RAAF Command

Last updated
RAAF Command
OG2415RAAFCommand.jpg
Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock (right) with Australian I Corps commander Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead (centre) and US Rear Admiral Forrest B. Royal at Morotai, April 1945
Active1942–45
CountryAustralia
Branch Royal Australian Air Force
RoleAir defence
Maritime patrol
Offensive air operations
Size41 squadrons (October 1944)
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Air Officer Commanding William Bostock

RAAF Command was the main operational arm of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. The command was formed in September 1942 and by April 1943 comprised 27 squadrons, including units from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as Australia. Coming under the operational authority of Allied Air Forces Headquarters in the South West Pacific Area, RAAF Command exercised control of its units through geographically based area commands in Australia and, later, New Guinea, as well as large mobile formations including the Australian First Tactical Air Force. The command reached a strength of 41 squadrons in October 1944. From the time of its establishment, until its disbandment in September 1945, it was led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock.

Contents

History

Establishment and control

Allied Air Forces (AAF) Headquarters was established under General Douglas Macarthur's South West Pacific Area (SWPA) command on 20 April 1942. All Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) flying units in the theatre, except training squadrons, were assigned to the control of the AAF commander, Lieutenant General George Brett, along with all United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (NEI) units. [1] The RAAF's operational headquarters, including all geographically based area commands, fighter sectors, and combat air bases, were also subordinate to AAF Headquarters. [2] On 3 September 1942, the new AAF commander, Major General George Kenney, formed the bulk of his USAAF squadrons into the Fifth Air Force. He then formed the majority of RAAF units, as well as the 49th Fighter Group USAAF, into another organisation, initially known as Coastal Defence Command, with his chief of staff, Air Vice Marshal William (Bill) Bostock, as air officer commanding. The establishment of Coastal Defence Command was officially announced on 8 September 1942; the new formation was renamed RAAF Command three days later, as Bostock felt that the previous name did not do it justice. The only Australian air combat units in the SWPA not under RAAF Command were those based in New Guinea as No. 9 Operational Group RAAF, which was controlled by Fifth Air Force. [3] [4] [5]

RAAF Command was charged with defending Australia, except in the north-east, protecting the sea lanes to New Guinea, and conducting operations against Japanese shipping, airfields and other installations in the Dutch East Indies. [6] [7] Its role was thus "mainly defensive" at the outset, with the expectation that "in the event of developments in the North and North-West of Australia, this would be altered". [8] Bostock was to exercise control of air operations through the RAAF area command system, comprising North-Western, Western, Southern, Eastern, and North-Eastern Area Commands. [9] While the arrangements effectively gave him operational command of the RAAF in the South West Pacific, administrative control of the units was retained by Air Force Headquarters, Melbourne, and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones. Bostock was thus in the position of having to serve two masters, reporting to Kenney for tasking but to Jones for supplies and equipment. [10] Despite the Australian Chiefs of Staff Committee recommending "unified operational and administrative control" of the Air Force, the division of command was permitted to continue, and was a source of "acute personal tension" between the RAAF's two most senior officers for the remainder of the war. [8] [11] Jones had opposed the creation of RAAF Command as a separate organisation to Air Force Headquarters, and only formally recognised it as an RAAF unit headquarters in March 1943, eight months after it had been established. [12]

Operations and expansion

By April 1943, the disposition of the AAF was such that RAAF Command, headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, controlled 27 squadrons: 24 Australian units plus one each from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. [4] Its main war-fighting effort was centred in North-Western Area Command, headquartered in Darwin, Northern Territory, while No. 9 Group conducted operations in New Guinea. RAAF Command units in the Western, Southern, Eastern, and North-Eastern Area Commands were engaged in maritime patrol, anti-submarine, and minelaying operations off the Australian coast. [13] [14] In June, the 380th Bombardment Group USAAF, operating B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, was also placed under the control of RAAF Command, which assigned the group to North-Western Area. [15] By the end of 1943, No. 9 Group, originally the RAAF's mobile strike force, had become engaged in static garrison duties in New Guinea. No. 10 Operational Group was raised on 13 November 1943 at Nadzab to take over that mobile function. [16] In February 1944, RAAF Command took over many of the units of No. 9 Group, as well as responsibility for the Port Moresby and Milne Bay sectors; South-Eastern New Guinea thus effectively became an extension of Australia for the purposes of RAAF Command's sphere of operations. [17] [18] No. 9 Group was subsequently renamed Northern Command, to better reflect its new function as a static area command covering New Guinea. [19] [20] No. 10 Group's initial combat missions were conducted from Cape Gloucester in March, before preparations began in April for the Hollandia–Aitape landings. [21] These operations were supported by a bombing and mine-laying campaign directed by RAAF Command through North-Western Area. [22] By October 1944, No. 10 Group's name had been changed to First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF), and RAAF Command's complement had swelled to 41 Australian squadrons. [23]

