RAAF Station Archerfield
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RAAF Station Archerfield | |
---|---|
Site history | |
Built | 1939 |
In use | 1939 | to 1956
RAAF Station Archerfield was a permanent Royal Australian Air Force station at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from 1939 to 1956.
History
1939–1945
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took over the Royal Queensland Aero Club facilities at Archerfield Airport. Club aircraft were impressed into service and flying instructors were commissioned into the RAAF. No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF was transferred to Archerfield to look after flight training. No. 23 Squadron RAAF, now officially called "City of Brisbane Squadron", received the Australian built CAC Wirraway to defend the city against air attack.[1]
Up to 1941, Archerfield was being upgraded as a military base for the RAAF pending completion of RAAF Base Amberley. In 1940 a new administration block with control tower on top was built and the RAAF built hangars and huts along the southern boundary of the field.
The attack on the US base in Pearl Harbor coincided with another on US bases in the Philippines. The loss of these bases made Australia, especially the north of the country, a valuable staging area for the war against the Japanese. In the following months, military aircraft of several countries competed for space with the civil airliners still operating.
On 1 July 1942, the RAAF transferred control of the airfield to the
In February 1945, the
1945–1956
Units based at Archerfield
Royal Australian Air Force
- CA-17 Mustang 20, Vampire)
- No. 1 Initial Flying Training School, 1951–1955 (Tiger Moth)
- Gypsy Moth)
- DH.84, C-47 Dakota)
- Lockheed Lodestar, Bristol Beaufort, Bristol Beaufighter)
- No. 38 (T) Squadron RAAF: 1944–1946 (C-47 Dakota)
- No. 323 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945
- No. 324 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945
- No. 325 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945
- No. 342 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945
- P-40E Kittyhawk)
United States Army Air Force
- 19th Special Operations Squadron
- 21st Troop Carrier Squadron
- 33d Flying Training Squadron
- 39th Troop Carrier Squadron
- 90th Fighter Squadron
- 1535th Ordnance S&M Company
Royal Netherlands Air Force
- B-25 Mitchell)
References
- ^ Defence, Department of (23 December 2021). "Oldest squadron member turns 100". news.defence.gov.au. Retrieved 7 April 2022.