Article Talk Read Edit View history Search Wikipedia No. 82 Wing RAAF From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia No. 82 Wing is the strike and reconnaissance wing of the Royal Australian Air Force Main page No. 82 Wing RAAF Contents (RAAF). It is headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. Coming under Featured content the control of Air Combat Group, the wing operates F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole Current events fighters and Pilatus PC-9 forward air control aircraft. Its units include Nos. 1 and 6 Random article Squadrons, operating the Super Hornet, and No. 4 Squadron, operating the PC-9. Donate to Wikipedia Wikipedia store Formed in August 1944, No. 82 Wing operated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II. Initially comprising two flying units, Interaction Nos. 21 and 24 Squadrons, the wing was augmented by 23 Squadron in 1945. After Help the war its operational units became Nos. 1, 2 and 6 Squadrons. It re-equipped with About Wikipedia Avro Lincolns in 1948 and, from 1953, English Electric Canberra jets. Both types Community portal No. 82 Wing's crest saw action in the Malayan Emergency during the 1950s; the Canberras were also Recent changes Active 1944–current Contact page deployed in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1971. Country Australia Between 1970 and 1973, as a stop-gap pending delivery of the long-delayed Tools Branch Royal Australian Air Force General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber, Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons flew leased What links here Role Precision strike; reconnaissance Related changes F-4E Phantoms. No. 2 Squadron continued to fly Canberras until it was disbanded in Part of Air Combat Group Upload file 1982. After taking delivery of their F-111Cs in 1973, Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons Headquarters RAAF Base Amberley Special pages operated the type for 37 years through numerous upgrades, augmented in the mid- Motto(s) Find and Destroy Permanent link 1990s by ex-USAF G models. The forward air control unit joined No. 82 Wing in Engagements World War II Page information 2002. In 2010, the wing retired its F-111s and replaced them with Super Hornets as Wikidata item South West Pacific theatre an interim force until the planned entry into Australian service of the F-35 Lightning II Cite this page North Western Area Campaign Joint Strike Fighter. Twelve Boeing EA-18G Growlers are scheduled to augment the Battle of Tarakan Print/export Super Hornet fleet from 2017. Battle of North Borneo Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Create a book Battle of Balikpapan Contents [hide] Download as PDF Commanders 1 History Printable version Notable Colin Hannah (1950–51) [1] 1.1 World War II commanders Charles Read (1957–60) [1] Languages 1.2 Cold War and after Peter Raw (1965–66) [2] Português 2 Notes Jake Newham (1973–74) [1] Edit links [1] 3 References Errol McCormack (1987–88) Geoff Shepherd (1995–98) [1] 4 External links Geoff Brown (2000–03) [1] Leo Davies (2005–06) [3] Aircraft flown History [ edit ] Attack F/A-18F Super Hornet Reconnaissance Pilatus PC-9 World War II [ edit ] No. 82 (Heavy Bomber) Wing—the No. 82 Wing RAAF (2010) [show] RAAF's first such wing—was formed at Ballarat, Victoria, on 25 August 1944, under the command of Group Captain Deryck Kingwell.[4] Comprising Nos. 21 and 24 Squadrons, both equipped with B-24 Liberators, the wing became operational on 11 January 1945. By this time it was headquartered in the Northern Territory, and came under the control of the RAAF's North-Western Area Command (NWA). Based at Fenton Airfield, the wing's aircraft sank seven Japanese ships in the Dutch East Indies during March.[5] On 6 April, all available Liberators joined B-25 Mitchells of No. 79 Wing in an assault on a B-24 Liberators of No. 82 Wing at Fenton Airfield, Northern Territory, March 1945 Japanese convoy that included the cruiser Isuzu. Anti-aircraft fire from the cruiser and other ships, as well as attacks by enemy fighters, resulted in the loss of two Liberators, and the crews' standard of aerial gunnery was criticised afterwards. Allied submarines sank the damaged Isuzu the following day.[6] Later that month, No. 23 Squadron, having recently converted to Liberators from A-31 Vengeances, was added to No. 82 Wing's strength.[7] The wing's three flying squadrons identified themselves with black chevrons on the tail fins of their aircraft, No. 21's facing backwards, No. 23's downwards, and No. 24's forwards.