 1968, it was still considered suitable for FAC work until replaced by the Pilatus PC-9 in 1994. While the Flight was disbanded in January 1989, the FAC function became the role of No 4 Squadron formed in 2009.

204 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1970

The first five of 24 F-4E aircraft, 14 obtained under a lease arrangement with 03 the US, arrived at RAAF Base Amberley, September Queensland, to provide Australia with an November interim strike capability pending delivery of Shortly after completing a night mission in F-111s that were on order but had been Vietnam, Canberra bomber A84-231 from subjected to various delays. RAAF personnel No 2 Squadron went missing with its two- attended intensive training on the aircraft with man crew, Flying Officer Michael Herbert and the USAF prior to the first Phantom deliveries, Pilot Officer Robert Carver. The aircraft had and the remaining aircraft were due to arrive flown from Phan Rang, on the central coast over the next few weeks. Although not as of South Vietnam, to an area 65 kilometres advanced as the F-111, the supersonic F-4E south-west of Da Nang where it was to bomb provided a substantial leap in technology under radar direction. Minutes after releasing and capability compared to the superseded its ordnance load and changing course to Canberra, and provided the RAAF with return south, the Canberra disappeared off experience on the systems and maintenance tracking radar screens. There was no distress of a modern strike aircraft. In June 1973 the call, and an extensive search failed to locate first F-111Cs arrived at Amberley and the last any wreckage from the aircraft. An inquiry held of the Phantoms were returned to the US soon into A84-241’s loss could not ascribe a cause after––less one aircraft lost with its crew off but concluded that ‘the possibility of enemy Evans Head, NSW, in 1971. initiated action’ could not be ignored. The mystery surrounding the fate of the aircraft and crew remained unresolved until 2009.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 205 1971

Air Vice-Marshal Susans receiving Singapore flag for Headquarters IADS

The Headquarters of the Integrated Air Defence System (IADS) was formed at Butterworth, 11 Malaysia, to provide for the air defence of Singapore and Malaysia as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) agreed at ministerial talks in London. The new organisation February replaced the air defence set-up under Britain’s Far East Command and which controlled the Far East Air Force. Headquarters IADS assumed this responsibility when it was declared operational on 1 September 1971, although FPDA did not enter into force until 1 November. Under the terms of the agreement covering IADS, Australia was to provide the commander and Malaysia the deputy, while the remaining staff were drawn from the UK, New Zealand and Singapore. The first commander appointed was Air Vice-Marshal Ron Susans, RAAF, who remained in the post until 1974.

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17 April An Iroquois helicopter of No 9 Squadron was called to the Long Hai mountains in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, to evacuate a government soldier who had been grievously wounded in a mine ambush. As the aircraft hovered to winch the injured man from the boulder-strewn hillside, an enemy machine gun opened fire and shot the helicopter down. The aircraft fell to the ground, killing several men it landed on, then rolled on its side and burst into flames. The aircraft’s five occupants were also immediately in peril. Despite the Downing visited by Defence Minister Gorton in hospital at Vung Tau efforts of Corporal Bob Stephens to free the Army medical orderly carried on board, this man remained trapped by the legs and 14 perished in the flames. Stephens continued to March give assistance to fellow survivors while further help was dispatched to the scene. The award At about 2.45 pm, Canberra bomber A84-228 belonging to the RAAF’s No 2 Squadron was of the British Empire Medal for Gallantry to preparing to bomb a target 80 kilometres west of Hue, South Vietnam, when it was struck by Stephens, announced in December, was the two surface-to-air missiles (SAMs). Although the aircraft, crewed by Wing Commander John only one made to an Australian in Vietnam. Downing (the unit’s Commanding Officer) and Flight Lieutenant Alan Pinches, was at 14 000 feet, it was also more than 600 kilometres from its home base at Phan Rang. Realising that the bomber had suffered critical damage and was at risk of breaking up, the two men were forced to eject. Both landed by parachute on a steep mountain ridge, from where they were rescued by an American helicopter late the next day. While both required hospitalisation for injuries sustained in the ejection or parachute landing, they had survived the only time that a RAAF aircraft has been confirmed as shot down by a SAM.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 207 1971

31 May No 2 Squadron flew its final bombing missions of the Vietnam War before withdrawing from its base at Phan Rang, in Ninh Thuan Province. The unit’s B20 Canberra twin-engine jet bombers were called on to provide nine sorties over the north of South Vietnam, with the last of these taking off at 2.10 pm to fly in support of American ground forces in the A Shau Valley. The last bomb was released at 3.18 pm. During nearly four years of operations, No 2 Squadron had dropped 76 389 bombs totalling 27 158 tonnes. The squadron’s aircraft left Vietnam to return to Australia on 4 June, and personnel and equipment progressively departed until mid-July. It was to be another 32 years (until 2003) before the RAAF again dropped a bomb in anger.

Crew embarking on last mission

208 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1972

Air Marshal Hannah sworn in by the Chief Justice of Queensland

Air Marshal Sir was sworn as , becoming the first RAAF 21 member appointed to such a position. He had completed only two years of an expected three- year term as Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) when it was announced in January 1972 that he would March take up the post. Despite several times becoming embroiled in controversy, he served until March 1977. Created KBE in 1971, while still CAS, he was also appointed KCMG in 1972 and KCVO in August 1977. He died in May 1978 at Surfers Paradise, Queensland.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 209 1972

Wreckage of A4-233 located in jungle Survey camp on Palembang airfield, Sumatra, 1972 28 Two RAAF Iroquois helicopters from 11 No 5 Squadron were delivered by C-130 August Hercules to Palembang airfield, on the main The crash of a DHC-4 Caribou in Papua New Indonesian island of Sumatra, to take part in May Guinea was probably the most tragic accident Operation Gading 2—the second such project in RAAF history. Aircraft A4-233, one of a intended to assist Indonesia with mapping pair of Caribous detached semi-permanently about 30 000 square miles of its territory. from No 38 Squadron, was returning PNG Also involved were three aircraft and a large school cadets from their annual training camp contingent of Australian Army personnel when it went missing on a flight from Lae (surveyors as well as aviators), an Australian to Port Moresby. Despite a large-scale air chartered Queen Air aircraft search, it was not until three days later that carrying distance measuring equipment, and a four schoolboy survivors were located, having Caribou transport from No 38 Squadron to fly attempted to walk out for assistance. They twice-weekly supply runs to Singapore. During were able to direct rescuers to the crash site at the four months that the project lasted, the 13 Kudjeru Gap, near Wau, and a fifth schoolboy members of the RAAF helicopter detachment was winched out of the thick jungle, only to were changed over at four-week intervals, die later. The Caribou’s crew of three, plus while the eight members in the Caribou a ground liaison officer from the Army, and element changed over once, in June. The Air 21 school cadets had all been killed in the Force presence continued during three Gading disaster. operations which followed, with Canberra bombers also undertaking photographic survey work in 1974.

210 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1972

The Sabre Advisory Unit which the RAAF had formed on 6 October 1972 at Williamtown, NSW, 16 deployed to Iswahyudi Air Base in Java, Indonesia, to facilitate the supply of 18 Mk 32 Sabre jet fighters to the Indonesian Air Force, the TNI-AU. The Sabres had been retired from Australian October service after the RAAF re-equipped with the French-designed Mirage III-O and, following the easing of tensions between Australia and Indonesia during the period of ‘Confrontation’ over Malaysia, the decision was made to provide the aircraft to Indonesia as a gift. The Advisory Unit’s role was to oversee the transfer, and assist with training after the aircraft were officially handed over on 9 April 1973. It actually remained at Iswahyudi until 14 February 1975, when it disbanded. In July 1976 the TNI-AU received another five ex-RAAF Sabres from Malaysia to make good attrition losses.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 211 A bare-base airfield named in honour of World War II RAAF notable Wing Commander Charles 15 Learmonth was officially opened on , Western Australia. Plans to expand a wartime strip in the area had been around for more than 20 years, after the purchase of land was December finalised in 1950. A Cabinet decision to further develop the airfield for use in a possible conflict with Indonesia was taken in April 1964. Although deferred due to improvements in international relations and delays in delivery of the RAAF’s new F-111 bombers, No 5 Airfield Construction Squadron began work in 1971. Plans for extending the runway from 2140 to 2600 metres (later increased to 3000 metres) were implemented, and taxiways, hardstandings and buildings and services were all upgraded. The opening was performed by Air Commodore (later Air Vice- Marshal) Fred Robey, who had flown with Learmonth in 1940.

212 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History Two Hercules transport aircraft brought back to RAAF Base Richmond the last 35 members 20 of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam and the headquarters of the Australian Army Assistance Group Vietnam, who were the last Australian personnel actively involved in the December Vietnam War. These men had boarded the Hercules at Tan Son Nhut Airport, Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), two days earlier. Their return followed the election of the Whitlam Labor Government on 2 December, which had campaigned strongly on ending Australia’s participation in the war, although by then all combat ground and air units had already been withdrawn anyway. One further Hercules flight left Tan Son Nhut on 1 March 1972 carrying the administrative rear parties of the Army and the RAAF, although Hercules also flew in Vietnam during the last days before the southern republic was overrun by communist forces in 1975.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 213 1973

01 June The first six F-111Cs arrived at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, nearly 10 years after 24 of these aircraft were ordered by the Australian Government to replace the RAAF’s ageing Canberra bombers. When the decision was made in October 1963 to buy the type, with its controversial swing-wing design, deliveries were expected to start by the second half of 1967. The aircraft in the RAAF order were not manufactured until 1968, however, and after structural problems were experienced with the wing carry through box and other components, they were placed in storage. For a time, consideration was even given to cancelling the project. Eventually, the completion of modifications and testing allowed deliveries to proceed, and by the end of 1973 all 24 aircraft had been received. The RAAF then possessed what has been widely regarded as one of the world’s outstanding strike aircraft.

15 March The RAAF Memorial constructed on Anzac Parade in Canberra was unveiled by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The Prince wore the uniform appropriate to his position as Marshal of the RAAF as he delivered an address to 900 official guests, paying tribute to Air Force’s 50 year history since its formation in 1921. The memorial’s central sculpture, consisting of stainless steel vertical wing shapes symbolic of flight, was the work of Mrs Inge King who won a design competition in 1970. Following dedication by chaplains, a by Mirage fighters of No 77 Squadron completed the ceremony.

214 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1973

20 October The RAAF showed off its newly-arrived F-111 aircraft for the first time during the formal opening of the Sydney Opera House by Queen Elizabeth II in front of a large crowd. Begun in 1959, construction of what would become one of the most famous performing arts centres in the world was planned to last four years, but ended up taking ten years longer than anticipated and its final cost was more that 14 times the original estimate. Cost blow-outs and delivery delays had also plagued the F 111, to such an extent that parts of the local media had taken to referring to it as the ‘Flying Opera House’. During the Royal Salute at the opening ceremony, Group Captain Jake Newham (later Chief of the Air Staff) led a nine- ship formation—the sum total of F-111 aircraft that had so far arrived in Australia—in a flypast overhead.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 215 01 November A C-130E Hercules transport from No 37 Squadron became the first RAAF aircraft to land at Beijing International Airport after it arrived carrying a Murray Grey stud bull as a gift from Australia to the People’s Republic of China. The flight was occasioned by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s five-day visit to China—the first by an Australian Prime Minister––which began on 31 October. The Hercules (A97-167), piloted by the Commanding Officer of 37 Squadron, flew from Laverton via Darwin, Hong Kong and Canton (Guangzhou), carrying the 1250-pound (567 kg) bull named ‘Saber Bogong’ in a specially-constructed pen. The aircraft also carried animal feed and a special handler to look after the prized cargo during the flight. After being met at the airport by Australia’s newly-appointed Ambassador, Dr Stephen Fitzgerald, and officials of the Chinese Department of Agriculture, the crew was shown historic sights during a brief stopover.

216 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1974

25 December After Australia’s northern gateway of Darwin was devastated by on Christmas Eve of 1974, the RAAF led the effort to go to the city’s relief. Although the RAAF Base had not been spared in the destruction, as soon as the storm abated its personnel immediately set to work clearing debris from runways to allow limited operations to be restored. The first aircraft to use the airfield was a RAAF Dakota which had been flown south the previous day to escape the cyclone. Meanwhile, a C-130 Hercules configured for medical evacuation had been dispatched Wrecked Officers Mess at RAAF Base Darwin from Richmond, NSW, during the mid-afternoon. After diverting to Mount Isa, Queensland, to collect an official party that had got that far by RAAF BAC-111, the flight reached Darwin at 10 pm and landed on the runway marked only by flares ‘under extremely marginal conditions using the aircraft’s radar’.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 217

1975

04 March A single DHC-4 Caribou (A4-199) from No 38 Squadron departed Richmond, NSW, bound for Rawalpindi in Pakistan, following an announcement by the Australian Government the previous month that it had agreed to take over the role of providing air support to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). After flying its first sortie on 1 April, the aircraft’s role was to resupply observation posts and changeover UN personnel along the ceasefire line separating Indian and Pakistani forces in Kashmir. The 12-man crew’s base alternated between Rawalpindi and Srinagar (on the Indian side of the line), with six months spent in each location. The Caribou was rotated every four months to enable servicing back in Australia, so that eventually three different aircraft had each served three tours before the commitment ended in late 1978. The last personnel and aircraft returned to Richmond in January 1979.

First crew with UNMOGIP First crew 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 219 1975

04 April In April 1975, as the Government of South Vietnam was beginning to collapse before a concerted Communist offensive, RAAF Hercules transports engaged in humanitarian

Refugees fleeing Phan Rang on board a RAAF Hercules, April 1975 work in the country were instructed to join an American operation dubbed Babylift to A C-130 (A97-160) took off from RAAF Base ferry out Vietnamese orphans who had been 30 Butterworth, Malaysia, bound for Saigon approved for adoption overseas. Two Hercules (the then capital of the Republic of Vietnam), (A97-160 and 190) flew into Saigon’s Tan Son March to join an international relief effort for tens Nhut airport from Butterworth, Malaysia, to of thousands of civilian refugees displaced begin the evacuation. Undeterred by a tragedy during a major Communist military offensive involving a USAF C-5A Galaxy which crashed which would ultimately collapse the southern near the airport while engaged on the same regime. In response to this humanitarian crisis, task, the two RAAF aircraft delivered 194 Australia formed Detachment ‘S’––an ad hoc children to Bangkok, Thailand, where they transport force of C-130s from Richmond, were transferred to a Qantas airliner which NSW, and two Dakotas from Butterworth––to the Government had chartered to carry the assist with the distribution of Red Cross orphans on to Sydney. A second such mission supplies and other non-military tasks. Within by two Hercules (A97-178 and 190) on two weeks, the detachment had grown to total 17 April brought out another 77 children, eight C-130s, which used Saigon’s Tan Son one of whom died on board during the flight. Nhut Airport as their base. When the general security situation in Saigon deteriorated in mid-April, the detachment was forced to shift its base to Don Muang Airport at Bangkok, Thailand, and operate daily into Saigon for the last week of operations.

220 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1975

25 April Three Hercules transports that were previously used to fly humanitarian relief missions around South Vietnam, to ameliorate the sufferings of the civilian population in the face of a massive Communist offensive, were used to evacuate Australia’s Ambassador and Embassy staff from Saigon. Flying in from their temporary base at Bangkok, the first Hercules departed carrying Vietnamese nationals (including orphans and nuns) approved for evacuation, while the second took off at 7 pm with the Ambassador and the last 10 members of his staff, along with some Australian journalists and Vietnamese refugees. The third aircraft touched down subsequently to bring out Airfield Defence Guards awaiting evacuation from Tan Son Nhut airport remaining luggage from the Embassy, and four airfield defence guards who could not be accommodated on the previous overcrowded flight. A Dakota from Butterworth made the final RAAF flight the next day. Saigon fell on 30 April, ending the Vietnam War.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 221 1975

Caribou in Red Cross markings for service in Portugese Timor, 1975

After civil war erupted in Portugese (East) Timor in August 1975, a DHC-4 Caribou (A4-140) was 04 sent from No 38 Squadron to fly Red Cross personnel and supplies from Darwin. The aircraft was frequently used to shuttle refugees back to Darwin, until the Australia Government stopped September the practice. When A4-140 delivered supplies to Bacau on this day, and troops of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) heard that evacuation flights had been halted, they panicked and took over the aircraft. The crew was forced at gunpoint to take off with 54 people crammed on board the Caribou, instead of the maximum of 28 it was designed to carry. The aircraft wallowed towards Darwin at just 90 knots at an altitude of 1500 feet (457 metres), and when it landed had just 10 minutes fuel remaining. The soldiers surrendered peacefully, but A4-140 had become the first RAAF aircraft ever hijacked.

