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The RAAF in the post war
years and before Vietnam Page 2
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The RAAF ensign of No. 78 Fighter Wing is proudly hoisted during a brief but impressive ceremony at the Fleet Air Arm station at Hal Far, Malta.
Two Australian squadrons formed the Wing, which was stationed at Malta for two years. |
With RAAF squadrons engaged in operations in Korea and in Malaya, Australia on 3 March 1952 made a further overseas commitment of RAAF squadrons. On that day the Prime Minister,
Mr. Menzies, told the House of Representatives that the Government would send NO. 78 Fighter Wing to the Middle East to replace, temporarily, some of the RAF squadrons which were required for duty in the Suez Canal Zone. The main RAAF party left for Malta in the transport Asturias after a march through the streets of Sydney. Equipped with Vampire jets, the Wing was based at a Royal Navy airfield at
Halfar. Although NO. 78 Wing was not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in the Mediterranean, it carried out exercises as the air defence force of Malta in many NATO war games and exercises. The Wing also represented the RAAF at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in London in 1953.
After the Wing had served for two years at Malta the Government decided to bring it home. Australia's defence planners had come to the conclusion that the major area of strategic interest for Australia was the South-East Asian area. Australia had agreed to contribute forces, including air force units, to the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve to be maintained in Malaya. In these circumstances it was considered that the RAAF could not also provide a wing at Malta. The Wing was therefore ordered home, arriving during 1955 |
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| The air traffic control officer for No. 78
Fighter Wing at Malta, Squadron Leader Vic Banks talks with the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sir Thomas White, during an official visit by Sir Thomas to El Alamein for the dedication of the war cemetery there. |
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| When RAAF members of No. 78 Fighter Wing, stationed in Malta, visited the location for the film 'Malta Story' they were asked by famous screen star Alec Guinness (left) the best way to fill in some leisure moments. Out came the 'kip' and LAC M. Dunn, Newcastle, New South Wales, showed him how to
arrange the pennies for the traditional game of 'Two Up'. Watching the instructor are, left to right. Sergeant G. Stockham. (Kilburn South Australia), Corporal J. Sabien (Grafton, New South Wales),
actress Muriel Pavlow and actor Anthony Steel, who played the role of a RAF wing commander in the film. |
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| Vampires of No. 78 Fighter Wing over Malta |
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BUTTERWORTH
MALAYSIA |
At Butterworth air base in West Malaysia, opposite Penang Island, the RAAF maintains two Mirage fighter squadrons, Nos 3 and 75, backed up by NO. 478 Maintenance Squadron, a base squadron, a transport support flight and NO. 4 RAAF Hospital. Butterworth, originally an RAF staging-post, was occupied by the Japanese during the 1939-45 War. After the war the RAF used the base for operations against the Communist terrorists.
Following the decision to allot RAAF forces to Malaya as part of the British Commonwealth Strategic Reserve, the RAAF's
No. 2 Airfield Construction Squadron moved to the Butterworth base in 1955 and in the next two and a half years transformed it into the finest air base in the area at a cost of approximately
$10 million.
When No. 1 Squadron was withdrawn to Australia in July 1958, No. 2 Squadron, equipped with Canberras, arrived from Amberley to take its place, using the newly reconstructed base at Butterworth which, on the arrival of
No. 2 Squadron, came under RAAF administrative control, operational control remaining with Far East Air Forces, Singapore. The Squadron was assigned to the Strategic Reserve, but it took part in antiterrorist operations. In September of 1958 it carried out
Australia's first jet bomber mission when the Squadron bombed a terrorist camp in Northern Malaya. |
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| The ancient and the modern. As a bulldozer of No. 2 Airfield Construction Unit clears palm trees to make
way for new hangar sites at RAAF Base, Butterworth, an old Malay cart, drawn by
oxen passes by. |
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| A Sabre of No. 3 Squadron, based at Butterworth, flying high over the Malaysian countryside. |
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| Australia's largest overseas air base, Butterworth, in Northern Malaysia. In the background is Penang where a large number of RAAF personnel, including families, live. |
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| In perfect formation: RAAF Mirage fighters on a training flight from their Malaysian base at Butterworth. The aircraft form part of
No. 75 Squadron. |
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During an inspection of No. 77 Squadron prior to its departure to Malaya in 1959, the Minister for Air, Mr. F. M. Osborne, took the opportunity to farewell a number of the pilots.
They are, from left: Flying Officer E. R. Jones (Newcastle, New South Wales), Pilot Officer N. B. Williams (Adelaide, South Australia), Flying Officer P. W. Mahood (Perth, Western Australia), Flying Officer 0. G. Worth (Newcastle, New South Wales), and in the cockpit, Pilot Officer 1. T. Carswell (Launceston, Tasmania). |
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| As ground crew service two Sabres of No. 3 Squadron at RAAF Base, Butterworth, two Canberra bombers of
No. 2 Squadron scream low overhead on return from an exercise. No. 2 Squadron was later sent to Vietnam to undertake bombing operations in conjunction with the United States Air Force. |
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| Mirage pilots of No. 3 Squadron walking back to the crew room at RAAF Base, Butterworth, on completion of a squadron exercise. At extreme right is the Squadron Commanding Officer, Wing Commander E. A. Radford. |
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One of forty-six teachers working at the RAAF School, Penang, Malaysia, Miss Diane Kidd, an infants school teacher, gives a young pupil instructions on finger painting.