An RAAF Command forward headquarters, known as Advanced RAAF Command or ADRAAFCOM, was established on 15 March 1945 at Morotai to directly control No. 1 TAF during the upcoming Oboe operations, the reoccupation of Borneo. Responsibility for all Allied air operations south of the Philippines, as well as Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) units based in the Solomon Islands to support the Bougainville Campaign, was assigned to RAAF Command. [24] [25] Bostock expressed to Kenney his desire that "1st Tactical Air Force should continue to be employed as a forward offensive formation rather than in a garrison role". [24] However, by April morale among No. 1 TAF fighter pilots, dissatisfied with the ground attack and 'mopping up' roles assigned to them, had deteriorated to such an extent that eight senior officers attempted to resign their commissions in an incident known as the "Morotai Mutiny". Kenney, Jones and Bostock all became involved in trying to defuse the situation, and the commander of No. 1 TAF, Air Commodore Harry Cobby, was sacked and replaced by Air Commodore Frederick Scherger as preparations for Operation Oboe One, the invasion of Tarakan, were under way. [26] RAAF Command had control of the USAAF Fifth and Thirteenth Air Forces, as well as No. 1 TAF, during the Tarakan operation, which commenced on 1 May 1945. [27] By this time RAAF Command comprised some 17,000 personnel. [28] For Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of Labuan–Brunei in June, RAAF Command also had at its disposal aircraft based in Australia at Western and North-Western Area Commands. [29] For Operation Oboe Two, the invasion of Balikpapan in July, Bostock marshalled forty Allied squadrons. His aim, in concert with that of Kenney and I Corps commander Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, was to deliver the heaviest aerial bombardment possible against enemy targets, to enable Australian assault forces to land with minimal casualties. [30] MacArthur called the Labuan air offensive "flawless". [6]

With the end of the Pacific War in August 1945, SWPA was dissolved and Air Force Headquarters in Melbourne assumed full control of RAAF Command. [31] The formation was disbanded on 2 September 1945, the same day that Bostock, along with Jones, represented the RAAF at the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri. [32] [33]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942, p.473
  2. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.15–16
  3. ↑ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942, pp.585–588
  4. 1 2 Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.4–6
  5. ↑ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.143–146
  6. 1 2 Bostock, William Dowling (1892–1968) at Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved on 26 December 2010.
  7. ↑ Horner, "The Evolution of Australian Higher Command Arrangements", pp.17–18
  8. 1 2 Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.147–151
  9. ↑ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p.144
  10. ↑ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.119–120
  11. ↑ Odgers, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.42–43
  12. ↑ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.177–179
  13. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.140–141
  14. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.356
  15. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.61
  16. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.182–183
  17. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.198–200
  18. ↑ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, xxii
  19. ↑ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.144,168
  20. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.182–183,198–200
  21. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.200–201
  22. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.213
  23. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.296–299
  24. 1 2 Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.435
  25. ↑ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.169–170
  26. ↑ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.123–125
  27. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.452
  28. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.439
  29. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.475–477
  30. ↑ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.482–484
  31. ↑ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p.262
  32. ↑ Stephens, Going Solo, p.66
  33. ↑ Stephens, Going Solo, p.208

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian First Tactical Air Force</span> Military unit

