Air Power: RAAF Heritage: 90 years of achievement | ADM Feb 2011

Mike Kerr | Brisbane

As the crowds gather for the Avalon Air Show this year, the RAAF celebrates its proud 90-year history. Mike Kerr looks at the evolution of the RAAF from its humble beginnings through to its modern day presence.

The genesis of the Royal Australian Air Force can be traced to a 1918 proposal by the then Chief of the General Staff, LTGEN J.C. Legge, ‘for the formation of a permanent air force’. A year later, George Swinburne, Chairman of the Defence Departments Board of Business Administration put forward a similar proposal. Further stimulus was provided during the 1919 Paris Peace Conference when the then Prime Minister, W.M. “Billy” Hughes, became alarmed at Japan’s hostile stance against Australia being granted a mandate over the former German possessions of New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Following the disbanding of the Australian Flying Corps in 1919, the government began drawing up plans for an independent air force, along similar lines to the recently formed Royal Air Force. Against strong opposition from the Army and Navy, the Government’s plan came to fruition in 1920 when the Military Board authorised the raising of an Australian Air Corps.

The board appointed LTCOL Richard Williams DSO, as the Corps commanding officer. Williams was one of the first officers to gain their wings at the Central Flying School, Point Cook, in August 1914. He went on to command No. 1 Squadron AFC and No. 40 Wing RAF with distinction during World War I.

There was no fanfare when the formation of the Australian Air Force was gazetted on 31 March 1921; the Royal prefix came into effect five months later. Head-quartered in Melbourne’s Victoria Barracks, the fledgling service had a personnel strength of 151 officers and airmen, one flying school, one aircraft depot and a collection of ex- World War I aircraft, spares and support equipment, most of which was gifted by Britain.

During its formative years, the RAAF suffered from a paucity of funds, so much so that the first of its distinctive dark blue uniforms was cut from the remnants of a Victorian Railways clothing contract. In late January 1923, the first intake of recruits began elementary flying training at Point Cook.

Scepticism about the services capabilities was swept aside in 1924, when WGCDR. S.J. Goble and FGOFF. I.E. McIntyre, flying a Fairey III-D float-plane, successfully completed the first aerial circumnavigation of Australia. This epic 44-day 13,700-kilometre flight won world acclaim and the prestigious Britannia Challenge Trophy.

Due to a world economic recession, the formation of squadrons was delayed until 1925 when Nos. 1 and 3 Squadrons were reformed at Point Cook as Citizen Air Force Squadrons. Soon after, No. 3 and No. 101 (Fleet Co-operation) Flight were deployed to Richmond, NSW; while a year later No. 1 Squadron moved to Laverton, Victoria, also the home of No. 1 Aircraft Depot.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the RAAF contributed to the nation’s development with many aerial survey and photographic flights on behalf of state and federal agencies, and numerous search and rescue missions. One notable military survey operation was the September 1926, 16,000 kilometre flight to New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomon Islands by GRPCAPT Williams, FLTLT McIntyre and FLTSGT L. Trist, flying a DH50-A float-plane.

The tide began to turn for the better in the early 1930s when a gradual expansion of squadrons and the replacing of the aging World War I machines with more modern aircraft began.

World War II

When World War II commenced in September 1939, the RAAF was mainly a bi-plane equipped training force with 246 aircraft (none of which were front-line combat aircraft), 12 squadrons in varying states of formation, and a personnel strength of 3,489 permanent officers and airmen, with a further 294 officers in the CAF and RAAF Reserve units. On 17 December 1939, Australia, along with Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Rhodesia, became a signatory to the Riversdale Agreements which established the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS).

With one flying school and 27 instructors the RAAF was presented with the herculean task of training some 1,000 recruits every four months for overseas service. The Riversdale Agreement also placed the RAAF in the unenviable position of having to maintain two air forces. The overseas force comprised two permanent RAAF Squadrons, Nos. 3 and 10, and the 17 Australian ‘Article XV’ Squadrons as required by the Riversdale Agreement. All were to operate under RAF command.