222 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1976

16 10 February June A new Chief of Air Staff Advisory Committee A 16-man forward party left Canberra to prepare for the arrival at Ismailia, Egypt, of the air unit (CASAC) met for the first time, replacing the committed by Australia to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in Sinai. The unit, referred Air Board which had administered the RAAF to as AUSTAIR, was required to help monitor the 300-kilometre-long buffer zone separating from its inception and met for the last time Egyptian and Israeli forces after the 1973 war fought along the Suez Canal. At full strength, on 30 January. The change was necessitated AUSTAIR comprised four Iroquois helicopters operated by 13 officers and 32 airmen––all drawn by newly approved arrangements which from the RAAF except four aircrew and maintenance personnel from the RAN. The first helicopter made the Chief of the Defence Force Staff was flown from No 5 Squadron at RAAF Base Fairbairn by C-130 on 8 July, with the rest (CDFS) directly responsible to the Minister following in further C-130 flights that month, and the first mission in support of UNEF was flown for Defence for the command of the Defence on 1 August. The unit remained in Sinai for three years before being withdrawn. Force, and the issuing of directives to the three Service Chiefs informing them that they were the professional heads of their Service and responsible for command of their Service ‘under the authority of the CDFS’. This meant that the CAS and not an Air Board was now responsible to the Minister, through the CDFS, for command and control, fighting efficiency, and training of his Service. Hence, the Air Board was no longer relevant to the way the RAAF was administered.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 223 1977

08 28 March April For the armed forces parade to mark Queen The RAAF lost the first of its F-111 strike aircraft, when A8-136 of No 6 Squadron caught fire and Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, the RAAF provided crashed near Guyra, NSW. The accident was the result of fatigue cracking, caused by incorrect a contingent of personnel and aircraft to welding processes, which led to an explosion of fuel vapour. The crew, Captain W.H. Baker (from the largest tri-Service spectacle in Australia the US Air Force) and Flight Lieutenant David Clarkson, were able to eject safely and became since the Queen’s first visit in February 1954. the first aviators in Australia to abandon an aircraft using the revolutionary device of an ejection In addition to its share of the 1600 men and module which did not even require them to leave their seats. Although the module worked women who paraded on the lawns in front of successfully, Clarkson sustained a back injury when it impacted heavily with the ground. The Parliament House, Canberra, RAAF musicians squadron experienced a second such incident 18 months later, when A8-141 caught fire during formed part of the massed band which played an exercise off Auckland, New Zealand. The crew of that aircraft also used the module to eject for the event. The RAAF also contributed safely over the sea. its three Colours and 17 Standards to the display, carried at the front of the parade. Most of the aircraft taking part in the mass flyover were also from the RAAF, including four F-111s, 12 Mirages, 12 Iroquois helicopters and three Chinook helicopters. The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Chief of the Defence Force Staff (General Sir Francis Hassett), inspected the parade from an Army Landrover.

224 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1977

01 29 May July After nearly a decade of removing the During Operation Cenderawasih (Bird of Paradise) in Western New Guinea (or Irian Jaya, inequalities between female servicewomen and Indonesia), two UH-1 Iroquois helicopters of No 9 Squadron, RAAF, were sent from Wamena their male colleagues, the final step was taken to convey an Australian Army party engaged in geodetic survey work to an airstrip across the of disbanding the Women’s Royal Australian mountains. Heavy cloud caused the mission to be aborted, and the two aircraft were returning Air Force (WRAAF) as a separate entity and to base when machine A2-379 went missing with five personnel on board. The lost aircraft was transferring its personnel to the ordinary RAAF. located early the next day in a moss forest at an altitude of 10 000 feet (3000 metres). Two Army Similarly, members of the RAAF Nursing personnel were winched 60 metres through the jungle canopy to the wreck below and found Service were integrated into the Air Force’s that, apart from the pilot, all on board had survived though three were seriously injured. A Special Medical Branch. The separate disciplinary Air Service patrol team from Darwin was inserted to protect the wrecked aircraft while recovery code formerly applied to women was operations were carried out over the next week. rescinded, and a uniform code covered both sexes in areas such as powers of command. Provisions which discriminated against women by preventing WRAAF members from serving overseas, remaining in the Service after marriage, and receiving equal pay to men, had all been previously eliminated––in 1967, 1969 and 1972 respectively. From 1977, it was mainly only areas of employment classed as combat-related which remained closed to women in the RAAF.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 225 1978

19 January When a light aircraft was spotted on radar entering the Northern Territory to the west of Darwin, the captain of a C-130 Hercules transport (A97-168) from No 37 Squadron (which was coincidentally returning from a trip to Butterworth at the same time) was asked to follow the mystery aircraft as it travelled inland. Eventually A97-168 caught up with what turned out to be a twin-engine Aero Commander 680E. The pilot of the light aircraft made a crashlanding in a muddy paddock 14 kilometres north-west of Katherine, then set the aircraft on fire in an attempt to conceal that on board were 270 000 Thai ‘buddha sticks’ (high-grade cannabis) worth nearly $4 million. After hiding out in the bush for 40 hours, the pilot––later identified as drug runner, Donald Tait––was discovered by police and arrested. Tait was subsequently jailed for seven years.

Sergeant Kevin Sloane was the fire and rescue controller at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria, when 17 he was called on to deal with a dramatic incident involving a Mirage aircraft. A fully armed Mirage (A3-8) from No 77 Squadron was taking off on an exercise over the Dutson Bombing Range February when it blew a tyre. Realising immediately that the pilot was in trouble, Sloane set off with his crew in two fire vehicles in pursuit of the doomed aircraft. When the Mirage hit the crash barrier at the end of the runway it burst into flames. The pilot was able to escape, while the fire crew worked frantically to extinguish the blaze before the any of the jet’s deadly cargo detonated. On 31 August 1979, Sergeant Sloane received the Bravery Medal—the first awarded to a member of the RAAF under the Australian Honours system.

226 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1978

28 November The RAAF Caribou light transport that had been flying in support of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) since 1975 undertook its final ‘milk run’ prior to returning to Australia. A detachment from Richmond-based No 38 Squadron had been operating with UNMOGIP since March 1975, maintaining and crewing the Caribou that provided a scheduled Tuesday courier service for observers in the disputed territory of Kashmir, and also transporting the UN Chief Military Observer on his visits to 35 monitoring stations scattered along the ceasefire line. The detachment’s single aircraft was changed over at six-month intervals by another sent from Australia. By the time that the final run from Rawalpindi to Srinagar was completed, the Caribous had flown 1800 hours on UN duties. Operating under a new ferry crew, 08 the aircraft commenced its return flight from Rawalpindi, bound for Richmond, October on 2 January. When Ken Warby set a new water speed record on Blowering Dam near Tumut, New South Wales, in 1978, his success was achieved with the assistance and support of staff and apprentices from the RAAF School of Technical Training at Wagga Wagga. His boat ‘Spirit of Australia’ was powered by a J34 engine (the type used in RAAF Neptune aircraft before these went out of service) which had been taken out of storage at Wagga, then overhauled and tested by a course of trainee RAAF engine fitters. Apprentices from the School also joined Warby’s maintenance team at Blowering for the attempt on the world record, which came when Spirit of Australia achieved an average speed of 464.4 km/h. On 20 November Warby established an even faster speed of 556 km/h, which remained unbroken as the world record for the next 30 years.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 227 01 December For the first time the RAAF took part in Operation Deep Freeze, the aerial resupply of American scientific bases in Antarctica, when a C-130 Hercules transport landed at McMurdo Sound in a light snowstorm after an eight-hour flight from , New Zealand. Captained by Squadron Leader Stuart Dalgleish, the aircraft carried 12 passengers and 11 000 kilograms of freight. Up to four flights were made by the RAAF, in conjunction with aircraft of the US Air Force, US Navy and Royal New Zealand Air Force. This participation was continued in later years as well. 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 229 1979

07 February A C-130E Hercules of No 37 Squadron arrived in Tehran to remove the remaining staff members of Australia’s Embassy amid the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution. A previous RAAF flight on 6 January had removed the first group of Australian nationals and embassy staff wishing to leave. Since then, the Shah had fled into exile and the religious leader Ayatollah Khomenei had returned on 1 February to begin setting up an anti-Western Islamic republic. Amid increasingly uncertain and dangerous conditions in Tehran, the second Hercules transport was also diverted from the regular courier service to resupply RAAF personnel with the UN Emergency Force in Sinai, and removed the last staff members to Bahrain. Australia thus avoided sharing America’s fate, after its Embassy in Tehran was stormed in November by militant university students who held mission members as hostages in an ordeal lasting 444 days. 26 March A C-130 Hercules of No 36 Squadron (A97-001, captained by Flight Lieutenant Ian Hawke) made a supply drop to the scientific station on Macquarie Island. Nine years after an Orion from No 11 Squadron made the first air mail drop, the RAAF began a program of regular visits to this sub-Antarctic base. Following the precedent set on 7 September 1977, when another Orion delivered storpedoes containing meat, fresh vegetables and perishables, A97-001 made the first in a sustained program of flights. As the island lacked space for an airfield, the Hercules’ crew successfully delivered nine compacts of stores onto the three-second drop zone on the island’s narrow isthmus following a 7–8 hour nonstop flight. These missions continued into subsequent years, usually at the rate of two or three a year. By September 1989, no fewer than 28 flights had taken place.

230 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1979

15 November The RAAF began its biggest humanitarian task of many years, when a C-130H from No 36 Squadron flew an urgent load of food supplies from Bangkok to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Every day for two months, three RAAF aircraft flew sorties as part of an International Red Cross airlift to carry bags of dried milk, beans and fish to a country impoverished by five years under the Khmer Rouge regime. Later, Finnish troops briefed prior to patrol in what was named Operation Ricebowl, the flights were conducted from Singapore. The unit known as AUSTAIR, which Australia Operating into an airfield badly damaged contributed to the United Nations Emergency 26 by recent fighting and lacking any air traffic Force (UNEF) in Egypt, flew its last operational services, while avoiding the worst of the July mission. For the previous three years, the unit tropical weather, the C-130 crews kept the had been supporting ceasefire arrangements relief supplies flowing into Phnom Penh. By in the Sinai Desert between Egyptian and the time the operation concluded, the RAAF Israeli forces, but as the two countries had aircraft had flown 92 sorties and moved over signed a peace agreement ending hostilities 1300 tonnes of emergency supplies to help the UN mandate was not renewed after it keep alive many thousands of Cambodians. expired on 24 July. During its time at Ismailia, Egypt, AUSTAIR had flown 10 000 sorties with its four Iroquois helicopters, carrying 22 500 passengers and 200 tonnes of freight. The unit’s 45 air and ground crew—drawn mainly from Canberra-based No 5 Squadron, but with four members from the RAN also—continued to provide transport during UNEF’s withdrawal phase for another three months. The first group of returning personnel arrived back at RAAF Base Fairbairn on 21 October 1979.

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- 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 - 1927 - 1928 -

1929 - 1930 - 1931 - 1932 - 1933 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939

- 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946 - 1947 - 1948 - 1949 -

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- 2011 - 19 EIGHTIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 233 1980

07 February Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams, KBE, CB, DSO, died in hospital at Kew, Melbourne, at the age of 89. His 25-year career in the RAAF included a record 17-year tenure as Chief of the Air Staff, in which post he had been promoted the Service’s first Group Captain (1925), Air Commodore (1927) and Air Vice- Marshal (1935). He was also the first RAAF member to become Air Marshal, receiving this temporary rank in 1940 on taking up a new seat on the Air Board (though not as CAS). After commanding the RAAF’s Overseas Headquarters in London in 1941–42, he was RAAF representative in Washington until he retired in 1946. He completed another nine years as Director-General of Civil Aviation in 1955, and it was shortly before this second retirement that he was knighted. Twice married, Williams had no children, but is nonetheless regarded as the ‘Father of 25 the RAAF’. June A Caribou light transport (A4-179) faced a dire emergency after losing an engine on a routine flight between the Indonesian islands of Tual and Ambon. The aircraft was flying in support of Operation Pattimura, a three-year project conducted by Army under Australia’s Defence Cooperation Program to provide maps of Indonesia’s eastern Maluku province (better known as the Moluccas or Spice Islands). With five passengers as well as the crew on board, it was still 75 kilometres short of its destination when one engine cut out. Despite full power being applied to the remaining engine, the Caribou lost 4000 feet in altitude. The rate of descent was stabilised at 450 feet above water only by jettisoning the aircraft’s full cargo load into the Banda Sea––less the barest essentials which the RAAF medical officer on board assessed would be required if forced to ditch.

234 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1981

20 10 January April Air Marshal Sir James Rowland became only During Exercise Distant Bridge, four C-130H Hercules aircraft from No 36 Squadron flew 162 the second ex-RAAF figure to hold a vice- Army parachutists with their equipment more than 1600 kilometres from Amberley, Queensland, regal appointment when he was installed as to Tasmania, and dropped them at first light onto an old World War II airfield near Ross. This was the 33rd Governor of New South Wales. He the first full-scale deployment since the Brisbane-based 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, joined the RAAF during 1942 and served was directed the previous year to form a dedicated parachute element based on an infantry rifle with the Pathfinder Force marking targets for company group, following a smaller exercise in the Katherine-Tindal area of the Northern Territory Bomber Command; in this role he won the late in 1980. It also marked the start of a standing airborne capability within the Australian Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), and also Defence Force. became a prisoner after he was shot down over Germany in 1945. Demobilised at the end of World War II, he returned to Sydney University and completed his engineering studies before rejoining the RAAF in 1948. Making his way as a test pilot (1949–60) and engineer, he was transferred to the General Duties Branch on being promoted as Chief of the Air Staff (1975–79). Knighted in 1977, Sir James had been retired for two years when he was appointed as Governor, initially for four years but with two subsequent two-year extensions.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 235 1981

21 September Flight Lieutenant Ludmila (‘Lydia’) Marik (later Stevens) arrived at Aranyaprathet in Prachinburi (now Sa Kaeo) province of Thailand, one of four ADF nursing officers (the only RAAF member) in a 10-strong Australian team sent to staff a Red Cross surgical facility in one of the refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodia border for three months. The Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which ended the infamous rule of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 had produced an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting, and more than 40 000 were held in a camp at the foot of Khao-I-Dang Mountain, just 10 kilometres from the border. As well as emergency medical cases requiring surgery, there was a constant stream of casualties suffering gunshot and shrapnel wounds, or injuries from land mines. 30 After the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal was instituted in 1999, Lydia Stevens October became the first ADF member awarded it. Flying Officer Mark Eldridge was copilot of an Iroquois helicopter from No 9 Squadron taking part in Exercise Kangaroo 81 in a remote area of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland, when the aircraft (A2-380) crashed and caught fire. Although dazed from the impact, he assisted six injured passengers from the wreckage just before it was enveloped by flames and totally destroyed. There was one fatality in the accident. Eldridge was one of three officers awarded the Star of Courage on 26 November 1982 for this incident, the others being an Australian Army Captain and a Flight Lieutenant from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. They were the first military members to receive this award—the second highest non-military bravery decoration behind the Cross of Valour—since its inception in 1975.

