Motto: Defend the Eyrie Battle Honours: Pacific 1945, Borneo 1945, Morotai, East Timor 1999-2000 No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron was formed on 10 April 1945 at Morotai. The unit, now No 2 Security Forces Squadron, is part of No 95 Wing with…

The Air Force attained its highest strength during World War II of almost 184,000 personnel (165,365 males in the Royal Australian Air Force and 18,457 females in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force).

Warrant Officer Len Waters, Australia's first Aboriginal fighter pilot.

When Allied forces invaded France under Operation Overlord, seven squadrons regarded as ‘Australian’ under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme Agreement took part in attacks on the Normandy beaches and surrounding areas.

Pilot Officer David Paul DFC, an Indigenous Australian pilot serving in North Africa, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

With the fall of Singapore in February 1942, the air route between Australia and Britain was severed, preventing the rapid movement of VIP passengers and government mail between the two countries. In early 1943, the British and Australian…

Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, later called the Dam Busters, using purpose-built bouncing mines.

RAAF Base East Sale, is located 220 kilometres south east of Melbourne in Victoria’s Gippsland region on the traditional land of the Gunaikurnai people. East Sale is home to No.1 Flying Training School, Central Flying School, Air Mission Training School, School of Air Traffic Control and Officers' Training School, the Roulettes, No. 32 Squadron and No. 30 (City of Sale) Squadron.

Victoria Cross awarded to Flight Lieutenant William (‘Bill’) Newton, the only RAAF VC of the Pacific War.

The Battle of the Bismarck Sea, took place on Australia’s doorstep from 2 to 4 March 1943. It was a defining battle that thwarted Japan’s attempt to secure a permanent foothold in Australia’s nearest neighbour, which was then the Australian…

Motto: Pass not Unseen Battle Honours: Moresby 1943, New Britain 1943, Pacific 1943-44, Markham Valley 1943-44, New Guinea 1943 – 44, Milne Bay No 41 (Radio Direction Finding) Wing was initially formed on 16th February 1943 in Papua, near Port…

An outstanding example of well-orchestrated actions through cooperation and coordination between Allied ground and air forces, the forgotten airlift in Wau, New Guinea, were as important to allied victory in the Southwest Pacific as the better-known…

Motto: Steadfastness No 44 (Radio) Wing was formed at Adelaide River, Northern Territory on 14 December 1942. It is made up of two subordinate units, Nos 452 and 453 Squadrons, based at RAAF Bases Darwin and Williamtown respectively. The Wing…

First serving member of the Royal Australian Air Force to earn a Victoria Cross - Flight Sergeant Rawdon (‘Ron’) Middleton.

Wing Commander Richard (‘Dick’) Cresswell, the 22-year-old Commanding Officer of No 77 Squadron shot down a Japanese Betty bomber near Darwin in a night raid.

Motto:  First to Defend No 1 Security Forces Squadron forms part of No 95 Wing of the Combat Support Group. The Squadron provides security and air base support of domestic operations across all permanent RAAF bases in Victoria, New South…

No 100 Squadron mounted the first RAAF torpedo bomber attack of World War II.

Eighteen Wellingtons from No 460 Squadron participate in the first thousand-bomber raid against Germany.

A Japanese ‘Glen’ single-engine floatplane was flown to reconnoitre the naval anchorages in Sydney prior to a midget submarine attack.

No 75 Squadron – formed at Townsville, Queensland, only 17 days earlier—arrived at Port Moresby. Japanese aircraft had been subjecting the town and its surrounding defence installations to air attacks since early February.

In two attacks this day, Japanese aircraft caused widespread destruction to the port of Darwin, including the town’s civil aerodrome and RAAF air base.

A Lockheed Hudson Mk IV bomber flew 2260 kilometres to carry out an armed photographic reconnaissance of Japanese forces in the Truk Islands.

Orders for raising the Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) were given by the Air Board today, with formal War Cabinet approval following nine days later.

Japanese forces commenced an amphibious invasion of northern Malaya.

On this night, a single Handley Page Hampden bomber from No 455 Squadron, RAAF, took off from Swinderby in Lincolnshire to make the first attack by an Australian aircraft on Nazi Germany.

Flight Lieutenant Donald Thomson argued for utilising the Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory for defence purposes.

The Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) is raised.

RAAF Base Williamtown is strategically positioned to the North of Newcastle in the Port Stephens area. The history and expansion of RAAF Williamtown since its establishment during World War II is directly linked to the evolution of air power and the technological advances in tactical fighter and surveillance aircraft.

The War Cabinet approved the formation of the Cadet Corps as part of the RAAF Reserve on 1 February 1941. Commanded by GPCAPT W.A. Robertson, the Corps had six wings, with most of the instructors being unpaid volunteers who were ex-World War I…

Air Force’s No 3 Squadron had its first taste of combat.