The home-based force, struggling to expand and modernise, was dealt a severe blow in January 1939 when MRAF Sir Edward Ellington delivered his scathing report on the RAAF to the government. Ellington was equally critical of the CAS, AVM Williams, the Air Board and Australia’s embryonic aviation industry. Tensions between the RAAF and Government hit an all time low when, under instruction from London, the Government removed Williams from his post as CAS and sent him on a two year detachment to the RAF for “further experience”.

Williams was replaced as CAS by Sir Charles Burnett RAF, who was tasked with keeping the RAAF to its EATS commitments and break the close relationship between Australian and American aircraft and engine manufacturers.

The first Australian aircrew to see combat were some of the 450 short-service commission pilots serving on the RAF Squadrons engaged the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and the early bombing raids on Germany. The first permanent RAAF unit to go into battle was No. 10 Squadron, which had arrived in Britain in December 1939, to take delivery of Short Sunderland flying boats. At the request of British Government the Australian War Cabinet seconded the squadron to Britain. On 1 February 1940 the squadron, now up to full strength, was declared fully operational and during the next 64 months served with distinction in RAF Coastal Command.

The second RAAF unit to join the fray was No. 3 (Army co-operation) Squadron which arrived in Egypt during August 1940 and, along with No. 1 Air Ambulance Unit, was tasked with supporting the 6th AIF Division. No. 3 Squadron soon developed a taste for aerial combat and devastating ground attacks which led it to become the scourge of the Axis forces in North Africa and Italy.

In December 1940, the first Australian EATS graduates arrived in Britain and as none of the so-called ‘Australian Squadrons’ had yet been formed they were posted on to RAF units. With the EATS program gaining momentum the formation of the 17 Article XV Squadrons, numbered 450 to 467, gained momentum. Individual Australian aircrew either serving on RAF Squadrons or Australian squadrons took part in every major RAF operation in the European, Mediterranean, North African and South East Asian theatres. Of the 17,000 Australians who served under RAF command, some 8,354 were either killed or wounded. Those who served in Bomber Command paid the highest high price with 3,486 killed in action.

In 1938, Senator J.V. Fairbairn (later Minister for Air) delivered a speech in parliament in which he spoke of the possibility of Australia being attacked and having to fall back on its own resources after the fall of Singapore. His prophetic words came true when Japan entered the war in December 1941 with concerted attacks against American and British bases in Asia, the Pacific and Hawaii.

In the face of such military might, Australia was virtually defenceless due to successive governments paring the defence budgets to the bone. This shortsighted policy, along with Britain’s insistence that Australia should be a training facility for the RAF, brought the RAAF to near impotency.

The RAAF had no modern frontline fighter aircraft and except for a handful of Lockheed Hudson bombers and no strike capability. As the Japanese juggernaut rolled down the Malayan Peninsula, the RAAF’s Lockheed Hudson equipped Nos 1 and 8 Squadrons and Nos. 21 and 453 Squadrons, flying obsolete Brewster Buffalo fighters, sustained severe losses in aircraft and personnel and were forced back to Australia via Sumatra and Java, after the fall of ‘Fortress’ Singapore.

The Japanese onslaught continued unabated, consuming the Wirraway equipped No. 24 Squadron in its valiant but futile defence of Rabaul in January 1942. With the prospect of invasion looming large, the government at last approved a plan to expand the RAAF to 72 squadrons, and place the major military emphasis on the Pacific theatre. With its back to the wall the government requested that Nos. 452 and 457 Squadrons, along with their Spitfires, be deployed from Britain to Australia. In May, the British Government bowed to the request and along with No. 54 RAF Squadron, the so-called “Churchill Wing”, sailed from Liverpool on 21 June 1942.

The “Wings” personnel arrived at Melbourne in mid-August minus their aircraft which had been hijacked, on orders from London, by the RAF at Takoradi, West Africa, for use in the North African campaign. Prior to the Australian squadron’s departure, a number of their more experienced pilots had returned to Australia on 17 March. These battle-hardened pilots were immediately posted on to the Kittyhawk equipped Nos. 75, 76 and 77 Squadrons then being formed.

Pacific War

Prior to the commencement of the Pacific war, Nos 2 and 13 Squadrons, flying Hudsons, was moved forward to Timor. The two squadrons suffered heavy losses during attempts to stem the Japanese advance. After a number of successful attacks against shipping, flying boat bases and army barracks the squadrons, with what was left of their aircraft and a small number of personnel, withdrew to Darwin on 19 February 1942.