236 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1981

The first example of a new Ensign featuring the RAAF’s ‘leaping kangaroo’ roundel in place of 23 the RAF cockade went on display in the office of the Chief of the Air Staff, finally completing the process of evolving a distinctive flag for the RAAF. In 1922 the Australian Air Council had November decided that the RAAF would use the Ensign of the Royal Air Force ‘without difference’, and this arrangement continued until 1949 when a new flag which incorporated the Southern Cross was approved by King George VI. Attempts were made during the RAAF’s golden jubilee (1971) to have the roundel of the RAF replaced by the kangaroo roundel, which the Australian Service adopted in 1956, but these came to nothing for another decade. After receipt of the Royal Assent during the RAAF’s diamond jubilee year, the new Ensign was gazetted in 1982.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 237 1982

The crew of a RAAF P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft from No 10 Squadron commenced 21 the first ‘prosecution’ of a Soviet Echo II class submarine transiting from the South China Sea through the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean. Over the next five days Orion crews used radar February and sonobuoys to detect, identify and track the submarine. The episode was the first of many conducted under Operation Gateway during the Cold War. In response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Detachment A of No 92 Wing (comprising up to three Orions with support staff) was stationed at Butterworth, Malaysia, from February 1981. The detachment began the regular monitoring of Soviet ships and submarines passing through the region, before moving into the more aggressive prosecution phase a year later. These patrols ended with the Cold War in 1989, whereupon Operation Gateway focused on maritime security.

238 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1982

24 March The Rotary Wing Aviation Unit of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) body—to which the RAAF contributed eight of the ten Iroquois helicopters required—flew 21 its first mission from El Gorah, the unit’s operating base in the north-eastern Sinai, April about 20 kilometres from the Mediterranean The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir Neville McNamara, was promoted to Air Chief Marshal coast. The US-led MFO had been set up in and appointed to the top uniformed position in the Australian Defence Force as Chief of the 1981 to monitor arrangements for the return Defence Force Staff (CDFS). He was the first RAAF officer to hold the CDFS post since it was of Egyptian territory in the Sinai which created in February 1976, and the last before it was renamed Chief of the Defence Force in had occupied since 1967. After Australia October 1986. Sir Neville was also the last Air Force chief to be knighted under the old Imperial agreed to take part, the RAAF helicopters honours system, and only the second RAAF officer to hold four-star rank since Sir Frederick were delivered to Ashdod, Israel, by the heavy Scherger was so promoted in 1965 (while in the last year of his second term as Chairman of the landing ship HMAS Tobruk on 19 March, and Chiefs of Staff Committee). Air Chief Marshal McNamara retired on 12 April 1984. the 89 personnel drawn from the RAAF, RAN and Army arrived by RAAF B-707 transport the next day. On 21 March, the aircraft flew to El Gorah. The RWAU contingent remained in the Sinai until March 1986, when Australia withdrew from the MFO to reduce its peacekeeping commitments.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 239 1983

A C-130H Hercules transport from No 36 Squadron was used to drop fire retardant into the path 31 of a bushfire in the Grampians mountain range in western Victoria, slowing the blaze and enabling ground teams to move in. The task—dubbed Operation Quench—required manoeuvring a January heavily-laden aircraft barely 30 metres above the trees at 130 knots in smoky conditions, with 3000 US gallons of retardant delivered during each sortie. Three six-man crews from No 36 Squadron had received specialised training during mid-January in preparation for conducting summer bushfire patrols, and were then placed on weekly standby to operate from bases at Hamilton, Mangalore and East Sale in support of the Victorian Forestry Commission. The aircraft was backed up by ground teams from No 486 Squadron, and RAAF and Army personnel who refuelled and reloaded the aircraft, enabling 70 tonnes of retardant to be dropped.

240 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1983

RAAF Ensign raised at Tengah, July 1971

The RAAF Support Unit at Tengah, in Singapore, was disbanded nearly 12 years after it was 01 raised on what was then an RAF base. Originally formed on 1 July 1971 to provide administrative and logistic support to RAAF components of an Australian, New Zealand and February (ANZUK) combined force, it principally met the needs of a small communications detachment at Kranji and a detachment of eight Mirage fighters deployed from Butterworth. Within a month of the unit’s formation, Tengah had been handed over to the , and during late 1974 a RAAF Bloodhound Advisory Flight operating from Seletar was disbanded. When ANZUK ceased to exist from January 1975, the RAAF Support Unit assumed responsibility for administering all Australian Service personnel remaining in Singapore. After the RNZAF also vacated Tengah in 1981, the Australian unit remained the only foreign tenant on what was now a Republic of Singapore Air Force base.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 241 1983

The two Richmond-based squadrons operating C-130 Hercules transports (Nos 36 and 37) 05 joined in a maximum effort to put all 24 of their aircraft in the air at the one time. This rare spectacle was made possible by the fact that, for once, none of the aircraft was receiving a major April overhaul and all would be on base. After a final briefing, crews proceeded to get their Hercules airborne in groups of four and formed up for a mass fly-past across Sydney’s western suburbs and straight down the Harbour, before banking north over the sea and west again near the mouth of the Hawkesbury to return to base. Unfortunately, at the last minute, one Hercules from No 37 Squadron captained by Flight Lieutenant Andy Maitland was required to break off to undertake an emergency search for a yacht missing east of the Victoria-New South Wales border (which they duly found).

242 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1983

07 April A Mirage IIIO (A3-57) from No 77 Squadron was flown from RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales, to undertake a photo reconnaissance mission over the Franklin River in western Tasmania. The distance involved required the pilot to land 08 at Avalon, outside Melbourne, to refuel both April before and after crossing Bass Strait to carry out the mission. Within days, the episode An RF-111C from No 6 Squadron based at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, made a second became a cause célèbre, after it became photographic reconnaissance of the Franklin Dam site in Tasmania, following up that undertaken public knowledge that the mission had the previous day by a Mirage. Whereas the Mirage flew at an altitude which was easily observed been ordered by the Attorney-General in the from the ground by anti-dam protesters, construction workers, Tasmanian Government officials newly-elected Hawke Labor Government in and police, the F-111 completed its mission at 30 000 feet and no-one was any the wiser. After Canberra. State Government plans to dam the the story was broken in a Sydney newspaper two days later, however, there was uproar in Federal Franklin for hydro-electricity generation had Parliament. This was directed principally against the Attorney-General in the newly-elected Labor attracted widespread and vocal opposition Government, Senator Gareth Evans, who had ordered the operation without informing the Prime across Australia. The new Federal Government Minister or Minister for Defence, nor consulting appropriate Defence figures. Although the affair directed a cessation of work at the site, and quickly dissipated, Evans was henceforth known as ‘’––the name bestowed on him by the A3-57’s sortie was to ensure that Tasmanian Australian media. authorities were complying. The affair was a key moment in the history of constitutional relations and environmental protection in Australia.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 243 1984

At a special ceremony, the first F/A-18 Hornet assembled in Australia was rolled out of the 16 Government Aircraft Factory plant at Avalon, Victoria, in the presence of Prime Minister R.J. Hawke and a distinguished gathering. This aircraft (A21-103) and another had arrived at Avalon November in June, carried in the hold of a US Air Force Lockheed C-5A Galaxy. The first flight of A21-103 was scheduled for later the same month but was delayed by a demarcation dispute with the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, which insisted that only its members should pilot each new machine of the type during testing. As a result A21-103 did not make its first test flight until 26 February 1985 and was not formally handed over to the RAAF until 4 May 1985.

244 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1985

17 May At about 4 pm, the first two F/A-18 Hornets landed at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, on completion of their delivery flight from the US. The aircraft (A21-101 and A21-102) had taken off from California shortly before dawn on 16 May, and about an hour later were met off the coast by a US Air Force KC-10 tanker. Each Hornet was refuelled seven times from the tanker as the group headed south-west towards Hawaii. South of Hawaii, another KC-10 flew out to meet them and refuelled the first tanker. After passing Hawaii, the Hornets were each refuelled another eight times before the epic flight was over. On approaching Williamtown, the group was met by a flight of six RAAF Mirage fighters which escorted them into their destination. Twenty years later, this trans-Pacific ferry flight lasting 15 hours was still the longest ever made by the F/A-18. 12 December A scheme which provided the RAAF with graduate engineer officers for 25 years closed after a graduation parade at Frognall, in the Melbourne suburb of Canterbury, reviewed by the Air Officer Commanding Support Command, Air Vice-Marshal Peter Scully. From its beginnings in February 1961 as ‘Detachment A’ of the Radio Apprentice School, then Diploma Cadet Squadron from 1962, and Engineer Cadet Squadron (ECS) from 1976, the unit administered officer cadets who were studying for engineering diplomas and degrees at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Until 1976 the squadron shared facilities at Frognall with the Melbourne Telecommunication Unit, which had occupied the site since its acquisition in 1942. With the closure of the ECS, future intakes of RAAF engineer students attended the new Australian Defence Force Academy. The base at Frognall closed down in March 1986 and was sold by the Commonwealth a short time later.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 245 1986

05 21 March May Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II presented Air Two RAAF C-130 Hercules from Force with a ‘new’ Queen’s Colour during No 37 Squadron (A97-171 and A97-189) a spectacular parade at Richmond air base reached Honiara, each carrying an Iroquois involving more than 900 men and women helicopter from No 5 Squadron. These began wearing the new-pattern RAAF uniform. The the massive recovery task after Cyclone new Colour replaced the ‘George Rex’ Colour Namu had lashed the Solomon Islands for originally presented in the Queen’s name in more than 40 hours over 18-19 May, bringing 1952 which bore the monogram of her father, winds of 100 knots and more than 20 inches King George VI. All the Colours, Standards and of rain. On the first day alone the helicopters Banners of the RAAF were also paraded on flew 33 missions carrying food and medical the base’s tarmac area during the ceremony, supplies, and made five medical evacuations. which was watched by five former Chiefs of Other RAAF Hercules and aircraft from New the Air Staff (including 89-year-old Sir George Zealand and the US flew in more supplies, Jones, dressed in the old-pattern blue uniform, and a Caribou from 35 Squadron also and Air Marshal Sir James Rowland in his established a fuel and supply dump on Small capacity as Governor of New South Wales). Malaita. A MATU team and a team from the As the old Colour was marched off in slow Air Transportable Telecommunications Unit time, a lone Sabre aircraft passed overhead followed. In all, Hercules from Nos 36 and in farewell, while later there was a flypast of 37 Squadrons made nine return flights from F-111, F/A-18 and Mirage aircraft. Australia (many with tourists stranded by the disaster), the Caribou did 48 sorties, while the helicopters flew 448 sorties totaling 159 hours.

246 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1986

06 June Air Vice-Marshal , then serving as Assistant Chief of the Defence Force (Policy) at Headquarters Australian Defence Force, was promoted Air Marshal and appointed as Vice-Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF). This newly-created post made Funnell effectively the chief of staff of HQADF, with responsibility for directing both the operations and policy divisions. His specific responsibilities included ADF long-term planning—the most important being planning for the defence of Australia— and coordination of ADF force development planning procedure. This became only the second occasion on which the RAAF had two three-star officers serving at the same time— the first being 1961–65, when in addition to the Chief of the Air Staff there was Air Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (before he was promoted Air Chief Marshal). Funnell served a year as VCDF before he became CAS in July 1987.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 247 1987

20 June The Holy Trinity Chapel of the Royal Australian Air Force was dedicated and blessed at RAAF Base Point Cook in the presence of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Jake Newham, and his designated successor Air Marshal Ray Funnell. The multi-denominational chapel filled the former assembly hall of the RAAF Academy (which had reverted to RAAF College following the opening of the Australian Defence Force Academy) and was expected to have a similar role and status as St Clement Danes Church in London for the Royal Air Force, including becoming the dedicated place for the laying up of Queen’s Colours, banners and standards. Laid up at the new chapel this day was the ‘George Rex’ Queen’s Colour originally presented in 1952. This now rested alongside the old standards for Nos 1 and 3 25 Squadrons, and the Unit Queen’s Colour for November the RAAF Academy. A request for tender was advertised, under which new aircraft needed to replace the RAAF VIP fleet (comprising HS748s, Dassault Mystere 20s and BAC-111s) would be leased but not owned by Air Force. The tender document requested bids for the ‘Lease and Fleet Support of Five Jet Aircraft, of Two Types’, for a period of ten years with an option to extend for a further five years, while the fleet support contract would cover three years with an option to extend for a further seven years. It was under a lease arrangement that the RAAF received the first of five medium-range tri-jet transports in September 1989, replacing all three types previously in service with No 34 Squadron. RAAF aircrew would continue to operate leased VIP aircraft from , even after RAAF Base Fairbairn was sold off and closed down in 2002.

248 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1988

16 11 April June The 30-year permanent presence of RAAF The RAAF’s second northern bare base was officially opened in the Kimberley region of Western fighter units based at Butterworth, Malaysia, Australia by Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. The airfield––located 35 kilometres from the ended with a special ceremony. In future, town of Derby and covering a total area of 260 square kilometres, only 19 square kilometres the Australian presence would comprise a of this fenced—was named after Labor Prime Minister (and West Australian) John Curtin who, detachment of P-3C Orions, an Army rifle during World War II, led the nation from 1941 until 1945. The airfield was designed to cater for company (changed over at three-month aircraft ranging up to civil such as the B-707s (which the RAAF operated until 2008), intervals), and regular rotational detachments and up to 12 F-111 strike aircraft, tactical fighters, long-range maritime reconnaissance and of F/A-18 Hornets sent from Australia. The C-130 transports. Its minimal infrastructure and facilities, enhanced during the 1990s, can parade to mark the new arrangements was accommodate up to 350 personnel. Until in 2006, the airfield had only attended by Australia’s Defence Minister and been activated once before. the Secretary of the Department of Defence, along with the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell; Malaysia was also represented by its Defence Minister and the Chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force. As RAAF and RMAF airmen paraded with their respective bands, there was a symbolic flypast of Mirages leading F/A-18, F-111 and P-3C aircraft. RAAF Air Command Band parades at opening of Spectators included six former Commanding Curtin base Officers of Butterworth, from when it was a RAAF base before 1970, who were flown from Australia especially for the occasion.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 249 1988

30 June On receiving their wings from No 144 Pilots Course at No 2 Flying Training School at Pearce, Western Australia, Flight Lieutenant Robyn Williams and Officer Cadet Deborah Hicks became the RAAF’s first female pilots. Hicks did not stay long in the Air Force. Commissioned as a Pilot Officer on graduation, she joined 34 Squadron at Fairbairn airbase for conversion flying on Mystere VIP aircraft; promoted to Flying Officer in 1990, she had gone five years later. Williams, on the other hand, went on to score other notable firsts, qualifying as a flying instructor in 1992 and then undergoing test pilot training in Britain. After serving with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit, she was promoted and posted to the US where for five years she led the resident RAAF project team taking delivery of new C-130J Hercules transports. Promoted to Wing Commander in March 2000, she returned to Australia later FLTLT Robyn Williams that year.

250 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1989

14 14 February April Following a decision taken in November A transport (A20-627) of No 33 Squadron flew into Grootfontein, Namibia, with the 1986 by the Defence Minister, , first half of the main body of the 300-strong Army contingent sent by Australia to serve with the Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk ‘battlefield’ the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) that was to supervise the withdrawal of South helicopters of the RAAF’s No 9 Squadron African forces and oversee Namibia’s transition to independence. The RAAF aircraft delivered were transferred to Army ownership. The the remainder of the contingent on 16 April. In September, a second B-707 from 33 Squadron change came shortly after 9 Squadron (A20-624) was used to convey a replacement contingent on the first six-monthly rotation of celebrated its 50th anniversary, firstly as the Australian troops serving with UNTAG. This group was delivered to Windhoek, the Namibian RAAF’s fleet cooperation unit (1939–44) and, capital located 450 kilometres south of Grootfontein. As UNTAG wound up after the elections from 1962, as the first Air Force rotary wing were held, most of the Australians left for home in February 1990 and the rear party followed unit. After serving in Vietnam with Iroquois on 9 April. helicopters, the squadron had been based at Amberley, Queensland, where it re-equipped with the Black Hawk in 1988. In preparation for the changeover, the squadron moved to Townsville in December that year. On this day, 9 Squadron went out of existence and its 120 members formed A Squadron of the Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment. The RAAF members of A Squadron remained on loan, until progressively replaced as trained Army personnel became available over the next few years.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 251 1989

30 June The RAAF’s No 12 Squadron at Amberley was disbanded, following an announcement by the Minister for Defence in May that the Tactical Transport Group’s fleet of Boeing CH-47C Chinook medium-lift helicopters would be withdrawn from service on cost grounds. No 12 Squadron had been formed in September 25 1973 to operate 12 helicopters which the August Government had ordered the previous year, making the RAAF the first foreign customer After an industrial dispute involving domestic airline pilots led to the shutting down of Australia’s for the US-made Chinook. The aircraft had civil air transport network, the Government began using the armed services––principally the Air been delivered in March 1974 and were in Force––to help deal with the resulting chaos. Civilian travellers were moved around the country operation by December that year. Although by the RAAF, which used its Boeing 707 ex-commercial airliners, C-130 Hercules medium-lift it was believed that the main roles of the transports and even HS-748 navigational trainers. Although the public overwhelmingly accepted Chinook could be handled by the Black Hawk their experience of ‘RAAF Airlines’ as a novelty, Operation Immune placed a huge strain on the helicopters that had been handed across Service. The greatly increased hours being flown led to a greater maintenance load, with many to the Army, this was quickly found not to teams being deployed around Australia to maintain aircraft away from their home bases. By the be the case. In 1991, Australia accordingly time the dispute was resolved and Air Force aircraft ceased to be involved on 15 December, the exchanged the 11 remaining CH-47Cs for four RAAF had flown 6524 hours and carried 172 287 passengers. newer and more modern D models to serve with the Army.

