No. 120 Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian squadron of World War II. The squadron was first formed in December 1943 as part of the

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

(RAAF), and saw combat in and around

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Mainlan ...

during 1944 and 1945 equipped with

P-40 Kittyhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

fighters. Following the war, No. 120 Squadron was transferred to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force in 1946 and participated in the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

History

No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Fairbairn in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

on 10 December 1943. As a joint Australian-Dutch unit, the Dutch authorities provided all the squadron's aircrew and aircraft while the RAAF provided its ground crew. This arrangement had been previously used for No. 18 (NEI) Squadron and the short-lived No. 119 (NEI) Squadron. It was originally intended that once formed, No. 120 (NEI) Squadron would be deployed to northern Australia and operate alongside No. 18 (NEI) Squadron. However, it was later decided to deploy the unit to

Merauke Merauke is a large town and the capital of the South Papua province, Indonesia. It is also the administrative centre of Merauke Regency in South Papua. It is considered the easternmost city in Indonesia. The town was originally called Ermasoe. ...

on the south coast of

, which formed part of the pre-war

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(NEI).RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 100 The Squadron completed its training in early 1944. During December 1943, the No. 120 (NEI) Squadron pilots who had been trained in the United States received training at No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit to familiarise them with RAAF procedures. The squadron acquired its full complement of P-40 Kittyhawk fighters by 22 January 1944; at this time it was manned by 28 Dutch pilots and 213 RAAF personnel. In mid-March 1944 No. 120 (NEI) Squadron made an emergency deployment to 'Potshot' airfield in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

in response to a feared Japanese attack on the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

area. The squadron's aircraft began to depart Fairbairn on 9 March and returned on the 28th of the month after the crisis had passed. No. 120 (NEI) Squadron began moving from

to Merauke in early April 1944. Its main party arrived at Merauke on 7 May and the squadron was declared operational two days later. After a period of training, No. 120 (NEI) Squadron began flying combat missions in late June. Due to the limited Japanese presence in the region, the missions were limited to strafing attacks on Japanese positions as well attacks on small craft off the coast of New Guinea. Several aircraft were lost during these operations. While the other RAAF units at Merauke were redeployed in late 1944, No. 120 (NEI) Squadron remained at the town and proposed moves to Horn Island and Cape York did not eventuate.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 102 During October, it was decided to move the squadron, along with the other two units of No. 79 Wing ( No. 2 Squadron and No. 18 (NEI) Squadron) to

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

to support

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who i ...

operations there. While the wing was issued with orders to move to New Britain on 31 December, this was delayed as the planned airfield at Jacquinot Bay could not be made ready until March.Odgers (1968), p. 334 No. 120 (NEI) Squadron became non-operational on 14 February 1945, though some of its pilots were temporarily attached to No. 77 Squadron. The squadron departed Merauke on 14 April 1945 bound for

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

where it would join up with the rest of No. 79 Wing before proceeding to Jacquinot Bay. In early 1945 the Dutch authorities had requested that the two NEI squadrons in the RAAF be used in operations over the NEI, and this was agreed to by the Australian military. As a result, when No. 79 Wing arrived at Jacquinot Bay on 9 May, No. 120 (NEI) Squadron was separated from the unit and ordered to proceed to

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The la ...

. The remainder of the wing was assigned to the First Tactical Air Force, and took part in the

Borneo Campaign The Borneo campaign or Second Battle of Borneo was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II to liberate Japanese-held British Borneo and Dutch Borneo. Designated collectively as Operation Oboe, ...

. No. 120 (NEI) Squadron's seaborne echelon arrived at Biak on 21 May 1945, but its aircraft and personnel did not complete the move until 10 June. The squadron was declared operational on 12 June. No. 120 (NEI) Squadron conducted combat operations over northern New Guinea during the last weeks of the war. During June it bombed Japanese positions in the Vogelkop Peninsula and Geelvink Bay areas, attacked Japanese barges and flew reconnaissance sorties over Mansin Island. In July the squadron moved to Middleburg and attacked Japanese positions alongside the Beaufort-equipped No. 15 Squadron. Three No. 120 (NEI) Squadron fighters were shot down during an attack on 30 July, and a further two aircraft were lost in early August. It continued these operations until the end of the war on 15 August.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 103 At this time, 88 members of the squadron's personnel were Dutch and the unit was located at Biak. Had the war continued, the squadron would have become part of No. 11 Group RAAF, which had been formed in mid-July to take over responsibility for garrison duties in Borneo and the eastern islands of the NEI. As part of this group No. 120 (NEI) Squadron would have supported

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

forces in the Biak area. Following the end of the war, the squadron continued to fly surveillance and escort flights over northern New Guinea during September and October 1945. The Dutch wished to move No. 18 and No. 120 Squadrons to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, however, and to facilitate this the RAAF element of the squadron was disbanded on 30 October 1945. The last RAAF personnel left the squadron in February 1946 and No. 120 Squadron was assigned to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force (NEIAF) on 20 June, thereby ending its relationship with the RAAF. The squadron retained its designation of No. 120 Squadron of the NEIF, and saw combat in the Indonesian National Revolution. It was disbanded on 1 March 1950 following the Dutch defeat.RAAF Historical Section (1995), p. 104 The unit was re-formed as 120 Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1961 as an air defence unit equipped with nuclear-tipped Nike-Hercules surface to air missiles and continued in this role until it was disbanded during 1983.Honig (1993), p. 42

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History

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