No. 452 Squadron RAAF - History

History

No. 452 Squadron RAAF was the first Australian squadron formed in Britain during the Second World War. Its first personnel gathered at RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey on 8 April 1941 and the squadron became operational there on 22 May of that year, flying Supermarine Spitfires.

No. 452 Squadron rapidly developed a formidable reputation in operations against German forces. They were involved in many different kinds of operations. One of the most unusual was escorting a bomber that — with the co-operation of the Germans — dropped an artificial leg by parachute into Europe, for the use of the British ace Douglas Bader, who was a prisoner of war. The bombers flew on to bomb a factory.

Another notable operation was the attack on the German warships Scharnhorst, Prinz Eugen and Gneisenau which were attempting the "Channel Dash", from their French harbour. Allied aircraft inflicted severe damage to these ships, despite intense anti-aircraft fire. The squadron did not lose an aircraft or suffer any damage to it on this occasion. Truscott was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for this action. Keith "Bluey" Truscott was perhaps the best-known of the squadron's fliers. Although it was an RAAF unit, while it was in Europe, 452 Sqn also had some British personnel, from the Royal Air Force as well as other British Commonwealth air forces and other nationalities. One of these was the Irish ace Paddy Finucane.

A number of Polish pilots also flew with the squadron and proved to be formidable pilots, despite occasional language problems.

In March 1942, 452 Squadron replaced its sister, 457 Squadron, at RAF Andreas, Isle of Man, where it remained until it withdrew from operations in Britain in June of that year to return to Australia. It sailed for home on 21 June, arriving in Melbourne on 13 August and re-assembled at RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales on 6 September. The squadron began a refresher training at Richmond, using a varied collection of aircraft because its Spitfires had been commandeered in transit by the Royal Air Force in the Middle East.

452 Squadron became operational again on 17 January 1943. Re-equipped with Spitfires, it was based at Batchelor Airfield in the Northern Territory and there joined No. 1 Wing RAAF, which defended Darwin from Japanese air raids. The squadron was relocated to Strauss Airfield on 1 February and, with the exception of a brief period between 9 and 27 March 1943 when it was deployed to RAAF Base Pearce to reinforce the air defences of Perth, it remained there (Strauss Airfield), protecting Darwin, until 30 June 1944, in May 1944 having become part of No. 80 Wing RAAF.

On 1 July 1944 the Squadron moved to Sattler Airfield in the Northern Territory. The protection of Darwin had been handed over to two Royal Air Force squadrons, allowing 452 Squadron to be employed in a ground attack role for the rest of the war. Initially the squadron operated against targets in the Dutch East Indies from Sattler Airfield, but on 11 December 1944 it joined the 1st Tactical Air Force and was relocated to Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, to support the Australian operations in Borneo (Kalimantan). The ground staff established themselves quickly at the newly captured Juwata airfield on Tarakan on 10 May 1945, but the state of the landing field was such that it was not fit for the aircraft of the squadron until 29 June. Following the landing at Balikpapan on 1 July a detachment of 452 Squadron Spitfires moved there on 15 July, to support the land campaign. The squadrons last sortie of the war was flown on 10 August 1945 and it disbanded two months later at Tarakan on 17 November 1945.

No. 452 Squadron was re-raised as an air traffic control unit on 16 February 2011. It forms part of No. 44 Wing and is headquartered at RAAF Base Darwin. It maintains subordinate flights at RAAF Base Darwin, RAAF Base Tindal, RAAF Base Amberley, RAAF Base Townsville and the Oakey Army Aviation Centre which provide air traffic control for these bases.