No. 3 Squadron RAAF
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Article Talk Read Edit View history Search Wikipedia No. 3 Squadron RAAF From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia No. 3 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadron, Main page No. 3 Squadron RAAF Contents headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales. Featured content Established in 1916, it was one of four combat squadrons of the Australian Flying Current events Corps during World War I, and operated on the Western Front in France before Random article being disbanded in 1919. It was re-raised as a permanent squadron of the RAAF in Donate to Wikipedia 1925, and during World War II operated in the Mediterranean Theatre. The Cold Wikipedia store War years saw the squadron disbanded and re-raised twice. It was based at RAAF Interaction Butterworth during the Malayan Emergency and the Indonesia–Malaysia Help Konfrontasi. Equipped with McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters About Wikipedia from 1986, the squadron deployed to Diego Garcia in 2002 to provide local air Community portal defence, and the following year contributed aircraft and crews to the invasion of No. 3 Squadron's crest Recent changes Iraq as part of Operation Falconer. In April 2016, it deployed to the Middle East as Active 1916–1919 Contact page part of the military intervention against ISIL. 1925–1946 Tools 1948–1953 Contents [hide] 1956–current What links here Country Australia Related changes 1 History Upload file 1.1 World War I Branch Royal Australian Air Force Special pages 1.2 World War II Role Multi-role fighter Permanent link 1.3 Cold War Part of No. 81 Wing, Air Combat Group Page information 1.4 Post-Cold War Garrison/HQ RAAF Base Williamtown Wikidata item 2 Aircraft operated Motto(s) Operta Aperta Cite this page ("Secrets Revealed")[1] 3 See also Print/export Engagements World War I Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Create a book 4 References Western Front Download as PDF 4.1 Notes World War II Printable version 4.2 Bibliography Western Desert Campaign In other projects 4.3 Further reading Syria–Lebanon Campaign 5 External links Tunisia Campaign Wikimedia Commons Italian Campaign Languages Cold War [ edit ] Português History Malayan Emergency Edit links Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi World War I [ edit ] Military intervention against ISIL No. 3 Squadron was formed at Point Cook, Victoria, on 19 September 1916 under Commanders the command of Major David Blake.[4] It was one of four operational squadrons of Notable David Blake (1916–1918) [2][3] the Australian Flying Corps, and its personnel were members of the Australian commanders Bill Anderson (1918–1919) Henry Wrigley (1919) Army. Shortly afterwards, the unit embarked upon the HMAT Ulysses and sailed to Frank Lukis (1925–1930) England for training, before becoming the first AFC squadron deployed to France, Harry Cobby (1930–1931) in September 1917, equipped with the R.E.8 two-seat reconnaissance/general Bill Bostock (1931–1936) purpose aircraft.[5] To avoid confusion with the British No. 3 Squadron RFC, it was Allan Walters (1938–1939) Ian McLachlan (1939–1941) known to the British military as "No. 69 Squadron RFC".[6] This terminology was Peter Jeffrey (1941) never accepted by the squadron or the Australian Imperial Force who continued to Alan Rawlinson (1941) use the AFC designation regardless,[7] and in early 1918, the British designation Bobby Gibbes (1942–1943) was dropped.[4] Brian Eaton (1943–1944) Vance Drummond (1967) After moving to the Western Front, the Jake Newham (1967–1968) squadron was initially based at Savy. In Richard Bomball (1973–1974) November 1917, it was assigned the role Geoff Brown (1997–2000) of being a corps reconnaissance squadron Aircraft flown R.E.8s of No 3 Sqn AFC and allocated to I Anzac Corps, which was Fighter F-35A Lightning II based around Messines, and established itself at Bailleul.[4] No. 3 Squadron would remain with I Anzac for the remainder of the war,[4] and participated in bombing, artillery spotting and reconnaissance missions supporting ANZAC and other British Empire ground forces. Its first Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD air-to-air victory came on 6 December 1917; by the end of the war it would eventually shoot down another 15 German aircraft,[4] and would fly a total of 10,000 operational hours.[8] In early 1918, the collapse of Russia allowed the Germans to concentrate their strength on the Western Front, and launched a major offensive.[9] As the Allies were pushed back, the squadron's airfield at Baileul came into range of the German guns and it was moved first to Abeele and then, as the Allies were pushed back further, it moved again to Poulainville.[10] During the offensive, the squadron operated mainly in the Somme Valley, providing artillery observation.