252 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1989

16 05 November December Pilot Officer Francis Milne, RAAF, became the Seven months after the Australian Capital Territory attained self-government, the leader of the first (and so far only) Australian to be buried in Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly, Trevor Kaine, became Chief Minister when the first Labor Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, adjoining administration was voted out of office. Kaine led a minority government in coalition with two other the US capital at Washington, DC. During parties for the next 18 months. In addition to being Chief Minister, he was Treasurer, Minister for World War II he was attached to No 6 Troop Economic Development, and Minister for Land, Planning and the Environment. First stationed Carrier Squadron of the US Army Air Forces, in Canberra with the RAAF in the 1950s, he left the Air Force as a Wing Commander in the serving as a copilot in Dakota transports. On Equipment Branch before winning a seat in the local legislature in 1974. He was the first ex-RAAF 26 November 1942 his aircraft was attacked in member to head a state or territory government in Australia. No longer party leader, he served as New Guinea by a Japanese fighter and forced Urban Services Minister in a later Liberal Government (1995–98) before quitting politics in 2001. down into a swamp, in terrain so rough that the crash site was never reached during the war. After discovery of the wreckage in 1989 allowed recovery action to take place, it was found that Milne’s remains were ‘individually unidentifiable’ from those of Technical Sergeant Joseph Paul, the US flight engineer on board, so they were buried together in Arlington. Six Warrant Officers from RAAF staff in the Washington area comprised the burial party.

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- 2011 - 19 NINETIES

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 255 1990

The pilots of two F/A-18 Hornets from 17 No 75 Squadron attending the Asian Aerospace Exhibition in Singapore were February afforded the unique experience of engaging in formation flying with two Soviet Sukhoi front-line fighters. Permission to perform a planned sequence of manoeuvres together was granted directly from Moscow, and came just months after the end of the Cold War. The Exhibition at Singapore provided an equally unique opportunity for the RAAF’s chief, Air Marshal Ray Funnell, to fly at the controls of the Su-27 for 50 minutes with Sukhoi’s senior test pilot– making him the first chief of a Western air force to pilot this advanced Soviet combat aircraft.

256 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 05 March The RAAF’s first hot-air balloon made its maiden flight over Canberra carrying the Chief of the Air Staff and the Soviet Ambassador. A decision had been made in 1988 to acquire a balloon, to allow a colourful and spectacular, yet economical, response to a growing number of requests for RAAF participation in public events. A Kavanagh D77 envelope (of 77 000 cubic feet capacity) was ordered during 1989 from Phil Kavanagh, Australia’s only balloon maker, and training of two pilots commenced that year using a loaned envelope. On completing its maiden flight, the RAAF Balloon then flew during the Air Force’s 70th Anniversary Air Show. As the balloon travelled around Australia, it was crewed by a pilot and three ground staff drawn from No 28 (City of Canberra) Reserve Squadron. Two further envelopes, both D90 models, were purchased in 1993 and 1996.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 257 1990

02 August Wing Commander Ross Fox, the popular 39-year-old Commanding Officer of 12 No 75 Squadron since November 1988, was killed in a midair collision of two F/A-18 March Hornets 40 kilometres north-west of the unit’s base at Tindal, Northern Territory. An Australian-designed N24A Nomad utility transport aircraft (A18-401) crashed at Mallala, The pilot of the other aircraft managed to South Australia, while on a training flight from the Aircraft Research and Development Unit land his damaged aircraft, but Fox’s machine (ARDU) at RAAF Base Edinburgh. The Air Force pilot flying the aircraft, Flight Lieutenant Glenn crashed near a feature called Hornet Hill Donovan, was killed. The cause of the accident was found to be cracking, which resulted in the before he could eject. After an extensive air tailplane structure falling off. After the production line at the Government Aircraft Factory closed and ground search, his body was recovered in 1984, the RAAF had been given four Nomads for which commercial buyers could not found, next day and accorded a funeral at St John’s while the Army received nine to add to the 12 it already operated. After the crash of A18-401, a Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane on 10 August. second Nomad operated by ARDU was not flown again and was withdrawn from RAAF service A formation of Hornets from No 2 Operational in November 1991. Control problems caused the two N24As used by No 75 Squadron at Conversion Unit at Williamtown, NSW, flew Tindal, Northern Territory, to stop flying in September 1991. All ADF Nomads were permanently a ‘missing man’ formation over the service. grounded in 1995.

258 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1990

A Dassault Falcon 900 tri-jet VIP transport (A26-070) from No 34 Squadron was used to fly home 06 Australians who had become hostages in the Gulf crisis triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on 2 August. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had detained thousands of foreign citizens to deter September the US from launching a military attack against him, but early the next month he agreed to free at least the women and children in this group. A26-070 evacuated a party of 13 Australians from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to Amman (Jordan), and then to Bahrain and Male in the Maldives. Next day the aircraft continued on to Perth via Cocos Islands, before delivering its passengers to Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra. The hostage drama was only a prelude to a six-week multinational campaign, which by 28 February 1991 had expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 259 1990

19 September The Governor-General awarded a Group Bravery Citation to five members of No 5 Squadron for ‘bravery in extraordinary circumstances’ during a rescue two years earlier. On 8 December 1988, an Iroquois helicopter with five crew of board was sent from RAAF Base Fairbairn to collect two teenage girls suffering severe hypothermia from a camp site in the Kosciusko National Park. In extremely hazardous flying conditions due to low cloud, continuous rain, snow patches, strong wind and failing light, the crew finally managed to reach the designated landing site––only to find that two more girls were also in critical need of evacuation. Now loaded in excess of authorised weight limits, the helicopter was nonetheless flown safely down the Snowy River Valley to Cooma. The Warrant for this award was the very first issued Rescued girl with (from left) Corporal Chenoweth, Flight Officer Murray, Flight Lieutenant Weir, Flight Sergeant Green and Flight Sergeant Hayton under the Australian Honours system.

260 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1991

Squadron Leader G. Robinson and Comfort in the Gulf 08 March An Australian Defence Force medical support element (including eight Air Force members) returned to Australia by RAAF C-130 from Bahrain, where they had been deployed as part of the international response to Iraq’s 26 invasion of its oil-rich neighbour, Kuwait. The 40-strong medical element had been sent to April support the overall naval operation to enforce United Nations maritime sanctions in the No 92 Wing, based at Edinburgh, SA, suffered the first operational loss of a P-3C Orion when Persian Gulf, by becoming an integral part of aircraft A9-754 from No 10 Squadron crashed at the Cocos Keeling Islands. The Orion had the US Navy’s hospital ship Comfort—one just taken off from the airfield on West Island to make the return flight to Edinburgh when an of the largest (69 000 tonnes) and most emergency caused it to ditch into Rumah Baru lagoon. Nineteen members of the crew survived advanced trauma facilities in the world. The the crash and were able to scramble to safety on top of the aircraft, which lay half-submerged on ship remained on station until after the Gulf the reef. However, Flying Officer Tom Henniker had been killed when a propeller blade sheared off War, when UN forces expelled the Iraqis from on striking the water and entered the aircraft’s fuselage. In 2001, on the tenth anniversary of his Kuwait at the end of February 1991, although death, a plaque in his memory was dedicated at a special commemorative service conducted on casualties from combat were light and Comfort the island. treated only a small number of patients.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 261 1991

Wreckage recovery of A21-41 05 June An F/A-18 Hornet from No 75 Squadron (A21-41, piloted by Flying Officer Cameron Conroy) went missing while returning to RAAF Base Tindal, in the Northern Territory. Conroy’s aircraft was one of a pair which earlier An ADF contingent comprising 72 Army and conducted a simulated strike on a target 290 16 three RAAF medical, dental, engineering and kilometres south-west of Tindal. When Conroy logistic personnel left Australia on Operation failed to respond to radio calls, his wingman May Habitat, to provide humanitarian relief for flew alongside and observed him slumped Kurdish refugees displaced from northern forward in the cockpit, having apparently Iraq. After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq’s dissident suffered hypoxic hypoxia after taking off his Kurdish minority rebelled in the mistaken belief oxygen mask. His aircraft was tracked on that the United Nations would aid their bid radar as it continued, under autopilot control, for independence. Instead, the UN remained on a constant east-north-east course out over silent as Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein the . An extensive air and brutally crushed the revolt with tanks, artillery sea search failed to find where A21-41 had and heavy weapons. Two million Kurds fled come down after it ran out of fuel. It was not towards the northern border with and until July 1994 that a stockman discovered appeals went out for help in dealing with the an aircraft crash site at Bromley Downs, 100 unfolding tragedy. The Australian contingent kilometres north-east of Weipa in far north established water points and conducted Queensland. bacteriological testing, as well as pest control and fumigation work in the area, before withdrawing on 16 June.

262 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1991

A Boeing 707-368C of Richmond-based No 33 Squadron was lost in a training accident off the 29 Gippsland coast of Victoria. The aircraft (A20-103) was one of six former civil airliners operated by the RAAF for VIP and long-distance military transport, and also for inflight refuelling of F/A-18 October Hornet fighters. While three kilometres from Woodside Beach, 43 kilometres south of RAAF Base East Sale, the aircraft stalled and crashed into the sea, killing all five men on board. A board of inquiry concluded that the crew was controversially carrying out an asymmetric handling exercise when the aircraft made a sudden and violent departure from controlled flight. A subsequent coronial inquest also identified systemic failures relating to a deficiency of documentation, inadequate research into the operating characteristics of the aircraft and a lack of sufficient training in the types of manoeuvre which resulted in the accident.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 263 1992

Leading Aircraftwoman Tanya Hartwich outside communications centre in Cambodia 24 August 11 The death of 95-year-old Air Marshal Sir May George Jones at Mentone in Melbourne, Victoria, removed from the scene the last A 30-strong Movement Control Group (MCG) from the Australian Defence Force, including seven surviving chief of any Allied military service in RAAF members, joined the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). At full strength, World War II. The 10 years that he spent as UNTAC was to comprise about 22 000 military and civilian personnel from 32 countries, who Chief of the Air Staff (1942–52) was also the were required to secure a ceasefire and help disarm the warring parties before free elections longest continuous tenure of any head of the could be held in 1993. The deployment of UNTAC involved the largest ADF commitment overseas RAAF, and second in total duration to only since the Vietnam War, principally in a 488-strong Force Communications Unit (FCU), including Sir Richard Williams (1922–39). As a survivor 18 RAAF communications operators and radio technicians, which was spread out across 60 of the of World War I, and locations throughout Cambodia. The FCU also arrived during May as part of the main UNTAC a fighter ‘ace’ of the Australian Flying Corps body, and the MCG (organised as a headquarters and nine three-person teams) was required (having downed seven German aircraft and to coordinate the reception of forces. More Air Force personnel were in replacement FCU earned the Distinguished Flying Cross), the contingents, before UNTAC wound up in November 1993. beginnings of his career placed him ‘at the pinnacle of Australian military mythology’. Despite the many remarkable aspects of his life story, his impact on the RAAF has been assessed as ‘surprisingly slight’ because of his uninspiring personality and mediocre skills as a conceptual thinker.

264 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1992

09 December After 40 years of scheduled flights by RAAF C-130 transports carrying Defence personnel, families and cargo, the ‘Southern Service’ through RAAF Base Laverton, Victoria, ended in accordance with new arrangements under the Defence Department’s Commercial The first 11 personnel of a 30-strong Support Program. Future services were to 28 Movement Control Unit supplied from the operate into Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport, Australian Defence Force (including eight with ground handling carried out by a civilian October RAAF members) arrived in Mogadishu to contractor. On arrival from Richmond, the begin support for the peacekeeping force C-130H Hercules piloted by Squadron Leader known as United Nations Operation in Somalia Greg Evans, the Operations Flight Commander (UNOSOM). The complete unit was in place by of No 36 Squadron, was marshalled into early January 1993, tasked with coordinating the transit area by a figure dressed as Santa transport—including air transport—required Claus. As the aircraft taxied out to take off by the UN operation to monitor a ceasefire again for RAAF Base Fairbairn in Canberra, between warring factions which had rendered two fire tenders sprayed it with plumes of Somalia without effective government. The water, and personnel from Air Movements MCU was not part of the 30-nation force Section were standing beside the runway to called UNITAF (including an Australian Army toast its departure. battalion group) which was raised early in 1993 to provide security for food distribution operations in the face of growing lawlessness; UNOSOM remained after UNITAF withdrew in May 1993. Later, in October that year, the Australian presence was bolstered by the arrival of 10 RAAF air traffic controllers who were to assist with running operations at Mogadishu’s airport.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 265 1992

The Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Gordon Bilney, announced in Parliament that 18 the Government had decided to open most combat roles in the Australian Defence Force to women. For the RAAF, this meant that the number of jobs in which women could be employed December had risen from 94 per cent to 99 per cent, and included flying fast jets such as the F-111 and F/A-18, and also P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. The only exception which now remained in the RAAF was airfield defence guard units, where hand-to-hand combat was considered likely and physical strength was a paramount consideration. Despite the announcement, it was not until January 1996 that the RAAF actually had a female pilot who was posted direct from pilots course at No 2 Flying Training School to fly Macchis at No 25 Squadron, in preparation for fighter conversion training at Williamtown, NSW.

266 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1993

07 January Two C-130 Hercules from No 37 Squadron (A97-167 and 171) departed Richmond for Amberley and Townsville to collect troops and equipment of the Army advance party bound for Somalia under Operation Solace (aimed at bringing relief to the starving population of that lawless country). They were followed the next day by a further aircraft from 37 Squadron (A97-189) and another from 36 Squadron, which carried stores and members of the Media Support Unit. The aircraft reached the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after staging through Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian Ocean and Mombasa, Kenya, where significant delays were experienced due to the number of aircraft needing refuelling. A97-167 and 171, along with the 36 Squadron aircraft, returned to Richmond on 15 January, with the last aircraft arriving the following day. 15 February The position of ‘Warrant Officer of the RAAF’ was instituted with the appointment of Warrant Officer Richard (‘Dick’) Newton. The post was created by the then Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal I.B. Gration, to provide a key conduit between Air Force’s senior leadership and the airman ranks. As the Service’s senior airman, the holder of this singular appointment (later retitled ‘Warrant Officer of the Air Force’––WOFF-AF) has been required to regularly visit all RAAF commands, bases and units; to keep abreast of and gain insight into the views, issues and concerns of airmen and airwomen; and to communicate these frankly to the Chief of Air Force and other commanders. Apart from representing RAAF non-commissioned personnel at ceremonial functions and social activities, and maintaining direct contact with his Navy and Army counterparts, the WOFF-AF also contributes to command and leadership training throughout the RAAF.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 267 1993

29 April The RAAF’s last CT-4 Airtrainers were flown from Point Cook to the RAAF Base Wagga, New South Wales, for storage pending disposal. The formation of 18 aircraft overflew Melbourne en route, led by Wing Commander Robert Anderson, the last Commanding Officer of No 1 Flying Training School. After a decision was made, on cost-cutting grounds, to contract out initial flight screening of new student pilots to a civilian organisation from 1993, the conduct of flying training at Point 23 Cook––the birthplace and spiritual home of the RAAF––had been brought to an end after May 78 years. No 1 Flying Training School ceased A two-week airlift undertaken by the RAAF to return 853 Australian soldiers from Somalia, where operating the CT-4 at the end of 1992 and a the troops had been involved in a UN operation to protect the distribution of humanitarian aid, first batch of 18 aircraft were sent to Wagga came to an end. Three C-130E transports from No 37 Squadron had been flown into Mombasa, in October that year. The 36 aircraft held at Kenya, to provide the short-haul shuttle from the inland town of Baidoa (where the battalion was Wagga were offered for sale to civil buyers at based) to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. There the soldiers were transferred to a B-707 of No an auction held at Sydney in May 1993. 33 Squadron for the long trip back to Australia. Two B-707s carried out this shuttle service, using crews based at Diego Garcia and Perth. The Hercules flew a total of 14 sorties and the B-707s completed seven, each carrying troops with their kit and weapons. Apart from aircrews, the RAAF contingent involved maintenance personnel from No 486 Squadron and members of the Richmond-based Mobile Air Terminal Unit.