They arrived in time to witness the first of the 64 Japanese bombing raids on the city, and the first ever enemy attack against an Australian mainland target. As the Japanese bombers and fighters swept in over Darwin on the 19th, the only fighter defence was the 10 Kittyhawks of the USAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron, which had been en-route to Java.

The USAF’s 49th Fighter Group replaced them during March 1942. With no RAAF fighter squadrons to defend Northern Australia or New Guinea and only the Catalinas of Nos 11 and 20 Squadrons and the Hudsons of No. 32 Squadron to take the battle to the Japanese, the RAAF reached its nadir. In July 1942 the Darwin based American units were relieved by the Kittyhawk equipped No. 77 Squadron, which was joined during September by the similarly equipped No. 76 Squadron.

On 21 March the first of No. 75 Squadron’s Kittyhawks landed at Port Moresby. During its 44 day deployment the squadron destroyed 60 enemy aircraft for the loss of 12 pilots and 24 aircraft. It returned to Australia to re-equip and, with a number of ex-452 Squadron pilots, joined No. 76 Squadron at Milne Bay on 21 July. The pivotal aerial and land battle of Milne Bay opened on 8 August 1942.

During the month long battle the squadrons gave close support as well as air-cover to the army’s veteran 7th and 18th Brigades. For the first time since the Pacific War began a Japanese landing force was repulsed. Japan’s woes were compounded during the battle of the Bismark Sea on 3 March 1943 when a combined Allied force including the RAAF’s Nos 22, 30 and 100 Squadrons destroyed a Japanese invasion fleet. The main task of the RAAF in the New Guinea and South West Pacific campaign was directed towards supporting the Allied armies advance until 1945.

With the cessation of hostilities the RAAF began a rapid demobilisation. By late 1944, the RAAF had 216,900 airmen and women in uniform and with 3,187 aircraft on charge it was the fourth largest Allied Air Force. By 1948, it had downsized to a personnel strength of 12,000. The Berlin Airlift of 1948 saw RAAF transport pilots from No. 86 Transport Wing deployed to Europe to fly alongside RAF crews in “Operation Plainfare”, the British contribution to the airlift. During 6,000 flying hours the RAAF crews transported some 7,264 tonnes of supplies and carried some 8,000 passengers.

In the same year the Malayan Emergency erupted. Once again the RAAF provided units. No. 1 Bomber Squadron and No. 38 Transport Squadron supported the Commonwealth land forces operations against the Communist terrorists.

Flying from RAF Tengah, the Lincolns of No. 1 Squadron dropped some 16,000 tonnes of bombs during the 3,000 sorties flown. As the emergency drew to a close, the Canberra equipped No. 2 Squadron took over the bombing role while the Sabres of Nos. 3 and 77 Squadrons carried out ground attack missions from the newly constructed RAAF Butterworth base.

When the Pacific war ended, the RAAF stationed three fighter squadrons in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. By 1950 when the Korean War began, all but one of the squadrons had been withdrawn. The Australian government immediately made No. 77 Squadron available to the United Nations Command for operations against the North Korean invaders.

During the three year conflict the squadron, flying Mustangs and later Meteor VIII fighters, flew 18,872 operational sorties, destroyed 1,408 enemy vehicles, 98 railway trains, 16 bridges and five MiG 15 jet fighters; for the loss of 42 pilots. No. 30 Transport Squadron played a vital part in the war, carrying both freight and personnel and, in the medivac role it lifted 12,000 wounded.

In 1952, No. 78 Fighter Wing began a three-year deployment to Malta where it joined in a number of NATO exercises while flying Vampire FB-9s.

From 1948 to 1962 the RAAF supported Australia’s Antarctic scientific research and expeditions with detachments flying Dakota and DHC Beaver aircraft.

Vietnam

In 1962 to fulfil Australia’s obligations under the South East Asia Treaty Organisation, the RAAF deployed No. 79 Squadron, equipped with Australian built CAC Sabre fighters, to Ubon, Thailand, to act as “top cover” for USAF squadrons operating against the targets in Vietnam. Two years later, the RAAF began to take an active part in operations in South Vietnam when a flight of DHC-4 Caribou light transport aircraft arrived at Vung Tau.