[8] Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD No. 82 Wing's Liberators played both a tactical and a strategic role in the Borneo Campaign, beginning with the lead-up to Operation Oboe One, the invasion of Tarakan on 1 May 1945. During that month a detachment relocated from Fenton to Morotai, attacking targets in Celebes and Balikpapan prior to Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of Labuan.[9][10] In June, while the final Allied offensive of the Borneo Campaign got under way as Operation Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan, the remainder of No. 82 Wing transferred from NWA to the command of the Australian First Tactical Air Force in Morotai.[11] In the middle of the month the wing dropped 120 tons of bombs on Balikpapan's oil fields and surrounding areas, as well as coastal defence sites.[9] During July it bombed targets at Celebes and Borneo, losing five Liberators for the month, including that of its new commanding officer, Group Captain Donald McLean. McLean died Liberator of No. 24 Squadron shot down by Japanese fighters during No. 82 Wing's attack with most of his crew after being hit by anti-aircraft fire and ditching into the sea, a on the cruiser Isuzu, April 1945; one crewman notoriously risky operation in the Liberator owing to the fuselage's tendency to break in survived two upon striking the water.[12][13] Just before the end of hostilities in the Pacific, the recently established garrison headquarters No. 11 Group unofficially directed the wing's operations.[12] Following the Japanese surrender in September 1945, No. 82 Wing's Liberators were converted to transports and used to repatriate RAAF personnel from the South West Pacific.[14] Over the course of its wartime existence, the wing's personnel numbered between 3,000 and 5,000, of whom more than half were ground crew. Along with its flying squadrons, its complement included No. 24 Air Stores Park, No. 6 Repair and Servicing Unit, and No. 30 Medical Clearing Station.[4][15] Cold War and after [ edit ] No. 82 Wing moved to its present location at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, in 1946, where it came under the control of the RAAF's Eastern Area Command.[16][17] In May that year, No. 482 (Maintenance) Squadron was formed from No. 4 Repair and Servicing Unit, to be responsible for repair and upkeep of the wing's aircraft.[18] Its flying complement now included Nos. 12 (formerly of No. 85 Wing), 21, and 23 Squadrons, but these were renumbered Nos. 1, 2 and 6 Squadrons respectively in February 1948. At the same time, the wartime Liberators were replaced by Avro Lincoln heavy bombers.[19][20] During 1949–50, some of the Lincolns were specially modified with advanced radar and other instrumentation to participate in Operation Cumulative, a joint program with the Royal Air Force gathering long- range navigation and bombing data for use in potential air campaigns against the Soviet Union.[21] Create PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API PDFCROWD Between 1950 and 1958—for the first two years under the control of No. 90 (Composite) Wing—the Lincolns of No. 1 Squadron were deployed for service in the Malayan Emergency, tasked with the prime responsibility for the Commonwealth's bombing campaign against Communist insurgents.[22][23] This arrangement meant that No. 82 Wing's flying units were reduced to Nos. 2 and 6 Squadrons.[24] From 1952 to 1957, the wing flew observation flights in connection with British atomic tests in Australia. No protective clothing was issued to air or ground crews during these flights and, following the second such operation in October 1953, nine of the twelve Lincolns involved were found to be contaminated, four so heavily that they were parked in a remote corner of the Amberley air base and never flown again.[25] On 9 April 1953, the wing wrote off three Lincolns— Lincolns of No. 82 Wing over Amberley, 1954 without loss of life—in two separate incidents that collectively became known as "Black Thursday"; one of the Lincolns crashed on landing at Amberley during the day, and that night another Lincoln collided with one of its brethren at Cloncurry Aerodrome, Queensland.[26] In December 1953, No. 82 Wing took delivery of the RAAF's first jet bomber, the Canberra Mk.20, 48 of which re-equipped the wing's three squadrons over the next five years.[27] The new bombers were acquired partly for their capacity to deliver nuclear weapons, an ordnance option the RAAF seriously investigated but never implemented.[28] Following the re-equipping of Nos. 2 and 6 Squadrons with the Canberra, a Lincoln Conversion Flight was formed in July 1955 under No. 82 Wing to provide training on the older bomber for crews preparing to deploy to Malaya for service with No. 1 Squadron; it disbanded in March 1956.[29] Canberras from No. 2 Squadron relieved the Lincolns of No.