No. 40 Squadron was a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) transport

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was formed in March 1944 and operated

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s between Australia and New Guinea. The squadron was disbanded in June 1946.

Squadron history

No. 40 Squadron was formed at

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

on 31 March 1944. It was initially equipped with six

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North East ...

flying boats which had been ferried from the United Kingdom to Australia between January and March of that year. These ferry flights were made by experienced crews drawn from the RAAF's two Sunderland squadrons in the United Kingdom, No. 10 and No. 461 squadrons.Wilson (1992), p. 167 The squadron's main role was to fly regular transport services between Australia and New Guinea.Eather (1995), p. 78 The Sunderlands were modified to operate as transport aircraft, and the first aircraft to be fully converted was delivered to No. 40 Squadron on 1 July. Most of the squadron's pilots were veterans of operations in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

with No. 10 and No. 461 squadrons. On 22 July the unit moved to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

in New Guinea, with detachments at Darwin and Townsville.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 72 No. 40 Squadron's main destinations were

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

, Milne Bay,

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

and Townsville.Wilson (1992), p. 203 A No. 40 Squadron Sunderland was involved in the first attempted hijacking of an RAAF aircraft on 14 September 1944. The aircraft had been tasked with flying prisoners, including US Military prisoners, from

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

to Port Moresby. One of the American prisoners being transported to the aircraft on board a launch seized a gun from one of his guards then disarmed the other guards. When the boat reached the Sunderland he tried to persuade the prisoners embarked on the plane to assist him, but they were unwilling. The boat then preceded to a jetty in Cooktown Harbour where the man was persuaded to surrender.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 73 No. 40 Squadron suffered its only loss on 28 November when a Sunderland struck a post and sank after landing at Townsville; there were no fatalities. The squadron occasionally performed other tasks in addition to its regular transport fights. On 9 March 1945 one of its Sunderlands landed on a small lake in an isolated area of New Guinea to relieve an Army garrison force.RAAF Historical Section (1995), pp. 73–74 RAAF No. 40 Squadron also undertook air sea rescue duties on several occasions. On 20 March 1945 a Sunderland located the survivors of a crashed

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

and dropped them a

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

. The Sunderland rediscovered the survivors the next day after contact was lost with them overnight, and maintained position over the dinghy until Allied naval vessels reached it.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 74 No. 40 Squadron's regular routes were altered in 1945. The service from Townsville to Port Moresby ended on 17 February and a new service between Port Moresby, Darwin,

Karumba Karumba is a town and a coastal locality in the Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Karumba had a population of 531 people. Geography Karumba is in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, by road from Norma ...

and Cains was established. A daily (except for Sunday) service from Port Moresby to Cairns began the next day and bi-weekly flights to the

Treasury Islands Treasury Islands () are a small group of islands a few kilometres to the south of Bougainville and from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the country of Solomon Islands. The two largest islands in the Treasuries ...

commenced on 26 February. In July the squadron was issued with four Martin Mariner flying boats which were based at Cairns and also operated in the transport role. Following the Japanese surrender the squadron flew ex-

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

and other soldiers back to Australia. It was allocated

Catalina Catalina may refer to: Arts and media * ''The Catalina'', a 2012 American reality television show * ''Catalina'' (novel), a 1948 novel by W. Somerset Maugham * Catalina (''My Name Is Earl''), character from the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' ...

aircraft in January 1946, but none were ever delivered. No. 40 Squadron moved to

RAAF Base Rathmines RAAF Base Rathmines is a heritage-listed former RAAF Second World War seaplane base and now used as community venues, sports venues and a visitor attraction at Dorrington Road, Rathmines, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. It ...

on 6 March and was disbanded there on 19 June. By this time it had flown 1782 sorties and carried of cargo and 43,385 passengers.

Notes

References

* * * * {{List of RAAF Squadrons 40 Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 1946 disestablishments in Australia