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Bushfire smoke over Williamtown flightline 07 January RAAF C-130 and B-707 transport aircraft flew interstate civilian firefighters into Sydney to assist in dealing with an extraordinary summer bushfire crisis. As fires, which began on 2 January, raged along the eastern seaboard, RAAF personnel responded in several locations. On 6 January Richmond activated its Emergency Operations Centre for the first Glerean third from left time, to support outside organisations which made their home at the base while the bushfire emergency was occurring. At the height 03 of the crisis, Richmond had 400 personnel available for firefighting duty and was catering July for several hundred visiting firefighters and evacuees from threatened areas. In addition Flight Sergeant David Glerean, a photographic interpreter, arrived at Habbaniyah air base outside to personnel sent to fire fronts at Winmalee, Baghdad, to take up a posting with the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq. For the next Kurrajong and St Albans in the Hawkesbury, six months he served with an inspection team to monitor compliance with UN Security Council RAAF members at Williamtown helped beat Resolutions requiring that Iraq destroy all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons facilities back blazes which threatened houses following the 1991 Gulf War. During his tour, he became the first RAAF Chief Aerial Inspector for at Medowie, Campvale and Salt Ash. UNSCOM, operating with a German Army CH-53G helicopter crew from Rasheed Air Base to On 8 January, the flames came to within visually inspect Iraqi facilities suspected to be part of the regime’s weapons programs. Glerean’s 200 metres of the base’s fuel farm. role was to lead the team’s photographic interpretation effort in describing each site for reports that were submitted to New York. Although a RAAF Warrant Officer also worked for UNSCOM, this member was based in New York and visited Iraq only periodically, leaving Glerean as the RAAF’s only full-time inspector in country.

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RAAF members of first Rwanda medical contingent 22 August In response to the ethnic violence which overwhelmed the central African country of Rwanda in April 1994 and for three months afterwards, Australia undertook to support the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) by providing a contingent of Defence medical 35 Squadron detachment, with two members wearing white Operation Lagoon brassards personnel. While most of the 300-strong unit came from the Army, the RAAF contributed 17 members. The Australian Medical Support 07 Force arrived in the Rwandan capital Kigali on board a US Air Force Galaxy transport October at night, and commenced re-establishing medical services in a wing of the Kigali Central Caribous A4-140 and A4-275 from Townsville-based No 35 Squadron arrived at Buka Island for Hospital. Although primarily charged with Operation Lagoon, aimed at facilitating a peace conference to end a five-year conflict between providing health care to the UN troops and the government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). In addition staff of the non-government aid agencies to the Caribous, the RAAF also sent personnel to establish a forward operating base at Buka, working in Rwanda, the Australians quickly and a surgical team. Australia was leading a joint and combined effort to provide security during found that their help was most needed by the conference, and the Caribous were to move elements of a South Pacific Peacekeeping Force the local people. On 18 February 1995, the (SPPKF) between Buka and the conference venue at Arawa, in central Bougainville. RAAF and first contingent was replaced by a fresh 308 RNZAF C-130 Hercules transports began moving the SPPKF on 6 October, but in the event the personnel (including 20 RAAF members) who BRA decided not to attend the conference and the initiative collapsed. By 21 October the 35 stayed until August. members of the RAAF contingent were on their way back to Australia.

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Mogadishu control tower manned by RAAF air traffic controllers

The Australian Defence Force contingent supporting United Nations operations in Somalia 23 was withdrawn from the capital Mogadishu after a presence of two years. The original element comprising a Movement Control Unit (including eight RAAF personnel) had been supplemented in November October 1993 by the arrival of 10 air traffic controllers, and another five RAAF members who were skilled in airfield management. These were part of a second UN mission, known as UNOSOM II, and tasked with keeping Mogadishu airport open in the face of further deteriorating conditions across the country. When the ATC team was due to change over at the end of six months, the replacement contingent included an Army protection force of about 12 men. These were needed to provide security for the airfield staff living in a tented camp overlooking the sea, which was often subjected to harassing fire from local gangs.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 271 On 28 December, French solo yachtswoman Isabelle Autissier, a competitor in the BOC Round- 29 the-World Yacht Race, activated two position beacons after her ketch Ecureuil Poitou Charentes II was dismasted in the . Just after midnight, a RAAF C-130 Hercules transport December of No 37 Squadron was dispatched from Richmond, outside Sydney. The RAAF crew located the crippled vessel during the day, drifting in huge seas 900 nautical miles (1670 kilometres) south- west of Adelaide. An Air Sea Rescue Kit was air-dropped, followed by communication devices in plastic drums. For the next four days, aircraft were launched at five-hour intervals from RAAF Base Edinburgh outside Adelaide to maintain a low-level vigil over the boat. A total of 12 flights were undertaken by three P-3C Orions and two Hercules, each sortie lasting between eight and eleven hours. Autissier was picked up on 1 January 1995 by the RAN frigate, HMAS Darwin, sent from Fremantle.

272 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 1995

A C-130 transport from No 36 Squadron made its first flight from Mauritius to resupply the 01 24-man crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Zuiho Maru after it ran aground on St Paul Island, a rocky outcrop 2900 kilometres west of Perth and halfway to South Africa. To carry out the relief August operation, the aircraft had to use Mauritius as the nearest base. A British container ship on the scene was unable to assist because wild seas forced it to stand off five kilometres from the island. The Hercules was also unable to talk directly to the grounded vessel, with messages having to be relayed via Canberra and Japan. Nonetheless, Air Sea Rescue Kits were successfully delivered by free drop (using parachutes was pointless because of the gusting winds). Three flights over the island—each lasting 12 hours—were needed before the fishermen could be rescued by sea and taken to Mauritius.

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30 April The Hon R.G. (‘Bob’) Halverson, OBE, was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives—the first ex-career Air Force officer to hold such a position in the Commonwealth. Prior to his election in 1984 as Liberal member for Casey (Victoria), he was a Group Captain in the Equipment Branch of the RAAF, having enlisted in 1956 and received a commission in 1959. Halverson served as Speaker until 4 March 1998. Although he had served less than three years in the Speaker’s Chair, he was approved to retain the title ‘Honourable’ for life. He retired from parliament at the end of August 1998 and was appointed Australia’s ambassador to Ireland, serving until 2003.

The Honourable RG (Bob) Halverson OBE

Raphaël Dinelli, a French competitor in the Vendée Globe round-the-world solo yacht race, 26 requested rescue after his boat capsized in atrocious conditions in the Southern Ocean some 1100 nautical miles (2000 kilometres) south-west of Perth. When Dinelli’s yacht, Algimouss, was December located by a RAAF P-3C Orion, the boat was partly submerged and Dinelli was seen standing on the deck which was awash with sea water. A life raft was air-dropped to him and, moments after he scrambled into it, Algimouss sank. He was picked up by another competitor in the race, Peter Goss in Aqua Quorum, who diverted to the area and—guided by the crew of another Orion aircraft––successfully manoeuvred his boat to effect a hazardous rescue the following day.

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Dubois rescue

When two competitors in the Vendée Globe round-the-world solo yacht race triggered distress 06 beacons in the Southern Ocean, some 1400 nautical miles (2600 kilometres) south-west of Perth, Western Australia, RAN and RAAF units were sent to the rescue. Both boats, Pour Amnesty January International, raced by Thierry Dubois, and Tony Bullimore’s Exide Challenger, had capsized, and the sailors desperately needed assistance. In the afternoon, a P-3C Orion located Dubois and another aircraft sighted Bullimore a few hours later. Position information was relayed to HMAS Adelaide, and an Air Sea Rescue Kit was dropped to Dubois. Both men were subsequently rescued by the Navy. Until the Adelaide arrived on the scene, RAAF crews maintained watch over the sailors. Crews from Nos 10 and 11 Squadrons at RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia, manned five Orion aircraft deployed from Perth. The aircraft spent a total of 158 hours in the air.

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19 February The post of Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) was renamed Chief of Air Force (CAF), discarding a title which had been in use by the RAAF for 75 years. The change reflected the system which had evolved within the Australian Defence Force since November 1993, by which the CAS was the professional head of the RAAF under the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF). Under these arrangements, the CAS was responsible for the activities of his Service such as recruitment, training, equipment and administration, but the planning and conduct of air operations came under a separate Air Commander Australia (ACAUST), who answered directly to the CDF through a joint operational commander. Air Marshal , who had been CAS since November 1994, remained in the retitled post and was known as CAF until he retired in May 1998.

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20 March A RAAF airfield engineer, Flight Lieutenant Glen Heyward, arrived in Banja Luka, Bosnia, to oversee civil aid projects being undertaken in the war-torn republic that was formerly part of Yugoslavia. He was the only Air Force member in the six-strong Australian Defence Force contingent (codenamed Operation Osier) sent to join the NATO-led Multinational Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia- Herzegovina and . During a six-month tour with British forces, he coordinated around 800 civil engineering projects ranging from the refurbishment of schools and medical centres to agricultural redevelopment and factory construction. The task was difficult because C-130 transports evacuated civilians after coup in Cambodia of the harsh winter environment, and often dangerous because of landmines and road conditions affecting travel, and also hostility 11 from segments of the local population. Other RAAF engineers followed Heyward, serving July with SFOR and later Force (KFOR) After a coup in Cambodia created a volatile and uncertain security situation, C-130 Hercules until February 2004. transports from No 36 Squadron mounted a one-day airlift of Australians and other foreign nationals from the capital, Phnom Penh. During 6–10 July, six aircraft had been pre-positioned at Butterworth air base, Malaysia, in case they were needed. Four of the Hercules carried out Operation Vista. Over the course of the day, six flights were made into the heavily-damaged Pochentong Airport and a total of 455 people (278 of them Australians) were evacuated to Penang, Malaysia. The airlift was without incident, apart from the discovery in Malaysia of nine young Cambodian stowaways who managed to board the first flight out of Phnom Penh; this group was put on a RAAF flight back to Cambodia. Another 12 Cambodians had to be turned away after they were detected among evacuees queuing for a later flight.

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15 October Two RAAF C-130 transports with extended range assisted in Operation Dirk, which resulted in the RAN frigate Anzac boarding and arresting the Belize-registered longline fishing vessel Salvora inside Australia’s exclusive economic zone around Heard and McDonald Islands, 2000 nautical miles south- west of Fremantle, WA. A second foreign vessel, the Panamanian-flagged Aliza Glacial, was similarly arrested two days later. Both vessels were handed over to the RAN tanker Westralia, which escorted them to Fremantle where the captains were charged with illegally taking Patagonian Toothfish. These patrols represented the first armed defensive action undertaken by Australia in the sub-Antarctic since World War II. The RAAF aircraft provided forward surveillance, since poaching vessels had been using radar to avoid interception. B-707 captain talks to BRA delegation leader in Honiara While Anzac continued patrolling without making further sightings, the Belize-flagged 29 Puerto Madryn was also spotted from the air in the area but without any action being taken September against it. A RAAF C-130 Hercules transport landed at Buka, just north of Bougainville, on the first step towards bringing together the opposing parties in Bougainville’s protracted internal conflict. For the previous nine years a separatist insurgency led by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army had closed down the giant Panguna copper and gold mine and caused a constitutional crisis for the Papua New Guinea Government. The RAAF committed two C-130s and a Boeing 707 aircraft to transport representatives of various factions from Bougainville to Honiara in the Solomon Islands, and then on to peace talks at Burnham, New Zealand. As a result, the Burnham Truce was agreed to next month. The RAAF continued to play a key role in the peace process, bringing together the opposing factions at further talks and providing essential airlift for the Truce Monitoring Group that was subsequently established.

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23 03 February July Air Commodore Alan Titheridge was The Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF), Air Marshal Doug Riding, suffered a broken wrist announced as commander of an ADF when an anti-war protester attacked him and the retiring Chief of the Defence Force, General contingent deployed to Kuwait in anticipation , during a parade at the Russell Defence Offices in Canberra. A 36-year-old man, who of renewed conflict with Iraq in the Persian had been previously yelling abuse from the crowd of onlookers, suddenly ran 10 metres from the Gulf. When the likelihood of a resumption of edge of the parade and shoulder-charged the officers from behind. Both Chiefs were knocked to hostilities arose, the Australian Government the ground but Air Marshal Riding took the brunt of the assault and had to be taken to hospital decided to support US forces by deploying a with minor injuries; General Baker was able to carry on with the parade in his honour. Appointed contingent of about 110 Special Air Service VCDF in June that year, Riding served until he himself retired in 2000. (SAS) troops, along with two B-707 tanker/ transport aircraft and 80 RAAF personnel. After a C-130 loaded with SAS equipment reached Kuwait on 19 February, the first B-707 troop carrier arrived the next day. Another C-130 and the second B-707 carrying the RAAF personnel completed the deployment on 23 February. Although the Iraqi Government defused the crisis by agreeing to cooperate with UN inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction, it was decided to retain coalition contingents in the area for the time being. Before the RAAF tankers withdrew in May, they had completed 119 sorties refuelling fighter aircraft enforcing a ‘no-fly’ zone over southern Iraq.

The Prime Minister, , officially opened the Air Force’s latest base 26 kilometres east 05 of Weipa, on the western side of Cape York Peninsula. The new facility completed a program to construct a chain of bases across Australia’s ‘top end’. Built on the ‘bare base’ principle, it was August designed to accommodate up to 1500 military personnel and about 40 aircraft. Its opening was combined with the launch of a major exercise in the region involving more than 300 personnel from No 395 Combat Support Wing and No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron. The base was named after Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger (1904–1984), who the Prime Minister described as one of Australia’s finest airmen and military officers, and one of the earliest and strongest advocates of northern bases to protect Australia’s air and sea approaches.

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02 December The Chief of Air Force Advisory Committee approved the introduction of a new-look Service Dress uniform for RAAF personnel. The change involved replacing the then current blue-grey coloured uniform (adopted in 1972) with a dark blue shade, now called ‘Air Force blue’. This was the same colour as the first RAAF uniform introduced into use early in 1922. The Service’s senior officer at that time, Wing Commander (later Air Marshal Sir) Richard Williams, recounted in his memoirs of having found the colour during a visit to the Commonwealth Woollen Mills at Geelong, Victoria, where he observed serge material being dipped into indigo dye to produce navy blue. He liked the shade achieved one dip short of the required five, and chose that shade for the RAAF. The reintroduction of Air 28 Force blue returned the RAAF to the distinctive colour of the Service’s first 50 years. December Three RAAF aircraft were called out to assist in the rescue of boats taking part in the annual Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, after competitors were scattered off the New South Wales south coast in appalling weather. A P3-C Orion from No 10 Squadron took off from Edinburgh at 2am and during 12 hours on task located three stricken vessels. At 7.30 am a C-130 Hercules transport left Richmond to lend a hand, and spent more than 13 hours searching out to 100 nautical miles (185 kilometres) between Moruya and Merimbula. It succeeded in locating six boats that had been forced to retire from the race. A second Orion was also launched at 2.30 pm, with the primary mission of finding the missing yacht Winston Churchill and its crew. The next day another Hercules took off at about 3.30 pm, and spent several hours confirming the status of several yachts previously inspected.

