No. 1 Fighter Wing Headquarters RAAF

Brief History

This unit was formed at Richmond in New South Wales on 7 Oct 1942. It was to oversea the operations of three Spitfire Squadrons (452 RAAF, 457 RAAF and 54 RAF). Following delays in shipping the Spitfires to Australia, 42 of the original 48 aircraft allocated to Australia were diverted to Egypt. The other six aircraft with the personnel of the three Squadrons arrived in Melbourne on 13 Aug 1942. A make up shipment of 43 aircraft arrived in Australia in October. The wing trained in the Richmond area until late December 1942 before moving to Darwin to provide air defence from Strauss, Livingstone and Batchelor airfields. They engaged Japanese aircraft from March 1943 onwards, with an increse in Japanese attacks on Darwin and surrounding bases in May, June and July.

With a drop off in attacks on Darwin in late 1943, the Fighter AWing HQs was disbanded in order to make it easier to move individual Squadrons from base to base following temerging operational needs.

Unit Personnel

• Gordon Boyle 30 Dec 1942 - 29 Apr 1943 - Guard