No. 80 Squadron RAAF

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawks being prepared for ground attack missions in 1944

No. 80 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron of World War II. The Squadron was formed in September 1943 and was disbanded in July 1946 after seeing action in the South West Pacific Theatre of the war.

[edit] History

No. 80 Squadron was formed at Townsville, Queensland on 10 September 1943 and was equipped with P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft. The Squadron completed its training in February 1944 and moved to Nadzab in New Guinea. During 1944 No. 80 Squadron operated mainly in the bomber escort and ground attack roles and flew from a succession of bases in New Guinea and islands off the New Guinean coast. The Squadron moved to Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies in January 1945 but flew few operational missions due to a lack of worthwhile targets in the region. As a result of this inactivity the Squadron suffered from low morale. In July 1945 the Squadron moved to Tarakan Island and flew close air support missions in support of the Australian Army until the end of the war. Following the war No. 80 Squadron returned to Australia in December 1945 and was disbanded at Deniliquin, New South Wales on 11 July 1946.

[edit] References

• Steve Eather (1995) Flying Squadrons of the Australian Defence Force. Aerospace Publications.
• RAAF Historical Section (1995), Units of the Royal Australian Air Force. A Concise History. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
• RAAF Museum 80 Squadron

This Australian Military article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.