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The RAAF suffered one of its worst peacetime accidents when an F-111G from No 6 Squadron 18 crashed on Pulau Aur, a tiny island in the South China Sea lying 65 kilometres off Mersing, on the east coast of Johor, Malaysia. The aircraft (A8-291) was one of two making a simulated April night-time strike against British, Australian and Singaporean warships during a Five Power Defence Arrangement exercise, when it struck tall trees on a ridge line of the island’s peak. The aircraft tumbled through the air for a further mile before crashing into the jungle. Owing to the inaccessibility of the site, most of the wreckage of A8-291 was left at the scene, with a memorial established to the two crew members—Squadron Leader Stephen Hobbs and Squadron Leader Anthony Short––who were killed in the accident.

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The RAAF responded to a United Nations request and began evacuating non-essential UN 06 personnel and foreign nationals from Dili, after pro-Indonesian militias (supported by elements of the Indonesian Armed Forces) went on a violent rampage in protest at a resounding vote by East September Timorese for independence from Indonesia. On the first day alone, about 300 people were carried on five C-130 flights to Darwin. Next day the withdrawal of all members of the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMET) was ordered by UN authorities. This evacuation, dubbed Operation Spitfire by the Australian Defence Force, was completed on 14 September amid increasingly chaotic and distressing conditions. By the time the operation finished, about 2500 personnel had been lifted out from East Timor’s two major airfields at Dili and Baucau by RAAF C-130s and one New Zealand aircraft.

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20 September At 7am, five RAAF C-130 transports landed at Dili’s Comoro airfield, carrying Australian and New Zealand SAS troopers and headquarters elements of the Australian . These were the lead elements of the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) that the United Nations requested be sent to restore peace and stability. The troops secured the town’s airport and seaport, ahead of the arrival of more aircraft bringing infantrymen of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (2 RAR), directly from Townsville, Queensland. Two armoured personnel carriers of the Townsville-based 3rd/4th Cavalry Regiment were also flown in by C-130 to provide mobility and fire support during the dangerous first days of the intervention.

Troops of 2 RAR board C-130s

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A8-143 taxiing at Tindal, NT, for last Timor mission

RAAF RF-111Cs began flying reconnaissance flights over East Timor to assist the UN 05 International Force East Timor (INTERFET) restore peace and order in the face of a sustained campaign of violence by pro-Indonesian militias. The flights took place with the full knowledge November and approval of the Indonesian authorities, and only after diplomatic clearance was granted for each mission. The flights were undertaken by a detachment from No 82 Wing established at RAAF Base Tindal, outside Katherine, Northern Territory, and represented the first time that the F-111 had been used operationally during more than 25 years in service with the RAAF. The missions continued until 9 December, by which time INTERFET had firmly established control.

284 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 21st CENTURY

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23 February Wing Commander Peter Clarke became the first RAAF medical officer appointed to run a United Nations (UN) military hospital, on taking command of the facility established at Dili, East Timor. The hospital, with a staff of 130 medical and ancillary staff, was established to meet the medical needs of 12 500 personnel supporting United Nations efforts to bring peace to the country after it had been ravaged 01 by forces opposing independence from Indonesia. Formed with about half its staff from October the Australian Defence Force, the balance of personnel came from Singapore and Egypt. During the closing night ceremony for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, held in Stadium It was both the first time that the RAAF had Australia at Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, F-111s from No 6 Squadron ‘stole the show’ taken the lead in providing an ADF medical with a spectacular ‘dump and burn’ routine. This presented the illusion of the Olympic flame contingent, and also the first occasion on transcending the skies like a comet, to be reborn at the Games’ next location in Greece, in which the UN sent a multinational level three 2004. The sequence demanded precise timing to achieve maximum impact on a potential world medical facility anywhere in the world. audience of 3.5 billion people. A second aircraft was on an equally precise mission, also to perform a ‘dump and burn’ over the Harbour Bridge, which initiated a massive fireworks display featured on television networks worldwide. With risk management a prime requirement, another two aircraft circled in a holding pattern—providing an unseen backup to ensure the necessary job would be achieved, without fail.

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Four F/A-18 Hornets and 70 personnel from No 77 Squadron departed Williamtown, NSW, for 09 the tiny Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Their role was to provide combat air patrol cover for international coalition forces based on the island, during operations aimed at destroying the bases November in Afghanistan of the Al Qaeda terrorists who had attacked the United States on 11 September. Although the threat to the island itself was considered to be very minor, the RAAF deployment freed US and UK fighters for employment closer to the scene of action in Afghanistan. The aircraft were occasionally scrambled in response to alerts from US Navy picket ships posted north and west of the island, but these were invariably false threats. The personnel initially deployed were relieved in February 2002, before the entire contingent was returned to Australia on 21 May that year.

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13 October A day after terrorists detonated bombs in two tourist bars on the Indonesian island of Bali on 12 October, killing 202 people (88 of them Australians) and injuring another 209, the RAAF was at the forefront of the relief effort mounted by the Australian Defence Force. Permanent Air Force and Specialist Reservists from across the country were activated and C-130 Hercules transports were specially configured for aeromedical evacuation (AME) tasks. The aircraft took off from RAAF Base Richmond, NSW, in under six hours—half the time normally required to deploy for AME––and were on the ground at Bali’s Denpasar Airport during 13 October. A total of five Hercules (three C-130Js and two C-130Hs) were used to fly out 66 casualties, including Balinese and other foreign nationals, for treatment in Australia.

RAAF 707 with a US Marine Corps F-18 during refuelling operation 27 March The first detachment of about 70 personnel from No 84 Wing arrived at Manas airport outside Bishkek, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, as part of the international coalition formed in response to terrorist attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001. Operating from Ganci Air Base, a tent city set up alongside the Manas airfield, the RAAF detachment’s two B-707 aerial tankers provided an air-to-air refuelling capability for the more than 350 coalition fighter aircraft striking into Afghanistan, seeking to topple the Taliban regime there which had provided a terrorist haven. The detachment included air and ground crews from No 33 Squadron, and personnel from 84 Wing, No 1 Combat Communications Squadron and No 381 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron. A changeover of replacement personnel arrived in June, before the detachment withdrew in September.

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13 April A C-130H Hercules transport became the first RAAF aircraft to land at Baghdad International Airport in more than a decade as it took part in Operation Baghdad Assist. The crew was delivering 6.8 tonnes of medical stores and other equipment taken from the RAN’s Landing Platform Amphibious vessel, HMAS , that were desperately required in Iraqi hospitals to meet growing humantiarian needs. Combat operations were still underway around the newly-liberated capital as an international coalition battled to complete the overthrow of Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, 28 and explosions frequently flashed in the night sky as the aircraft’s captain landed using night January vision equipment. Battle damage to the main The RAAF detachment of two P3-C Orion maritime patrol aircraft sent to the Middle East Area runway forced the aircraft to land on a taxiway, of Operations (MEAO) flew its first mission under Operation Slipper. Patrolling day and night and this, along with the potential threat from ahead of the coalition invasion of Iraq, the aircraft contributed to the overall objective of achieving surface-to-air missiles, required a precise and maintaining sea control in the northern Persian Gulf. The superior intelligence from the tactical operation. After landing, the Hercules Orions’ sensors provided coalition commanders with an accurate surveillance picture of surface was unloaded and got away again as quickly activity, enabling potentially hostile shipping to be identified and challenged well away from allied as possible. warships. This marked the start of a commitment that flowed on into Operation Catalyst (the rehabilitation of Iraq following the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein) and would last for more than five years. In that time, the detachment also undertook overland reconnaissance as well as maritime patrols and oil terminal protection sorties.

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The combat force of 14 F/A-18 Hornets from No 75 Squadron, which the RAAF contributed to 27 the operation to overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, flew its last combat mission of the war. Initially employed from 19 March to protect high-value coalition aircraft such as air-to-air refuellers April and intelligence collection aircraft, the Hornets carried such a versatile mix of weapons (cannons, air-to-air missiles and guided bombs) that they were soon used for other tasks. On 20 March, a Hornet was called on to deliver the first RAAF bomb dropped in conflict since Vietnam. As defensive missions became redundant due to lack of Iraqi opposition in the air, 75 Squadron aircraft began flying deliberately planned strike missions––beginning with an attack on Al Kut on 23 March. By the time the squadron flew its last mission, it had amassed 670 sorties and 2300 hours in the air, including 350 sorties and 1800 hours on combat missions.

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Control tower at Baghdad International Airport

An (ATC) detachment 03 of nearly 60 RAAF personnel was made responsible for providing air traffic services at May Baghdad International Airport. The Australians on occasion handled more than 650 aircraft moves daily—in contrast to the 250 usually experienced at Darwin, the RAAF’s busiest airport. In addition to 13 air traffic control officers (ATCOs), the detachment included airfield defence guards (ADGs) for protection of the Australian compound, an Airfield Engineering Section, a Communications Section, and operations, intelligence, administrative and logistics staff. Along with the ATCOs and ADGs, the Communications Section were required to maintained operations on a 24-hour-a-day basis. The commitment was initially expected to be only for a few months, but the detachment remained until August 2004.

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24 July The RAAF contingent to Operation Anode— the Australian Defence Force’s contribution to the multinational Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) intended to restore law and order, mainly on Guadalcanal Island––began arriving at Honiara and was all in place by 29 July. The Air Force contingent consisted of two Caribou transport aircraft and personnel from No 38 Squadron, and an element of No 386 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron which had been specially structured to provide some limited services to RAMSI in addition to meeting the support needs of the Caribou group. The overall success of the RAMSI operation allowed the Antenna array at Laverton, Western Australia number of military personnel (including the Air Force contingent of about 65) to be reduced to A month after Defence Minister Robert Hill a minimum from late 2003, with the remaining officially opened the Jindalee Operational 05 task left principally to the contingents of police Radar Network (JORN) on 5 April 2003, provided by the participating countries and May the system was granted ‘final acceptance’– advisers to key government departments. –meaning unrestricted operation by the Air Force. Using radars near Longreach, Queensland, and Laverton, Western Australia, along with the original Jindalee facility north of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and together with the JORN Coordination Centre located at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia, the complex system provides 24-hour all-weather coverage of the northern and north-western air and surface approaches to the continent. Unlike conventional radars, JORN reaches out to 2000 kilometres from the Australian coastline, and its ability to detect vessels and low-flying aircraft makes it ideal for preventing illegal entry, smuggling and unlicensed fishing. It also contributes to protecting offshore oil and gas assets, search and rescue needs, and providing early weather warnings.

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11 August When Air Commodore was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal, she became the first woman to achieve two-star rank in the Australian Defence Force. In 1999 she had also been the first serving woman to achieve one-star rank as Air Commodore. After completing a Bachelor of Science in Physics at Queensland University, she joined the RAAF in 1977 as an Education Officer. She transferred to the Engineering Branch in 1981, and served in the fields of aircraft maintenance, technical intelligence, electronic warfare, and C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence) systems acquisition and support. When appointed Commanding Officer of the Electronic Warfare Squadron in 1992, she was the first woman to command an operational unit in the RAAF. In 2002–03 she was Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Loadmaster, Warrant Officer Dave Cronan, with Iranian soldiers Academy. After acting as Chief Information Officer for Defence, she transferred to the 30 Reserve in August 2005. December A C-130J Hercules from No 37 Squadron at Richmond, NSW, landed at Kerman, in eastern Iran, with 23 000 pounds of medical and other humanitarian supplies that were needed after the city of Bam had been devastated by a massive earthquake four days earlier. The aircraft had taken off on 28 December and covered 12 000 kilometres (and seven time zones) to deliver its load. The relief supplies included cooking equipment, canvas tents, water purification material, blankets, plastic housing materials and fuel cans. Local military and international aid personnel worked to unload the Hercules, enabling the crew to quickly take off and return to Richmond by 3 January 2004.

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A RAAF C-130J from No 37 Squadron touched down on Niue carrying 25 000 pounds of 09 emergency relief stores that were needed after this small Pacific island had been ravaged by Cyclone Heta. Included in the load were medical stores, vehicles, generators, tents, and January equipment for a field hospital. Also carried on board were 17 medics from the Army’s No 1 Health Support Battalion, who were to assist with restoring local health services and drinking water. On arrival, a team from No 1 Air Terminal Squadron unloaded the entire cargo by hand, as no loading equipment apart from a six-wheel vehicle was available. This task was the second emergency call made on units at RAAF Base Richmond in less than a fortnight, after another consignment of disaster relief had been dispatched to help cope with an earthquake in Iran.

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01 March Two RAAF Hercules aircraft––a C-130H from No 36 Squadron and a C-130J from No 37 Squadron—transported 18 tonnes of emergency relief supplies to Vanuatu, after that 80-island Pacific nation was devastated by a cyclone on 26–27 February. The storm, which passed over the capital, Port Vila, with winds up to 200 kilometres per hour, cut communications, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged four ships in Vila Harbour. As Richmond-based units had already responded to recent disasters in Iran and Niue, there was a well-honed response which saw both aircraft on their way by 3.30 am this day. After unloading was conducted by Australian servicemen posted to the region and local police, the Hercules were refuelled and back in the air within an hour of arrival.

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21 May The prototype of the RAAF’s new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, the ‘Wedgetail’, made its first flight from Boeing Field at Seattle, Washington, in the US, wearing the insignia of No 2 Squadron. The aircraft, which is modelled on the Boeing Damage to C-130 from ground-fired round 737, made a two-hour flight for testing of its systems and structure. The tests were all Soon after taking off from Baghdad successful in that no faults were reported by 27 International Airport, a RAAF C-130 was hit the crew. Airworthiness testing in later months by ground fire while keeping low to avoid the was expected to provide greater insight into June possibility of rocket attack. A single round aircraft performance, stability and control, penetrated the aircraft’s cargo hold and struck followed by full-scale integration of mission one of three American civilian contractors systems. Under the project, the RAAF would being carried as opportunity passengers on receive six airframes at a cost of A$3.4 billion, the flight. The Hercules transport immediately to herald a new era of aerial surveillance for turned around and returned to the airport the Australian Defence Force. The Air Force where it was met by medical personnel; the planned to accept delivery of the first Wedgetail victim was taken off the aircraft for treatment in November 2006, but unexpected problems but was found to have died instantly. While delayed this for more than three years. there had been many previous instances of warnings and sightings of ground fire at Baghdad, this was the first time that an Australian aircraft had been hit.

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01 September When the second rotation of the Australian Army Training Team Iraq (AATTI) departed from Sydney, among the team’s members were four RAAF airfield defence guards (ADGs) from the Airfield Defence Wing at Amberley, Queensland. 21 The ADGs were to assist in the task of training the New Iraqi Army that was needed September to undertake rebuilding the defence of Iraq after the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Squadron Leader Paul Muscat arrived in Iraq to become Officer-in-Command of Explosive Hussein in 2003. To prepare them for their task, Ordnance Disposal with the multinational command established following the overthrow of team members attended the ADF School of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The campaign of violence mounted by dissident elements, involving Languages to learn enough Arabic to enable extensive use of improvised explosive devices, required special emphasis by coalition forces them to communicate with their Iraqi trainees to counter such weapons. In his new capacity, Muscat led the Explosives Hazards Awareness and counterparts. Even with this preparation, Team with the role of coordinating mine search training for all coalition personnel in theatre the AATTI found many spoken languages in and preparing to enter Iraq from Kuwait. From January 2005 until he departed Iraq in March, all their squads of trainees. The ADGs also Muscat also coordinated the induction of Australian Defence Force personnel into the Combined experienced occasions when the training base Explosives Exploitation Cell (CEXC) in Iraq. RAAF Sergeants, Flight Sergeants and Warrant went onto alert against mortar and rocket Officers were rotated through the CEXC before the ADF withdrew in July 2009, and another two attacks from insurgents. After six months the RAAF officers also succeeded Muscat in his position. soldiers and airmen were returned home.

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Arrival at Medan

Two days after Indian Ocean littoral countries were devastated by a tsunami generated by 28 a severe earthquake off Sumatra, Indonesia, on 26 December, the first two RAAF C-130H transports from No 36 Squadron touched down at Medan to begin flying relief into Aceh December Province. The initial focus of the Australian effort was the disaster-affected town of Banda Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra. Crews of aircraft flying over the region, especially up the west coast of the island, were dismayed by the total absence of any visible life. RAAF participation in the relief effort, called Operation Sumatra Assist, ranged from medical staff and aeromedical evacuation teams to air traffic controllers (needed to help manage the increased flow of aircraft into the region), engineers, logistics personnel, as well as a variety of transport aircraft (C-130s, Boeing 707) and air terminal staff.

