Page 4 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 21

4 EDITORIAL
FEBRUARY – MARCH 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
RAAF: 100 YEARS YOUNG
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
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MARCH 31 marks 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force. From Wirraways to working with the RAF in its earliest con- flicts, the RAAF has seen an amazing pro- gression of people and technology over its organisational life. It’s an organisation that has prided itself on this fusion.
It is also a good opportunity to look back on the achievements of the RAAF. Each squadron has its own rich history. No. 1 Squadron was formed under the Austra- lian Flying Corps in 1916 and saw action in the Sinai and Palestine campaigns during WWI. It flew obsolete Royal Aircraft Fac- tory B.E.2s, B.E.12s, Martinsyde G.100s and G.102s, as well as Airco DH.6s, Bristol Scouts and Nieuport 17s, before re-equip- ping with the R.E.8 in October 1917 and fi- nally the Bristol Fighter in December. Could you even imagine such a speedy evolution of aircraft now?
bore the brunt of the Commonwealth air campaign. When it returned to Australia it re-equipped with English Electric Can- berra jet bombers.
It operated McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms from 1970 to 1973, as a stop- gap pending delivery of the General Dy- namics F-111C swing-wing bomber. The F-111 remained in service for 37 years until replaced by the Super Hornet in 2010. In 2014/15, a detachment of Super Hornets was deployed to the Middle East as part of the military intervention against ISIL.
Controlled by No. 82 Wing, an element of the Air Combat Group, its mission respon- sibilities include air-to-air and air-to-surface combat and reconnaissance at RAAF Base Amberley. The ‘Fighting First’ squadron crest is “the Australian Kookaburra in a diving position superimposed on the cross of Jeru- salem”, which symbolises the Victoria Cross- winning action of No. 1 Squadron pilot Frank McNamara in Palestine during WWI.
And this is just one part of the RAAF. The stories of their exploits and achieve- ments across time and squadrons cannot be covered in one mere editorial when count- less books are available to avid readers.
But it does provide the foundation for the future force, a fifth-generation force, that the RAAF is bedding down while looking to the future. When I began with ADM, the Avalon Air show was my first big event for the magazine; there was talk of the RAAF’s biggest recapitalisation in a generation, with 80 per cent of the fleet to be replaced in the next 10 years. That period is now here, almost complete. JSF, C-27J, new Hercules, P-8s, MRTT, Falcon 7X, Growlers, Wedgetail, PC-21 are now in service and the Peregrine and Sky Guard- ian on the horizon.
The RAAF is also involved with industry and academia in looking to the next ele- ments of transient advantage when it comes to space and uninhabited technologies, with the organisation involved in two sepa- rate CRCs (SmartSats and Trusted Autono- mous Systems) on these issues alongside the Plan Jericho framework where innovation is the order of the day. ■
“IT’S NOT A PERFECT ORGANISATION BY ANY MEANS (FIND ME ONE THAT IS) BUT IT IS HEADING INTO ITS NEXT CENTURY WITH OPEN EYES.”
Its commanding of- ficer in 1917–18 was Major Richard Wil- liams, later known as the Father of the RAAF. No. 1 Squad- ron was disbanded in 1919, re-formed on paper as part of the RAAF in 1922, and re-established as an operational unit three years later.
During WWII, the squadron flew Lock- heed Hudson bomb- ers in the Malayan and Dutch East In-
dies campaigns, suffering severe losses before being reduced to cadre in 1942. It was re-formed with Bristol Beauforts the following year, and re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquitos in 1945 for further operations in the Dutch East Indies. Re- duced to cadre once more after the war ended, No. 1 Squadron was re-established at Amberley in 1948 as an Avro Lincoln heavy bomber unit. From 1950 to 1958 it was based in Singapore, flying missions during the Malayan Emergency, where it