No. 1 Squadron RAAF
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 1SQN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| Service | RAAF | ||
| FEG | Air Combat Group | ||
| Parent Unit | 82 Wing | ||
| Role | Strike & Reconnaissance | ||
| Motto | Videmus Agamus | ||
| Formed | January 1, 1916 | ||
| Base | RAAF Base Amberley | ||
| Aircraft | F-111 | ||
| Callsign | Buckshot(Single Ship) Colt(Mutli Ship) Claw(Multi Ship) Puma(Multi Ship) Wolf(Multi Ship) Fang(Multi Ship) |
||
No. 1 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron. The Squadron is currently based at RAAF Amberley and operates the F-111 bomber.
Contents |
[edit] Primary Mision
1 Squadron (1SQN) is the RAAF's operational strike recon squadron.
[edit] History
No. 1 Squadron was established as No. 1 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps at Point Cook in Victoria on 1 January 1916. The Squadron sailed for Egypt in March 1916 and fought in the Palestine Campaign until the end of the war. No. 1 Squadron became part of the RAAF upon its formation in 1921.
No. 1 Squadron deployed to Malaya in July 1940. The Squadron suffered severe losses during the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). The Squadron was withdrawn to Australia in March 1942 and disbanded. 160 of the Squadron's personnel, however, were unable to escape from the NEI and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. Less than half of these men survived their captivity.
No. 1 Squadron was re-formed on 1 December 1943 and was conducted operations against Japanese forces in the NEI from Darwin from March 1944. After being re-equipped with Mosquito light bombers in January 1945 the squadron deployed to Borneo where it operated from Labuan Island until the end of the war. No.1 Squadron returned to Australia in December 1945 and was disbanded at Narromine, New South Wales on 7 August 1946.
No. 1 Squadron was re-formed as a heavy bomber squadron on 23 February 1948 by re-designating No. 12 Squadron. The Squadron was based in Singapore from 1950 to 1958 where it flew combat missions against communist guerrillas in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. Following its return to Australia in July 1958 the Squadron was re-equipped with the Canberra bomber.
While No. 1 Squadron appears to have begun converting to the F-111 in 1968, technical difficulties delayed delivery of this aircraft and, as an interim measure, the Squadron was equipped with the F-4 Phantom between 1970 and 1973. No. 1 Squadron has operated F-111s since their belated arrival in Australia in 1973 in the low level strike role. While the Squadron has not seen active service since the Malayan Emergency, it was placed on high alert during the early days of the Australian-lead intervention into East Timor in 1999.
Under current plans the F-111s will be retired in 2010. If No. 1 Squadron is retained, it will be re-equipped with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
[edit] Aircraft Operated
Note: This list is partial and does not cover the aircraft operated by No. 1 Squadron during its early days.
- Avro Anson (?-1940)
- Lockheed Hudson (1940-1943?)
- Bristol Beaufort (1943?-1945)
- De Havilland Mosquito (1945-1946)
- Avro Lincoln (1948-1958)
- English Electric Canberra (1958-1968)
- F-4 Phantom II (1970-1973)
- General Dynamics F-111 (1973-)
[edit] References
- No. 1 Squadron Official Website
- RAAF Museum RAAF 1 Squadron
| Royal Australian Air Force flying squadrons | |
|---|---|
| RAAF Units Under Australian Operational Control
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 40 41 42 43 60 66 67 71 73 75 76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 86 87 92 93 94 99 100 102 107 292 |
|
| RAAF Units Under RAF Operational Control During WWII
450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467 |
|
| Joint RAAF-Netherlands East Indies Squadrons |