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Elsley surveying helicopter landing zone at Julud 01 May Squadron Leader Ruth Elsley was appointed to command the Australian contingent which the Minister for Defence, Robert Hill, had announced on 20 April would deploy in support of the United Nations Mission in 02 (UNMIS) to monitor implementation of April a peace agreement between the Sudanese Government and a local rebel movement. A RAN Sea King helicopter (callsign ‘Shark 02’) from HMAS Kanimbla crashed on the island of Elsley, an air traffic control officer from Nias, off northern Sumatra, while providing humanitarian assistance to the local community. The 44 Wing, joined UNMIS Headquarters at Australian Defence Force had responded to another crisis caused by an earthquake off the coast Khartoum on 7 May, as the Senior Staff Officer of Sumatra on 29 March, which killed hundreds of people barely three months after the region Aviation Safety. Two members of her team was devastated by a massive tsunami. Two C-130Js from No 37 Squadron deployed next day also became UN staff officers. The other six carrying humanitarian relief and medical supplies and a RAAF aeromedical evacuation (AME) personnel in the ADF contingent were spread team from Williamtown, and on 31 March a B-707 left Brisbane carrying a medical team. The throughout the country as military observers. crash of Shark 02 resulted in the deaths of nine of the 11 ADF personnel on board; three were After Elsley returned to Australia in November, RAAF medical staff, the rest were members of the Navy. A RAAF Leading Aircraftman and a RAN her work as COMASC (Commander Australian survived the tragedy. Contingent) for ––the first such appointment held by a woman––was recognised by award of the Conspicuous Service Cross in January 2007.

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Air Marshal became third RAAF four-star

After serving four years as Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal A.G. (‘Angus’) Houston was promoted 04 to Air Chief Marshal and appointed Chief of the Defence Force (CDF). He was the first RAAF appointee in nearly 20 years since the Chief of the Defence Force Staff (CDFS) post was renamed July CDF in October 1986 (and there had been only one RAAF officer as CDFS in the previous 10 years); he was also only the third RAAF officer ever granted four-star rank. He was appointed to a second three-year term in March 2008.

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Triage centre at Denpasar 02 October The detonation on 1 October of three terrorist bombs on the Indonesian island of Bali killed 25 people, many of them foreign tourists (including four Australians), and injured more than 100 (17 of whom were Australians), just 11 days short of the anniversary of similar deadly blasts in 2002. Two RAAF C-130 Hercules November transports were dispatched from Richmond, outside Sydney, carrying an ADF medical A 140-member Army and RAAF medical team left for Pakistan to provide vital health care team to help assess and treat the injuries assistance following a devastating earthquake on 8 October. The quake, centred in the remote of the victims. A further ADF surgical team, North-West Province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, killed an estimated 79 000 people, with a medical staging facility and a small injured over 100 000 and left 3.3 million homeless. With the approach of winter, survivors were coordination element, also deployed from in desperate need of medical attention, food, clean water and shelter. The ADF team arrived at Richmond to Darwin by C-130 aircraft in case Islamabad in a RAAF B-707 and a C-130J Hercules from No 37 Squadron on 12 November they were needed in Bali. After the emergency and moved to Dhanni, 20 kilometres north-east of Muzaffarabad, where it established Camp response team arrived at Denpasar, the two Bradman. In later months, personnel deployed to more remote areas, such as the Neelum RAAF aircraft returned to Australia early on Valley of Kashmir, to assist villagers unable to reach the primary medical facility at Dhanni. 3 October carrying 22 victims and some ADF personnel performed thousands of immunisations and medical treatments before members of their families. withdrawing in April 2006.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 301 23 March The 3743-tonne seized North Korean freighter Pong Su was sunk about 140 kilometres off Jervis Bay, on the NSW south coast, by two 2000-pound (910-kilogram) high explosive laser-guided bombs dropped by an F-111 strike aircraft. The ship had been at the centre of a drug-smuggling incident three years earlier, in which Australian Federal Police seized nearly 150 kilograms of heroin worth an estimated $240 million that had been illegally landed at Lorne, Victoria. RAAF P-3 Orions from RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia, and a C-130 Hercules from No 36 Squadron at Richmond, NSW, assisted Coastwatch aircraft in tracking the vessel as it fled east through Bass Strait then along the Australian coast, prior to it being stopped off Port Stephens, NSW, where the crew was arrested at gunpoint on 20 April 2003. During the disposal exercise this day, a RAAF AP-3C Orion performed range clearance and safety duties.

Disposal of Pong Su 2006

25 May RAAF C-130 and B-707 transports delivered 19 troops and vehicles of the 3rd Battalion Group from Townsville to Dili, in Timor Leste April (East Timor), to deal with a renewed political After rioters torched parts of the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, to protest the installation of and civil crisis engulfing the fledgling nation. an unpopular Prime Minister on 18 April, four C-130H Hercules transports from No 36 Squadron Australia led a coalition of forces from New delivered 110 troops of 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (1 RAR) from Townsville, Zealand and Malaysia to help restore stability Queensland, to help restore order. The soldiers joined members of the multinational Regional in a situation that was out of control. In Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), who had been helping to stabilise the fragile addition to the 1300 ground ADF troops taken country since mid-2003 but were overwhelmed by the latest unexpected outbreak of violence. in for what was known as , The aircraft were then used to evacuate foreign nationals fleeing the riots––mainly Chinese whose the RAAF also deployed airfield defence businesses had been especially targeted. On 21 April another company of 110 troops from guards, an Air Force evacuation handling 3 RAR was flown to Honiara on a B-707 aircraft from RAAF Base Richmond, NSW, followed by centre, aeromedical evacuation teams, 35 men from the RAAF’s No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron at Amberley, Queensland, who also command and control, and air load personnel. travelled by 36 Squadron Hercules. On return flights, the transports brought out Australian and foreign nationals fleeing the violence in Dili. The RAAF also had AP-3C Orions involved in supporting the operation with intelligence from surveillance.

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RAAF members help evacuees board the last chartered vessel from Beirut, 5 August

A 120-strong ADF joint task force reached Cyprus by civil air to assist in the evacuation of 19 Australian nationals caught up in fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah Islamic organisation. RAAF members of the detachment flew into the Lebanese capital, Beirut, two days July later on board an RAF Chinook helicopter. Several times personnel travelled into the war-torn southern part of Lebanon, to Sidon and Tyre, to contact and bring back to Beirut individuals who found themselves trapped by the fighting. Other ADF personnel assisted with embarking evacuees onto vessels chartered by the Australian Government to take them by sea to Larnaca Port in Cyprus, from where onwards air transportation was arranged. Activities under Operation Ramp continued in Beirut into the first week of August.

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The Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff 15 Shepherd, presented a Meritorious Unit 17 Citation to the second rotation of the Australian November Medical Detachment which served in support November of Operation Catalyst in Iraq from May until A parade held at RAAF Base Richmond September 2005. Australia had maintained marked the transfer of C-130H Hercules an Army and Air Force medical team at the transport aircraft operated by No 36 Squadron Theatre Hospital at to the other Richmond-based unit operating Balad, a major coalition air base north of the the later ‘J’ model variants of the C-130. Iraqi capital, since October 2004. According The squadron was divesting itself of the to the Unit Citation, however, the period of the Hercules in preparation for moving to RAAF second rotation was characterised by ‘times Base Amberley in Queensland the next month of mass casualties, intense and traumatic and re-equipping with the first of four Boeing periods’. The detachment’s 45 ADF regular C-17A Globemaster transport aircraft. The and specialist reserve medical members— occasion also saw Wing Commander Linda including 10 from the RAAF—treated over Corbould take over as Commanding Officer 5000 patients. The award was made at of 36 Squadron, making her the first female a special ceremony held at the Shrine of commander of any RAAF flying unit. She Remembrance in Melbourne. had specialised in transport operations since gaining her wings in 1990, and was now given the important task of overseeing the introduction into service of a new heavy-lift capability not previously possessed by the RAAF.

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Remains of Garuda Flight 200 07 March Flight Sergeant Michael Hatton and Leading Aircraftman Kyle Quinlan were travelling on a Garuda Airlines 737-400 which crashed on landing at Yogjakarta airport in Indonesia. Both were members of the security detail for a contingent of diplomats, journalists, police and other officials covering a visit by the Australian Foreign Minister. When the aircraft struck the 02 runway hard, 21 people were killed including June five Australian passengers. On impact, the aircraft had burst in flames on the starboard When the eighth rotation of the Australian Army Training Team Iraq (AATTI) took over responsibility side. With the help of another passenger, for mentoring and advising instructors and commanders of the Iraqi Army, with a handover Quinlan opened an emergency hatch on ceremony at Camp Terendak on the Ali Air Base at Tallil in Dhi Qar Province, the 100-strong team the opposite side and guided survivors to included 15 members of the RAAF (five officers and 10 airmen). The Government had announced safety. Noticing that Hatton was temporarily the previous February that it would expand the training team to develop new capabilities for the incapacitated from a blow to the head, he also Iraqi Army, such as combat operations and logistics. The RAAF members of AATTI continued helped him to escape and moved him 40–50 their work with the team when it relocated soon afterwards from Tallil, 300 kilometres south of metres away from the site. He then repeatedly Baghdad, to the coalition base at Taji, some 40 kilometres north of the capital. There was one entered the smoke-filled wreckage to remove more changeover of personnel within the AATTI before the team was withdrawn to Australia in other injured passengers, until the flames mid-2008. forced him to withdraw. On 17 August, Quinlan was awarded the Bravery Medal.

306 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 29 June A new airfield was officially opened on the Bradshaw Field Training Area in the Northern Territory, 600 kilometres south-east of Darwin. Construction was carried out by 110 Australian personnel from the RAAF and Army, and 105 personnel from US Services. The airfield, dubbed Nackaroo, was undertaken as a joint rapid construction task in conjunction with Exercise Talisman Sabre 07, aimed at building a C-17 capable airfield in less than 25 days, with two turning aprons completed in another three days. Work began on 3 June and, although delayed by unseasonable rain, the main strip was finished in just 16 days. Certification was, however, held up until 25 June. Rain also delayed the aprons, but they were still completed within four days. Two C-17s—one RAAF and one USAF–– demonstrated the boost given to Australia’s strategic airlift capability by landing during the ceremony and deploying military vehicles.

Progress of construction on Day 16 Progress 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 307 2007

05 08 August September A Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) RAAF F/A-18 Hornets undertook continuous established by RAAF personnel at Kandahar air patrols over Sydney to ensure the Airfield took over the management of an protection of visiting world leaders at the assigned area of Afghanistan’s operational air 2007 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation space in support of the NATO-led International (APEC) forum. The fighters were only part of Security Assistance Force battling Taliban approximately 1500 ADF personnel taking part ‘Radar Hill’ at Camp Palomino, Kandahar, July 2007 extremists. Following deployment of a in Operation Deluge to support the security small advance party from No 41 Wing at arrangements for the important two-day Williamtown, NSW, the main group (comprising meeting. To extend the time the Hornets personnel from Darwin-based No 114 Mobile could spend in the air, to meet any airborne Control and Reporting Unit (114MCRU) and threats that might arise, the RAAF crews had elements of Combat Support Group units) practised air-to-air refuelling procedures during began arriving in June. Eventually a 76-strong the previous month. In the event, the only detachment was formed, which was the first incident that occurred was the inadvertent complete RAAF unit on deployment inside the intrusion into the 45 nautical mile (83 kilometre) country. Using a state-of-the-art Lockheed restricted flying zone by an amateur pilot Martin TPS-77 radar, the CRC assumed coming from Bathurst in a Cessna 337 on the responsibility for coordinating and deconflicting afternoon of 9 September. The two Hornets coalition air operations, including surveillance which intercepted the straying aircraft over and air-to-air refuelling, 24 hours a day, seven Penrith dispersed flares to alert the pilot to days a week. The initial contingent from his error before escorting him to Bankstown 114MCRU progressively returned to Australia Airport. in late 2007 and was replaced.

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RAAF transports began delivering substantial disaster relief assistance to Papua New Guinea, after 22 the northern Oro Province had been devastated by flooding caused by Cyclone Guba. Washed- out bridges had cut off the provincial capital Popondetta, and an estimated 150 people died in November the disaster. Following coordination by Defence with AusAID and other agencies, two C-130J Hercules departed this day with humanitarian supplies, and personnel from No 2 Air Transportable Health Squadron and No 1 Airfield Operational Support Squadron. A C-17 Globemaster, along with three Caribou transports from No 38 Squadron, arrived the following day. A forward base was set up at a former World War II airfield at Girua, operated by the RAAF’s No 382 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron. Joint Task Force 636, under Group Captain Tim Innes, was also established there, to coordinate the movement of relief supplies to outlying villages.

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13 May After the central Irrawaddy delta region of When the Australian Army’s 13th rotation of (Burma) was devastated on 2 May 07 personnel providing security for the Australian by a severe tropical storm dubbed Cyclone Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, departed from Nargis, the Australian Government sent a March Darwin, the 110-man detachment included a C-17A Globemaster heavy lift transport section of RAAF airfield defence guards for from No 36 Squadron to deliver relief aid. the first time. The Air Force group, from The storm had been the worst experienced in No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron based at the country, generating a sea surge that swept Amberley, Queensland, comprised a Corporal 25 kilometres inland causing well over and 12 Leading Aircraftmen. They were fully 150 000 deaths and severely affecting another integrated within the two platoons drawn from 2.5 million people. After the reclusive military the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, government finally accepted international which formed the main infantry combat assistance, the RAAF C-17 flew from its element of SECDET 13, and performed tasks base at Amberley, Queensland, to Richmond ranging from sniper duties to armed escorts, outside Sydney to load 31 tonnes of supplies, and manning observation and entry control including water, shelters and blankets. points. After serving six months, the 13th The aircraft reached Mingaladon Airport rotation was replaced by a fresh detachment– at Yangon (Rangoon) on this day and was –SECDET 14—which also included personnel unloaded by a mobile airlift team from No from No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron. 1 Airfield Operations Support Squadron, assisted by about 100 Burmese military personnel.

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RAAF C-130 Hercules transports completed the task of bringing home the Army’s 550-strong 18 Overwatch Battle Group (West) (OBGW) from Tallil base at Nassiriya in Dhi Qar province, southern Iraq. In fulfillment of a promise by the newly-elected Labor Government to withdraw combat June forces, the withdrawal was begun at the start of June when the Battle Group ceased operations. From 2 June, equipment and troops began being placed on board RAAF C-130s at the Ali Air Base at Tallil on the first stage of their return to Australia (the troops had to first complete a range of administrative checks at Australia’s Force Level Logistic Asset in the Middle East). By 18 June, the drawdown had reached the point when the Commanding Officer of OBGW climbed on board a Hercules to complete the withdrawal.

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The last of the RAAF’s fleet of six Boeing 707 transports made its farewell flight over Sydney 30 to mark the end of this type’s 29 years of service with the Air Force, both as long-range troop carriers and in-flight refueling tankers. Aircraft A20-624, which bore the name ‘Richmond June Town’, was one of the first two 707-338Cs purchased from Qantas Airways Ltd and formally delivered to the RAAF on 31 March 1979. Despite prior notice being given of the planned flight, the sight of the large ex-airliner flying low in the vicinity of the city’s tall buildings, with smaller aircraft seemingly in pursuit (they were actually carrying media cameramen to record the event), reportedly created a fear among a segment of the public that Sydney was witnessing a repeat of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York six years earlier.