By 1966 the flight, now numbering seven aircraft, was officially renamed as No. 35 Squadron. The squadron became known as the ‘Wallaby Airlines’ and during its five year tour lifted 42,000 tonnes of freight and 679,984 passengers. No. 9 Squadron equipped with UH-1 Iroquois helicopters deployed to South Vietnam in mid 1966. The Squadron provided the 1st Australian Task Force with vertical resupply, troop deployment and extraction and medivac. In 1969, four of its helicopters were fitted out as gunships with rocket pods, two mini-guns and two sets of twin- mounted M-60s for “Bushranger’ fire support operations. Its crowning achievement was the ammunition resupply of ‘D’ Company at Long Tan on 18 August (the War Memorial in Canberra has a fantastic exhibition about this mission for those interested).

The RAAF commitment was boosted when No. 2 Squadron, flying GAF Canberra bombers, was deployed from Butterworth to Phan Rang on 19 April 1967 where it joined the USAF’s 35th Tactical Fighter Wing. The 12-year old aircraft, in the hands of the well trainer crews, soon proved itself to be a most effective level bombing platform. The Squadron achieved an enviable 97 per cent serviceability rate and accounted for some 16 per cent of the Wing’s assessed bomb damage.

In support of the Australian effort two Hercules squadrons, Nos. 36 and 37 were assigned to provide strategic airlift and aeromedical evacuation support. Some 3,164 patients were evacuated during the conflict. In addition the RAAF provided a number of pilots for Forward Air Control duties. The RAAF losses amounted to six killed and 30 wounded in action and seven non-battle deaths.

A further casualty of the Vietnam War was the RAAF’s rotary-wing assets. The root cause lies in the strained relations between the then Chief of the General Staff, LTGEN J.G.N. Wilton and his opposite number in the RAAF, AM Murdoch, and the Army’s strident criticism of RAAF helicopter support during the conflict. Senior Canberra based officers failed to appreciate the complexities of rotor-wing operations under combat conditions; for them the fighter and bomber were paramount and as such helicopters received a low priority. Hampered by apathy at the most senior level No. 9 Squadron’s 237, 424 missions were of no consequence when, along with the UH-1s of No. 35 Squadron, the then Defence Minister Kim Beasley, announced in 1986 the transfer of all battlefield helicopters and support personnel to the Army.

United Nations peace keeping and humanitarian missions formed a major part of RAAF deployments from 1975 to 1994.

The last decade

On 19 September 1999, the RAAF flew in support INTERFET forces landing in East Timor. Prior to the landing, RF-111s flew reconnaissance missions over the island while the RAAF’s strike elements moved forward to bases in the Northern Territory. During the confrontation Hercules and Caribous flew round-the-clock airlift missions, while Airfield Defence Guards secured Comoro airfield.

In January 2001, the RAAF deployed two Orions, and 77 Squadrons F/A 18 Hornets and two Hercules to the Persian Gulf where they joined Coalition forces preparing to invade Iraq. The Orions flew patrols over the Persian Gulf where they tracked and identified civil shipping which could be a threat to Coalition naval forces. 77 Squadron’s F/A18s initial task was protection of air-to-air tankers and surveillance aircraft until relieved by No. 3 Squadron in early 2002. On 20 March, RAAF Hornets dropped the first bomb since the Korean War. The Hornets flew 350 sorties over Iraq during some 1,800 flying hours.

The focus of attention turned to Afghanistan when a 75-strong RAAF Control and Reporting Centre was set up at Kandahar International Airport in mid 2007. Detachments of Orions provide maritime surveillance, while logistic support is provided by Hercules and 33 Squadron’s C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.

As a pre-curser to future operations and equipment support, a joint RAAF/Army/Navy team has been operating the IAI Heron RPA from Kandahar, since July 2009, with the help of Canadian company, MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. This valuable tool has been providing real-time surveillance and reconnaissance intelligence to Coalition force commanders (see P72 for more).

The RAAF is now at the threshold of a new and exciting future. Gone is the Biggles era; it is now the robotic era. The RAAF will face many challenges in the years to come but with strong, farsighted leadership and the support of its loyal, dedicated and professional servicemen and women it will meet those challenges and rise above them. Per Ardua ad Astra.