[5] In April 1918, the squadron became responsible for the remains of the "Red Baron", Manfred von Richthofen, after he was shot down in its sector.[10] Blake initially believed that one of the squadron's R.E.8s may have been responsible but later endorsed the theory that an Australian anti-aircraft machine gunner actually shot down the Red Baron.[11] In July, the squadron undertook reconnaissance and deception operations in support of the Australian attack at Hamel,[12] before later joining the final Allied offensive of the war around Amiens in August, flying support operations until the armistice in November.[5] Shortly before the end of the war, the squadron began converting to the Bristol F.2 Fighter.[10] Following the end of hostilities, the squadron was engaged briefly in mail transport duties before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom in early 1919. It was disbanded in February and over the course of the next couple of months its personnel were repatriated back to Australia.[5][10] Casualties amounted to 32 killed and 23 wounded,[5] of which the majority were aircrew; the squadron lost 11 aircraft during the war.[13] World War II [ edit ] In 1925, the squadron was re-formed as part of the fledgling independent Royal Australian Air Force. Under the command of Squadron Leader Frank Lukis,[14] it was based initially at Point Cook and then at Richmond, operating a variety of aircraft including S.E.5As, DH.9s, Westland Wapitis and Hawker Demons.[13] Upon the outbreak of World War II, the squadron was one of 12 permanent RAAF squadrons, and it was assigned to the 6th Division as an army co-operation squadron when it was deployed to the Middle East in mid-1940.[15] No. 3 Squadron would serve the entire war in the Mediterranean Theatre as part of the Allied No. 3 Squadron ground crew in Desert Air Force (later the First Tactical Air Force), supporting the 8th Army.[16] After deploying front of a P-40 in 1942 from Australia without its aircraft, under the command of Squadron Leader Ian McLachlan,[14] the unit sailed to Egypt. The squadron first saw action in late 1940, operating obsolete Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters against the Italian Regia Aeronautica,[17] which it encountered while conducting reconnaissance and ground attack sorties. It also operated some Westland Lysanders and Gloster Gauntlets, before briefly being converted to Hawker Hurricanes, Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD and then flew P-40 Tomahawks and Kittyhawks from 1941, often engaging in intense air battles with the German Luftwaffe, as well as Vichy French pilots during the Syria–Lebanon campaign.[18] No. 3 Squadron's longest-serving commanding officer (CO) during the war was Squadron Leader Bobby Gibbes, whose tour lasted from February 1942 to April 1943.[19] Gibbes was replaced by Squadron Leader Brian Eaton, who led the unit until February 1944.[20] During this period, No. 3 Squadron took part in the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. It re-equipped with P-51 Mustangs in November 1944 and continued to operate in Italy and Yugoslavia until the end of the European war in May 1945. No. 3 Squadron's record of 25,663 operational flight hours and 217.5 enemy aircraft destroyed made it the highest-scoring RAAF fighter squadron.[15][21] A CAC CA-18 Mustang warbird Cold War [ edit ] painted to represent a North American P-51 Mustang of No. 3 Squadron used At the end of the war, No. 3 Squadron returned to Australia and disbanded at Point Cook on 30 in Italy during World War II July 1946. It was re-formed at RAAF Base Fairbairn in Canberra in early 1948 when No. 4 Squadron RAAF was renumbered as No. 3 Squadron. Equipped with Mustangs, CAC Wirraways and Austers, the squadron served briefly as a tactical reconnaissance and close support squadron before disbanding again in 1953.[22] The squadron re-formed on 1 March 1956 at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It operated CA-27 Sabres out of Butterworth, Malaya, from 1958 engaging in warlike operations associated with the Malayan Emergency and Konfrontasi.[21] As Australian involvement in the Vietnam War intensified, No. 3 Squadron returned to Australia and re-equipped with Mirage IIIO fighters at Williamtown in 1967.[23] The CO, Wing Commander Vance Drummond, was killed during air combat manoeuvres at No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit in May.[24] He was succeeded by Wing Commander Jake Newham (later Chief of the Air Staff).[14] After training in air-to- air and air-to-ground roles, the squadron deployed to RAAF Butterworth in Malaysia in February 1969, detachments were also deployed to RAF Tengah and Paya Lebar Air Base.[23] During this period, the aircraft became known as "lizards", in reference to their camouflage paint scheme and low altitude operations.