The Australian First Tactical Air Force was formed on 25 October 1944 by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Its purpose was to provide a mobile force of fighter and ground attack aircraft that could support Allied army and naval units fighting the Empire of Japan in the South West Pacific Area. One of several Allied tactical air forces formed during World War II, it evolved from the RAAF's No. 10 Operational Group, established a year earlier. Following action in the assaults on Aitape and Noemfoor, the group was renamed the First Tactical Air Force to better reflect its size and role. It was beset with morale and leadership issues in early 1945, but recovered to take part in the battles of Tarakan, North Borneo, and Balikpapan. Reaching its peak strength of over 25,000 personnel in July 1945, No. 1 TAF's squadrons operated such aircraft as the P-40 Kittyhawk, Supermarine Spitfire, Bristol Beaufighter, and B-24 Liberator. The formation remained active following the end of hostilities in the Pacific until it was disbanded on 24 July 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 78 Wing RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 78 Wing is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operational training wing, headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It comprises Nos. 76 and 79 Squadrons, operating the BAE Hawk 127 lead-in fighter, and No. 278 Squadron, a technical training unit. No. 79 Squadron, located at RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, is responsible for converting new pilots to fast jets, while No. 76 Squadron at Williamtown conducts introductory fighter courses; both units also fly support missions for the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North-Eastern Area Command</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

North-Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. For most of its existence it controlled units based in central and northern Queensland as well as Papua New Guinea. It was formed in January 1942 from the eastern part of the former Northern Area Command, which had covered all of northern Australia and Papua. Headquartered at Townsville, Queensland, North-Eastern Area Command's responsibilities included air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its territory. Its flying units, equipped with fighters, reconnaissance bombers, dive bombers and transports, took part in the battles of Rabaul, Port Moresby and Milne Bay in 1942, and the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morotai Mutiny</span> 1945 incident involving Royal Australian Air Force pilots

The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies. Eight senior pilots, including Australia's leading flying ace, Group Captain Clive Caldwell, tendered their resignations to protest what they perceived as the relegation of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadrons to strategically unimportant ground attack missions against Japanese positions that had been bypassed in the Allies' "island-hopping" campaign. A government investigation vindicated the "mutineers", and three high-ranking officers at First Tactical Air Force Headquarters, including the commander, Air Commodore Harry Cobby, the Australian Flying Corps' top-scoring ace in World War I, were relieved of their posts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bostock</span> Royal Australian Air Force senior commander

Air Vice Marshal William Dowling Bostock, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). During World War II he led RAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational formation, with responsibility for the defence of Australia and air offensives against Japanese targets in the South West Pacific Area. His achievements in the role earned him the Distinguished Service Order and the American Medal of Freedom. General Douglas MacArthur described him as "one of the world's most successful airmen".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 9 Operational Group RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 9 Operational Group was a major Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) formation providing fighter, ground-attack and anti-shipping support to the Allies in the South West Pacific theatre during World War II. Established in September 1942, it acted as a mobile striking force independent of the RAAF's static area commands. As the war in the Pacific progressed, No. 9 Operational Group itself developed into an area command called Northern Command, responsible for garrisoning New Guinea.

No. 11 Group was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) group formed at Morotai in the last weeks of World War II to command the RAAF's garrison units in the region. The group was established at the end of July 1945, but was not yet fully active when the war ended on 14 August. It remained active at Morotai until being disbanded at the end of March 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Hewitt (RAAF officer)</span> Royal Australian Air Force senior commander

Air Vice-Marshal Joseph Eric Hewitt, CBE was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). A Royal Australian Navy officer who transferred permanently to the Air Force in 1928, he commanded No. 101 Flight in the early 1930s, and No. 104 (Bomber) Squadron RAF on exchange in Britain shortly before World War II. Hewitt was appointed the RAAF's Assistant Chief of the Air Staff in 1941. The following year he was posted to Allied Air Forces Headquarters, South West Pacific Area, as Director of Intelligence. In 1943, he took command of No. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's main mobile strike force, but was controversially sacked by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, less than a year later over alleged morale and disciplinary issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 71 Wing RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 71 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing of World War II. It was formed in February 1943 at Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, as part of No. 9 Operational Group. The wing initially comprised two squadrons of P-40 Kittyhawks, one of Lockheed Hudsons, and one of Bristol Beauforts. The wing's mainstay soon became the Beaufort, which eventually equipped five squadrons attached to the formation. No. 71 Wing took part in the New Guinea campaign under the auspices of No. 9 Group, before transferring to No. 10 Operational Group for the Western New Guinea campaign during 1944. It then returned to the control of Northern Command to support Australian ground forces in the Aitape–Wewak campaign, and completed its final combat mission only hours before the Japanese surrender in August 1945. No. 71 Wing remained in New Guinea following the war and was disbanded in January 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 80 Wing RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 80 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing of World War II. The unit was formed on 15 May 1944 and eventually comprised three squadrons equipped with Spitfire fighter aircraft. The wing's headquarters was absorbed into the newly formed No. 11 Group on 30 July 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 73 Wing RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 73 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing of World War II. It was formed in February 1943 at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, as part of No. 9 Operational Group. The wing initially comprised three attack squadrons flying CAC Wirraways, Douglas Bostons, and Bristol Beaufighters, with which it took part in the New Guinea campaign until mid-year. It was then reorganised with three fighter squadrons operating P-40 Kittyhawks and Supermarine Spitfires; in this form it saw action in the New Britain and Admiralty Islands campaigns through 1943–44. The wing was disbanded at Los Negros in August 1944, and by the beginning of 1945 its squadrons had been absorbed into other RAAF wings under No. 10 Operational Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 61 Wing RAAF</span> Military unit

