No. 24 Squadron RAAF
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

No. 24 Squadron is a
Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
squadron. The squadron was formed in 1940 and saw action as a bomber squadron during World War II serving in the Pacific theatre against the Japanese, and undertaking operations during the Battle of Rabaul, and the
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
,
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 Dam ...
and
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, ...
s. The squadron was disbanded in 1946 following the conclusion of hostilities, but was re-formed in 1951. From then until 2010 the squadron was an RAAF Reserve squadron located near
Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...
; for part of this time, until 1960, the squadron continued to perform flying duties, before converting to a ground support role. In 2010, the squadron combined with Combat Support Unit Edinburgh to become a Permanent Air Force unit and it currently forms part of No. 96 Wing, Combat Support Group.


History


World War II

No. 24 Squadron was formed as a general purpose squadron 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 ...
on 17 June 1940. With an initial strength of four
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 ...
aircraft, it was subsequently re-equipped with
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 prim ...
s in the second half of 1940. Tasked with patrolling Australia's northern approaches in search of German raiders and submarines, while it also undertook a range of training activities over the following months. The squadron moved to
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 ...
in October where it undertook coastal patrol and training flights operating a mix of Wirraway and Hudsons, as well as
de Havilland Moth Minor The de Havilland DH.94 Moth Minor was a 1930s British two-seat tourer/trainer aircraft built by de Havilland at Hatfield Aerodrome, England. With the start of the second world war production of the Moth Minor was moved to de Havilland Austral ...
trainers. In early December 1941, No. 24 Squadron moved to
Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...
under the command of Wing Commander John Lerew. Following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Rabaul came under Japanese attack on a number of occasions, but flying operations continued until 20 February 1942 when over 100 Japanese aircraft attacked Rabaul, destroying five of No. 24 Squadron's eight obsolete Wirraways (all of which had taken off to intercept the raiding force). With the squadron reduced to just three aircraft orders to attack the approaching Japanese invasion force were cancelled and the squadron was withdrawn to Townsville. The heavily outnumbered Australian Army garrison at Rabaul was later overwhelmed in the Battle of Rabaul. No. 24 Squadron moved to
Bankstown, New South Wales Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, ha ...
, in July 1942 where it performed training, anti-submarine and air defence patrols using a diverse assortment of aircraft. The squadron continued in this role until May 1943 when it began converting to a
dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
squadron 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 completing its training on the Vengeance No. 24 Squadron deployed to
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
in August 1943 operating from
Nadzab Nadzab Village is in the Markham Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea on the Highlands Highway. Administratively, it is located in Gabsongkeg ward of Wampar Rural LLG. The Nadzab Airport is located East of Nadzab Village and was the site ...
where it provided support to Australian Army and United States Marine Corps units in New Guinea and New Britain, supporting operations on the
Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finister ...
, around
Shaggy Ridge Shaggy Ridge is a long razorback (stratigraphic) ridge in the Finisterre Range, in north eastern Papua New Guinea. Its highest point is above sea level. The ridge is located between the valleys of the Mene and Faria Rivers and culminates at ...
and Cape Gloucester. The squadron continued in this role until March 1944, when the Vengeance was withdrawn from operational service. In March 1944, No. 24 Squadron was withdrawn to Australia to begin preparations to convert to the heavy bomber role equipped with
Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
aircraft. The squadron was assigned to No. 82 Wing RAAF and flew its first combat sorties with these new aircraft in September 1944. Operating from bases in the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
the squadron continued to fly bombing and anti-shipping strikes against Japanese forces in the
Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indiƫ; ), 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 ...
. A detachment deployed to Palawan, in the Philippines, and later in the war, the squadron deployed to
Morotai Island Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...
and then Balikpapan to support
Operation Oboe 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, ...
. Following the Japanese surrender No. 24 Squadron was used to ferry liberated Australian prisoners of war home before being disbanded at
RAAF Station Tocumwal RAAF Station Tocumwal () was a major Royal Australian Air Force base during World War II. History Located near the town of Tocumwal, New South Wales the base was established in early 1942 to provide a secure base for United States Army Air Force ...
on 15 May 1946.


Post-war

No. 24 Squadron was re-formed at Mallala, South Australia as a Citizens Air Force (reserve) fighter squadron on 30 April 1951. The squadron was allocated a fighter role, and was equipped with
P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
fighters and Wirraway training aircraft, being the only CAF squadron to operate Mustangs for the entire post-war period with all others operating jet aircraft. The squadron later received a number of
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. ...
s and Winjeels and undertook a range of training and exercises, often on weekends, as well as training cadet pilots. During this period the squadron lost two pilots killed in separate incidents in 1957. On 1 March 1960 the squadron became an RAAF (Auxiliary) unit, with the squadron moving to a temporary base in
North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...
. Meanwhile, in May two
Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
jet aircraft became available to the unit. However, in June 1960 the squadron ceased operations as a flying squadron, following a reorganisation of the CAF. Since this date No. 24 Squadron has been a non-flying RAAF Reserve squadron based at
RAAF Base Edinburgh RAAF Base Edinburgh is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located in Edinburgh approximately north of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and forms part of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. The base is primarily home to No 9 ...
near
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. The squadron was affiliated with No. 1 Squadron based at Amberley, Queensland and trained on maintaining the
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 ...
bomber. Following the transfer of No. 11 Squadron to Edinburgh in 1968, the unit was affiliated with that unit, retraining on servicing the
Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.