RAAF Station Archerfield was a permanent

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

station at

Archerfield Airport Archerfield Airport is a leased federal airport located in Archerfield, Queensland, Archerfield, to the south of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time, it was the primary airport in Brisbane, but it is now the secondary airport. During ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, from 1939 to 1956.

History

1939–1945

At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in September 1939, the

(RAAF) took over the Royal Queensland Aero Club facilities at

. 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 The CAC Wirraway is a Trainer aircraft, training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of the North American NA-16 ...

to defend the city against air attack. Up to 1941, Archerfield was being upgraded as a military base for the RAAF pending completion of

RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Base Amberley is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located southwest of Ipswich, Queensland in Australia and southwest of Brisbane CBD. It is the largest military airbase in Australia. Amberley is one of two defence ...

. 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 Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

coincided with another on US bases in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. 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

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. Visitors to the station included

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of ...

and a young

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

, then a navigator on a

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in ...

. In February 1945, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

moved its Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No.1, known as TAMY 1, to Archerfield. The

base was known as HMS Nabsford and a plaque commemorating it and the British personnel who served in the Pacific theatre can be viewed in the old administration building along with plaques from the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

and the US 5th Air Force.

1945–1956

No. 23 Squadron RAAF was reformed at Archerfield in 1947 flying the CA-17 Mustang 20. No. 1 Initial Flying Training School was based at Archerfield in 1951 until it was merged with No. 1 Basic Flying School in 1955. No. 23 Squadron RAAF re-equipped with the

De Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...

in 1955, but the grass fires started by the Vampires' jet exhausts on the grass runways necessitated relocating the squadron to

. The Station Headquarters was closed soon after.

Units based at Archerfield

Royal Australian Air Force

* No. 23 Squadron RAAF: 1939–1942 (

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), R ...

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and ...

), 1947–1955 ( CA-17 Mustang 20,

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

) * No. 1 Initial Flying Training School, 1951–1955 (

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

) * No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF, 1939–1942 (

Gypsy Moth ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae native to Europe and Asia. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as '' L. d. dispar'' ...

) * No. 2 Air Ambulance Unit RAAF: 1944–1946 ( Fox Moth, Moth Minor,

, DH.84,

C-47 Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

) * No. 4 Communications Flight: 1942–1946 (

, Moth Minor,

Lockheed Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is an American passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era, developed as part of the Model 10 Electra family, specifically from the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra. Design and development Sales of the 1 ...

Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Bristol Blenheim, Blenheim li ...

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

) * No. 38 (T) Squadron RAAF: 1944–1946 (

) * No. 323 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945 * No. 324 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945 * No. 325 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945 * No. 342 Radar Squadron RAAF: 1945 * No. 76 Squadron RAAF: 1942 ( P-40E Kittyhawk)

United States Army Air Force

* 19th Special Operations Squadron * 21st Troop Carrier Squadron *

33d Flying Training Squadron The 33rd Flying Training Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron based at Vance Air Force Base near Enid, Oklahoma. It is a part of the 71st Flying Training Wing. The squadron was established as a medium bomber unit on Bolos, Marauders, ...

* 39th Troop Carrier Squadron * 90th Fighter Squadron * 1535th Ordnance S&M Company

Royal Netherlands Air Force

* NEI-Transport Section, Brisbane: 1944–1945 (

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

)

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm

* Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No.1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raaf Station Archerfield Archerfield Military installations established in 1939 1939 establishments in Australia Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Australia 1956 disestablishments in Australia