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FLTLT Miller with Gambian member of UNAMID 12 August The first four ADF peacekeepers to support the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) flew out from Sydney to begin a six-month deployment in central Africa. Among them was Flight Lieutenant Andrew Miller, who took up duty as Movements Control Officer in the UNAMID headquarters at El Fashir, an important provincial capital in Darfur. His role was to plan and coordinate the 05 movement of cargo and personnel across the September region using fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. The four were joined in following weeks by another The day after being formally approved to conduct aeromedical evacuation (AME) tasks, a C-17 four specialists from Australia, including two Globemaster III heavy lift transport was used on this day to bring home five wounded and injured more RAAF Flight Lieutenants. At full strength, Australian Defence Force personnel from Afghanistan. Accompanying the patients were 18 the UNAMID operation had 20 000 troops members of two AME teams––permanent and reservist specialist and general duties doctors and and 6000 police and civilian personnel from nurses, and medical assistants––who provided around-the-clock care during the flight from Tarin 45 countries, mostly member nations of the Kowt to Amberley, Queensland. The C-17 proved to be a functional and comfortable aircraft to African Union, dedicated to deterring use on AME missions, reflecting the fact that it had been designed with that role in mind. Capable a resurgence of the violence which since of carrying up to 36 stretcher-borne patients, or up to five critical-care patients plus 18 low to 2003 had killed an estimated 300 000 people medium dependency patients, the Globemaster was a major addition to the RAAF’s capabilities. and displaced more than two million from their homes.

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2008

08 December A C-17A Globemaster transport from No 36 Squadron took off from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, with all crew positions filled by females—the first time in RAAF history that a multi-crew aircraft had been flown solely by women. At the controls was Wing Commander Linda Corbould, who in late November had handed over command of 36 Squadron after filling the position as the first female Commanding Officer of an operational Air Force flying squadron for the previous two years. On board were a female copilot and three female loadmasters, and also other female personnel of the squadron. The flight was a routine training sortie from Amberley to Ballina in northern New South Wales, returning north along the coastline to the Gold Coast before heading back to Amberley.

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Search team at wreck site

After bushfires of unprecedented severity 09 and scale on 7 February caused over 200 14 human deaths, destroyed entire townships, February and devastated more than 300 000 hectares April of bush and farmland across Victoria, today An investigative team from the Australian the Commonwealth Government mobilised Defence Force completed a seven-hour its disaster plan. The RAAF was tasked to journey by lorry, boat and foot into an undertake specialist roles as part of the overall extremely rugged, remote and sparsely response required from the ADF. For the next populated area of Quang Nam Province week, three different AP-3C crews from in Vietnam, near the border with Laos, in No 92 Wing of the Surveillance and Response search of Canberra bomber A84-231 which Group based at Edinburgh, South Australia, went missing with its two-man crew during conducted a total of five sorties (often lasting the Vietnam War. Items of aircraft wreckage up to nine hours) to collect imagery of the and military artefacts (including a club badge fire-ravaged areas, to provide authorities with unique to the RAAF’s No 2 Squadron) were a bird’s-eye view of the fire fronts and the located the next day, which confirmed that damage associated with the blazes. Since the the area contained the remains of the missing Orion was primarily a maritime surveillance Australian aircraft. In July that year, a recovery platform, its use represented the first time that operation, named Operation Magpies Return, its specialist capabilities had been employed found human remains at the crash site. These to provide assistance to the civil community were transported to Hanoi, where Vietnamese over land. and Australian forensic specialists identified them as those of Flying Officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver. The remains were repatriated to Australia on 31 August.

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17 Control and Reporting Centre Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Stuart Briese (right), handing over to the June United States Air Force The RAAF began using a new high-tech 07 bombing range at Bradshaw Field Training Area, covering 8710 square kilometres in July the Northern Territory, on the eastern side The RAAF Control and Reporting Centre (CRC) at Kandahar handed over its mission of of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. Construction of managing and deconflicting aircraft movements in its assigned area of Afghanistan to the 451st the new facility was completed in the record Air Expeditionary Wing of the US Air Force. During almost two years of operations, the CRC time of 12 months. Two steel towers set on handled 196 000 coalition movements in support of the International Security Assistance Force, a steep escarpment overlooking three target in what had become some of the world’s busiest airspace. With a deployed strength of about areas––one square and two round––enable 75 (comprising air combat officers, air surveillance operators and communications electronic operators to accurately score and measure technicians, plus specialist support staff), the CRC was manned by only 35 personnel at any one ordnance dropped from aircraft, without being time but still directed combat aircraft in support of ground troops across Afghanistan 24 hours a within viewing distance. Using concepts first day, seven days a week. This was only the second time that the RAAF’s No 41 Wing had been employed for training in World War II, remote- deployed operationally; the first was in Malaya during the 1960s. controlled cameras on each tower send footage back via microwave to another tower located behind range control, 50 kilometres away, and can calculate accuracy to within one metre. With no roads to the escarpment, the towers were erected using helicopters. The first bomb was a 2000-pound (910-kilogram) GBU10 delivered by an F/A-18 from No 75 Squadron during Exercise Talisman Sabre 09.

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09 August The RAAF became an operator of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) when a detachment at Kandahar, Afghanistan, conducted its first flight with a Heron unmanned aircraft. The Australians had arrived at Kandahar five days earlier, after a period 26 of training in Canada to gain experience in the way that the November employed the Heron on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) No 2 Squadron took ‘initial delivery’ of two Boeing Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control missions. Australia had taken a 12-month (AEW&C) aircraft at RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW. The ceremony was attended by the Chief of lease on the Israeli-made Heron system, with Air Force, Air Marshal , and personnel from the Defence Material Organisation, the an option of extending for an additional 24 Boeing company, and the RAAF’s Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group. The status of the months. The Heron is a one-tonne unmanned two Wedgetails––A30-001 and A30-004—meant that they were made available to the RAAF platform powered by an 86 kW Rotax for familiarisation training purposes, but remained on the manufacturer’s books and the US civil engine, capable of medium altitude, long- register until formally handed over in 2010. This required Boeing to provide a pilot in command endurance flights. It was expected that the and a flight test engineer on all RAAF flights undertaken until the official handover. Development, RAAF detachment would work with Canadian test and evaluation of the aircraft systems had yet to be fully completed by Boeing, particularly operators to gain experience in using the with respect to the radar, electronic support measures and integrated system performance Heron unmanned aerial vehicle over remote and stability. and inhospitable areas of Afghanistan in which Taliban insurgents were active.

318 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 2009

A4-140 landing at Canberra

The RAAF flew its last operation involving the DHC-4 Caribou light transport aircraft, 45 years 27 after this type first entered service in Australia. The final flight was carried out by Caribou A4-140 from Richmond into Canberra, where the aircraft was handed over to the November for preservation. The previous day, another Caribou, A4-152, was similarly handed over to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, Victoria. A4-140 was the oldest surviving airframe of this type operated by the RAAF, having been one of the first three to arrive in Australia in 1964. Seven days previously, at RAAF Base Townsville, No 38 Squadron had taken over three Hawker Pacific King Air 350 aircraft from the Army, to provide the Australian Defence Force with an interim light transport capability until a new tactical transport type was chosen. The three ex-Army King Airs were to be joined by five new machines of the same type by mid-2010.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 319 2010

27 January The first two members of a five-strong air traffic control (ATC) team left Sydney for Miami in the United States, in preparation for joining the international relief effort in the Caribbean island of Haiti following a devastating earthquake on 12 January. The disaster destroyed the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, killing more than 220 000 people and leaving 26 05 1.3 million homeless. The Australian Defence March May Force team was being sent in response to an American request for ATC specialists, who The first five of 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super One of two AP-3C Orion maritime patrol could assist in providing safe and effective Hornet (Rhino) aircraft on order for the aircraft operated by the RAAF in the Middle control of the mass of military and civil aircraft RAAF arrived at the Amberley air base after East responded to a distress call on the delivering humanitarian aid through Haiti’s flying across the Pacific Ocean, becoming international maritime emergency channel shattered . The five Australian officers, the Air Force’s first new air combat aircraft from a civilian vessel. The Orion crew was all from the RAAF’s No 44 Wing, were to be in 25 years. The long ferry flight began on tasked to identify if the ship’s crew were in embedded with a US Air Force team, and 19 March, when the detachment took off difficulties from a suspected pirate attack. would conduct pre-deployment training in from Naval Station Lemoore in California, Arriving on the scene in the Gulf of Aden, the Miami before moving forward to Port-au- USA, headed for Hawaii. Two days later air crew observed an oil tanker, the Moscow Prince on 12 February. they took off from Hickam Air Force Base University, lying dead in the water with three and undertook aerial refuelling en route to small skiffs––of the kind used by Somali Pago Pago in American Samoa. The Super pirates––pulled up alongside. Communications Hornets were also refuelled mid-air on the were established with the tanker’s crew, who leg to Auckland, New Zealand, on 23 March. confirmed that they were in a safe location On arrival at Amberley, the aircraft and crews but in need of assistance against pirates who were met by a large welcoming party led by had stormed aboard and were roaming the the Minister for Defence and the Chief of Air ship. The request for help was relayed and the Force. After further deliveries of Super Hornets next day the 23 members of the tanker’s crew were received, No 1 Squadron was declared were rescued unharmed by a Russian warship operational on 8 December. which was nearby.

320 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 2010

24 August The first contingent of the 92 RAAF personnel deploying under Operation Pakistan Assist II flew into Multan in the Punjab. In July 2010 central Pakistan was devastated by the worst flooding in that nation’s history, leaving 2000 dead and 21 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Australia responded to the crisis by sending RAAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft with aid, personnel and equipment. Wing Commander Ross Wadsworth led the Australian Medical Task Force (AMTF), which included over 180 Defence and civilian doctors, nurses, paramedics and support personnel. The AMTF operated from ‘Camp Cockatoo’ at Kot Addu and between 2 September and 20 October provided health care for over 11 000 flood-affected people, and treated over 3000 cases of malaria. When the AMTF departed, 90 per cent of the people in the Punjab had returned to their homes and the local hospitals were managing their own medical needs.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 321 2010

Final landing of A8-125

The RAAF’s fleet of General Dynamics F-111 bombers was retired after 37 years as the mainstay 03 of Australia’s long-range strike capability. The occasion was commemorated by two days of special activities conducted at, and from, the air base at Amberley, Queensland, which had been December the home of the F-111 from the time that the first aircraft, A8-125, touched down in 1973. The original purchase of 24 aircraft had been augmented over the years by acquisition of attrition spares, and a total of 18 airframes were still operating in 2009 when the process of retirement commenced. On the last day, a six-ship formation took off to overfly Brisbane and the Gold Coast before returning to mount a display over Amberley, while a solo aircraft performed a ‘dump and burn’ routine. Fittingly, in marking an end of an era, the last F-111 to touch down was A8-125.

322 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 2011

11 January Three No 36 Squadron C-17s at Yokota Extreme rainfalls in the Ipswich area of south- east Queensland led to flood water entering the northern end of RAAF Base Amberley 14 and caused taxiways to become impassable. Although the central runway remained open March throughout the emergency, its usable length A C-17A Globemaster from No 36 Squadron arrived in the early hours at Yokota Airbase, west was reduced to nearly 2000 metres for around of Tokyo in Japan, bringing an Emergency Services Task Force (made up of police, fire and 12 hours, and three C-17A Globemaster ambulance personnel from NSW, ACT and Queensland) to help with urban search and rescue aircraft were sent away so that they could work following the powerful Tohoku earthquake and devastating tsunami on 11 March. continue to be tasked in support of the The aircraft remained in Japan for two weeks before returning on 25 March; during that period widespread flood relief effort then underway it undertook 23 sorties, providing intra-country airlift of vital stores and equipment. More than across Queensland; the unserviceable fourth 450 tonnes of cargo, including 41 vehicles and 135 passengers, was moved to disaster areas C-17 was towed and parked on higher throughout Japan. Two additional C-17s also undertook a mission from Australia, carrying a ground. When flooding also caused the remotely operated water cannon system (supplied by the Bechtel Corporation at the request of sewage treatment plant to be closed, the base the United States) to assist with efforts to contain radiation leakage at a damaged nuclear reactor was ordered onto minimum staffing levels, and at Fukushima. as many personnel as possible were released to ensure their own homes and possessions were shored against water invasion. By next day, water had receded from the runway, but some taxiways and parking aprons were left submerged.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 323 2011

A39-003 touching down at Amberley

The RAAF took delivery of the first of a planned total of five Airbus Military A330 Multi Role Tanker 01 Transport (MRTT) aircraft, designated the KC-30A. The aircraft, A39-003, was officially handed over to No 33 Squadron at RAAF Base Amberley upon arrival from Madrid, Spain. The first of a June new generation of tanker/transports, the KC-30A is capable of boom or probe-and-drogue aerial refuelling, or carrying 270 passengers, and represents a major increase in capability over the RAAF’s previous tanker/transport aircraft, the Boeing 707. As the last RAAF B-707 flight was in 2008, Australia lacked an aerial refuelling capability for three years, necessitating the chartering of civilian aircraft to support overseas deployments. When the contract for the KC-30A was signed, delivery of the first aircraft was planned for mid-2009, but problems with the development and certification of the aerial refuelling systems resulted in a two-year delay.

324 90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 2011

(From left) AIRMSHLs Brown, Binskin, ACM Houston, and AIRMSHL Harvey

Following a change of command ceremony held this day at the Department of Defence offices 01 on Russell Hill, Canberra, the RAAF had three officers in the rank of Air Marshal for the first time in its history. Upon Air Marshal Mark Binskin vacating the post of Chief of Air Force to July become Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Deputy CAF, Air Vice-Marshal Geoff Brown, was appointed to replace him on promotion to three-star rank. A third Air Marshal, John Harvey, had been serving since late 2010 as Chief of Capability Development Group in the Defence Materiel Organisation. There had been two RAAF three-star officers serving at the same time on three previous occasions (in 1961–65, 1986–87 and 1998–2000), but never three. Also attending the parade this day, as a guest, was the retiring Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, whose four-star appointment technically still had two days to run.

90 Years of the RAAF - A Snapshot History 325 - 1921 -

- 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 - 1927 - 1928 -

1929 - 1930 - 1931 - 1932 - 1933 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939

- 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946 - 1947 - 1948 - 1949 -

1950 - 1951 - 1952 - 1953 - 1954 - 1955 - 1956 - 1957 - 1958 - 1959 - 1960

- 1961 - 1962 - 1963 - 1964 - 1965 - 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969 - 1970 -

1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980 - 1981

- 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 -

1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002

- 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010

- 2011 -

Acknowledgements

The Air Power Development Centre wishes to thank the RAAF Museum, RAAF Balloon Flight, Air Force News, GPCAPT Geoff Robinson, WGCDR Ruth Elsley, SQNLDR Anthony Lock, Mr Mick Sheean and Mr Trevor Nye for their contribution of imagery to this publication.

We would also like to acknowledge the provision of imagery from the following organisations:

Australia Post 15 May 1943 - “Centaur” artwork by Ross Shardlow.

Australian War Memorial 12 August 1937 - 026590; 27 November 1939 - 044910; 21 June 1940 - P02571.008; 1 July 1940 - 128165; 26 August 1940 - 006647; 19 November 1940 - SUK14908; 14 December 1940 - 003711; 25 February 1941 - ARTV01114; 11 July 1941 - 009396; 29 August 1941 - 140688; 8 December 1941 - P04360.002; 1 March 1942 - 301160; 21 March 1942 - 150494; 11 August 1942 - P00849.001; 27 August 1942 - 014651; 10 November 1942 - OG1923; 28 February 1943 - P01159.001; 24 April 1943 - OG0068; 30 July 1943 - P02184.006; 31 July 1943 - P02491.175; 4 December 1943 - 019207; 28 March 1944 - P10129.001; 29 March 1944 - P00631.009; 31 October 1944 - 128344; 21 March 1945 - UK2920; 2 September 1945 - 019123; 8 June 1946 - ART26674; 23 June 1950 - P00716.009; 12 October 1950 - P00675.038; 8 May 1952 - ART40347; 3 October 1952 - P00444.045; 2 November 1961 - SUK10310; 8 August 1964 - P01947.001; 13 May 1966 - VN/66/0065/07; 12 June 1966 - MAL/66/0037/09; 31 May 1971 - P07489.001; 30 March 1975 - P05608.005; 16 May 1991 - P01762.023; 3 May 2003 - P04159.132.

High Court of Australia 7 April 1983 – Dam Construction

National Archives 9 May 1927 - 3109797; 20 November 1929 - 3149823; 13 August 1940 - 4148311

National Library 15 June 1922 – 4970361; 17 Octobr 1960 – 3082589.

State Library of Queensland 14 March 1928 - 751117