RAAF Command
RAAF Command | ||
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Air Officer Commanding William Bostock | |
RAAF Command was the main operational arm of the
History
Establishment and control
Allied Air Forces (AAF) Headquarters was established under General
RAAF Command was charged with defending Australia, except in the north-east, protecting the sea lanes to New Guinea, and
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
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
- ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942, p.473
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.15–16
- ^ Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942, pp.585–588
- ^ a b Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.4–6
- ^ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.143–146
- ^ a b Bostock, William Dowling (1892–1968) at Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved on 26 December 2010.
- ^ Horner, "The Evolution of Australian Higher Command Arrangements", pp.17–18
- ^ a b Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.147–151
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p.144
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.119–120
- ^ Odgers, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.42–43
- ^ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp.177–179
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.140–141
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.356
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.61
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.182–183
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.198–200
- ^ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, xxii
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.144,168
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.182–183,198–200
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.200–201
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.213
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.296–299
- ^ a b Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.435
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.169–170
- ^ Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp.123–125
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.452
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p.439
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.475–477
- ^ Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp.482–484
- ^ Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p.262
- ^ Stephens, Going Solo, p.66
- ^ Stephens, Going Solo, p.208
References
- Ashworth, Norman (2000). How Not to Run an Air Force! The Higher Command of the Royal Australian Air Force During the Second World War: Volume 1. Canberra: Air Power Studies Centre. ISBN 0-642-26550-X.
- Gillison, Douglas (1962). Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- Horner, David (2002). "The Evolution of Australian Higher Command Arrangements". Command Papers. Centre for Defence Leadership Studies, Australian Defence College.
- Odgers, George (1968) [1957]. Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume II – Air War Against Japan 1943–45. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- Stephens, Alan (1995). Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971. Canberra: ISBN 0-644-42803-1.
- Stephens, Alan (2006) [2001]. The Royal Australian Air Force: A History. London: ISBN 0-19-555541-4.