No. 61 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airfield construction wing of World War II. The wing was formed in January 1943 and was disbanded in November 1945. During the war, No. 61 Wing and the units under its command served in the North Western Area and South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and played a significant role in supporting RAAF and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Area Command (RAAF)</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in May 1942, and controlled units located in New South Wales and southern Queensland. Headquartered in Sydney, Eastern Area Command's responsibilities included air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries. Its flying units operated fighters, reconnaissance bombers, and dive bombers, and concentrated on convoy escort, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. The size of the area was such that the RAAF twice considered splitting it, but nothing came of this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Command (RAAF)</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

Northern Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Established in April 1944, it evolved from No. 9 Operational Group, which had been the RAAF's primary mobile formation in the South West Pacific theatre since September 1942, but had lately become a garrison force in New Guinea. Northern Command was headquartered initially at Milne Bay and then, from August 1944, in Madang. It conducted operations in New Guinea, New Britain, and Bougainville until the end of the war. Re-designated Northern Area in December 1945, it was headquartered in Port Moresby from March 1946 and disbanded in February 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Area Command (RAAF)</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

Western Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in January 1941, and controlled RAAF units located in Western Australia. Headquartered in Perth, Western Area Command was responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries. Its aircraft conducted anti-submarine operations throughout the war, and attacked targets in the Dutch East Indies during the Borneo campaign in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAAF area commands</span> Royal Australian Air Force command system

Area commands were the major operational and administrative formations of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) between 1940 and 1954. Established in response to the outbreak of World War II, they underpinned the Air Force's geographically based command-and-control system for the duration of the conflict and into the early years of the Cold War, until being superseded by a functional control system made up of Home, Training, and Maintenance Commands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Area Command (RAAF)</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

Southern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in March 1940, and initially controlled units located in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and southern New South Wales. Headquartered in Melbourne, Southern Area Command was responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries. From 1942 its operational responsibilities excluded New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North-Western Area Command (RAAF)</span> Royal Australian Air Force command

North-Western Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Its wartime sphere of operations included the Northern Territory, adjacent portions of Queensland and Western Australia, and the Dutch East Indies. The command was formed in January 1942, following the outbreak of the Pacific War, from the western part of Northern Area Command, which had covered all of northern Australia and Papua. Headquartered at Darwin, North-Western Area Command was initially responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vultee Vengeance in Australian service</span> Royal Australian Air Force dive bombers during World War II

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operated Vultee Vengeance dive bombers during World War II. The Australian Government ordered 297 of the type in late 1941 as part of efforts to expand the RAAF. This order was later increased to 400 aircraft. A few Vengeances arrived in Australia during 1942, and large-scale deliveries commenced in early 1943; further orders were cancelled in 1944 after 342 had been delivered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Board (Australia)</span> Royal Australian Air Force board of control

The Air Board, also known as the Administrative Air Board, or the Air Board of Administration, was the controlling body of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1921 to 1976. It was composed of senior RAAF officers as well as some civilian members, and chaired by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). The CAS was the operational head of the Air Force, and the other board members were responsible for specific areas of the service such as personnel, supply, engineering, and finance. Initially based in Melbourne, the board relocated to Canberra in 1961.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.