No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron of the

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

(RAAF) is a non-flying base operations and training squadron headquartered at

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is currently home to No. 1 Squadron (operating the F/A-18F Super Hornet), N ...

near

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. The squadron was formed in 1937 and saw action against the Japanese during

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 opposing ...

as a bomber squadron. Operating from Archerfield during the early stages of the war, the squadron undertook maritime patrols off Australia's east coast before converting to a dive-bomber role and taking part in the New Guinea campaign. Later in the war, the squadron converted to Liberator heavy bombers and flew missions against Japanese targets in the Netherlands East Indies. After the war, No. 23 Squadron was used to reform No. 6 Squadron and was then re-raised as a Citizens Air Force unit based in Brisbane. Until 1960, the squadron flew jet fighter aircraft before converting to a ground support role and now forms part of the RAAF's Combat Support Group.

History

No. 23 Squadron was first formed on 3 May 1937 at

RAAF Base Laverton "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

as a general purpose unit equipped with

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCA ...

s and

Hawker Demon The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

s. The squadron moved to

RAAF Base Pearce RAAF Base Pearce is the main Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base in Western Australia. The base is located in Bullsbrook, north of Perth. It is used for training by the RAAF and the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Pearce is ...

in March 1938 and was renumbered No. 25 Squadron in January 1939. No. 23 Squadron reformed at

RAAF Base Richmond RAAF Base Richmond is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located within the City of Hawkesbury, approximately North-West of the Sydney Central Business District in New South Wales, Australia. Situated between the towns of W ...

in February 1939 and in late August of that same year it redeployed to

RAAF Station Archerfield RAAF Station Archerfield was a permanent Royal Australian Air Force station at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from 1939 to 1956. History 1939–1945 At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Royal Austra ...

, operating

s and De Havilland Tiger Moths on maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols off the east coast of

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 , establishe ...

following the commencement of hostilities with Germany. The squadron was later re-equipped with

CAC Wirraway The CAC Wirraway (an Aboriginal word meaning "challenge") was a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of ...

s and

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...

s. Between August 1940 and June 1943 the squadron continued to conduct seaward patrols and escorted shipping in the Brisbane region. In May 1943, the squadron was equipped with six

P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

fighters in addition to 18 Wirraways. 23 Sqn (AWM NWA0915)

In June 1943, No. 23 Squadron's role was changed to that of a dive bomber unit and the squadron was re-equipped with

Vultee Vengeance The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line aircraft by ...

aircraft. After a period of training the squadron deployed to Nadzab in

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

in February 1944 and flew its first bombing missions against the Japanese on 11 February. It provided aerial support at Saidor to American ground forces. The squadron was withdrawn to Australia and reduced to cadre status in March 1944, as the Vengeance was regarded as inferior to other aircraft which had become available to Allied forces, and was eventually withdrawn from operational service. No. 23 Squadron returned to operational status as a heavy bomber squadron in October 1944 after being re-equipped with B-24 Liberator bombers. As part of No. 82 Wing RAAF, the squadron deployed to

Long Airfield Long Airfield was a World War II military airfield located in the locality of Douglas-Daly, Northern Territory, Australia. Also known as "Long Strip", the airfield was constructed in late 1943 by No.14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF. T ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

in April 1945 and conducted bombing and anti-shipping missions over the Netherlands East Indies until the end of the war. Following the Japanese surrender the squadron's B-24s were based at

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

and operated in the transport role, flying ex- Prisoners of War and other Australian personnel back to Australia. No. 23 Squadron returned to Australia in November 1945 and was based at RAAF Station Tocumwal until early 1948 when it moved to

and was redesignated No. 6 Squadron. A total of 36 personnel from No. 23 Squadron were killed during the war. Gloster Meteor T

No. 23 Squadron was re-formed at Archerfield on 1 April 1948 as a Citizen Air Force squadron equipped with fighter and training aircraft. The squadron initially flew P-51 Mustang piston-engine fighters and

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

trainers, but it was later re-equipped with

de Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and the first to be powered by ...

and

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies of World War II, Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turb ...

F.8 jet fighters in the 1950s. The squadron ceased flying activities in June 1960 and assumed a ground training role for members of the RAAF reserve in southern

. On 1 July 2010, changes to the structure of the Combat Support Group resulted in the

combat support In the United States Army, the term combat support refers to units that provide fire support and operational assistance to combat elements. Combat support units provide specialized support functions to combat units in the following areas * Chemi ...

functions of No. 382 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron (382ECSS) being integrated with No. 23 Squadron at RAAF Amberley and 382ECSS being disbanded.

Aircraft operated

No. 23 Squadron operated the following aircraft: *

Avro Cadet The Avro Cadet is a single-engined British biplane trainer designed and built by Avro in the 1930s as a smaller development of the Avro Tutor for civil use. Design and development The Avro 631 Cadet was developed in 1931 as a smaller, more e ...

* Consolidated B-24 Liberator * P-51 D Mustang * de Havilland Tiger Moth *

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * {{List of RAAF Squadrons 23 Military units and formations established in 1937 Military units in Queensland

History

Aircraft operated

See also

References