Miss Kidd comes from Sydney, New South Wales |
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| Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. (later Sir Robert) Menzies waves to a low-flying Canberra bomber during the course of an official inspection of a Canberra squadron. |
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| The Commanding Officer of the RAAF Sabre Advisory Flight in Malaysia, Squadron Leader J. T. Owens (right) shows a Malaysian pilot undergoing a conversion course how to check on the nose wheel mechanism of an Australian-built Sabre. Australia hag presented the RMAF with a number of Sabre fighters and has undertaken to train Malaysian pilots on them at RAAF Base, Butterworth. |
No. 2 Squadron was followed to Butterworth by Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons equipped with Avon-Sabre aircraft, manufactured in Australia. The Sabre squadrons and a control-and-reporting unit have since returned to Australia.
No. 2 Squadron was withdrawn early in 1967 and is now based at Phan Rang, South Vietnam.
No. 3 Squadron was replaced at Butterworth in 1967 by NO. 75 Squadron, which had been re-equipped with Mirage fighters. After it, too, was re-equipped with Mirages,
No. 3 Squadron returned to Butterworth in February 1968.
Butterworth at present has a strength of approximately 1,900 servicemen, including No.11
Squadron, Royal Malaysian Air Force, which flies Sabre aircraft formerly in squadron service
with the RAAF and presented to the RMAF by the Australian Government.
The maintenance of an air base the size of Butterworth with a population bigger than many Australian towns requires a complex range of domestic facilities - doctors, dentists, cooks, drivers,
store-men, right down to the cleaners and street sweepers. Apart from servicemen, the RAAF employs approximately 1,350 Malaysian civilians, most of whom are employed on the base.
Housing of the Australian servicemen and their families is alone a task of some magnitude. The single men live on the base and the married men and their families live in comfortable
hired houses near the base or on nearby Penang Island.
RAAF members and their families at Butterworth are not an isolated group in a foreign country. On the contrary, they are integrated into the local community and take part in many activities alongside their Malaysian friends. Service wives are
active in charitable work. Clubs for officers and airmen and their families are well established on Penang Island.
On 31 March 1970, the Butterworth air base was formally handed over to the Malaysian Government under arrangements covering the return of British military bases. The handover included the land and all fixed assets provided by Australia.
The RAAF force at Butterworth maintains a high state of readiness for the air defence of Malaysia and Singapore and also maintains an operation capability in the roles of ground attack, interdiction and close air support. It constitutes the most potent air defence force based in the area.
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RAAF nursing sisters stationed at Butterworth, Malaysia, Shane Kavanaugh (Bowral, New South Wales) and Janet Snow
(Pingelly, Western Australia) admire the huge figure of the reclining Buddha in a temple on Penang Island.
The temple is an immediate draw-card for a large number of RAAF personnel based at Butterworth, and their families.
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| Continual practice in all sections ensures that the RAAF maintains its efficiency at the highest peak. At Butterworth, Malaysia, the fire crew carries out a realistic exercise to
fully test their equipment and their own reaction to any emergency
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| The original pilots of No. 79 Fighter
squadron selected for service at U bon, Thailand, study a map prior to take-off from the RAF Base at Tengah, Singapore. Left to right, they are: Pilot Officer W. E. Scott, Flying Officer D. Newton, Wing Commander J. Hubble
(Commanding Officer), Flight Lieutenant S. C. Fisher, Squadron Leader R.
Trebilco, Flying Officer K. N. Pike, Flying Officer M. Raynes and Flying Officer C. S. Viertel. |
Australia, like Thailand, is a member of the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation and in order to test the efficiency of the SEATO powers, regular exercises are conducted by the naval, army and air forces of the Treaty powers. Most of these exercises are carried out in Thailand, the Philippines and the South China Sea.
When a threat developed to Thailand in 1962 the effectiveness of the SEATO alliance was under critical test and four nations - U.S.A., Britain, Australia and New Zealand quickly deployed units for the defence of Thailand. Australia contributed Sabres of NO- 79 Squadron which, late in May 1962. set up ready for operations at Ubon, where it was integrated into the air defence system and carried out patrol, guard and
training duties. The rapidity with which this contingent was able to deploy and sustain itself under adverse conditions testified to the soundness of RAAF policies.
When the squadron was withdrawn from Thailand in August 1968 it left behind much tangible evidence of assistance to the people of Thailand in the form of civil aid programmes carried out and developed by successive teams of RAAF volunteers over the years of their service in Thailand.
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| On return from a mission over Eastern Thailand, two RAAF Sabre pilots welcome the chance of cooling ice lollies supplied by
Chanalit, a young Thai seller. The pilots, both members of No. 79 Fighter Squadron, are Flying Officer Kevin Bricknell
(Longford, Tasmania) and Flying Officer Dennis Stubbs (Adelaide, South
Australia). |
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| RAAF
Sabres standing on the tarmac at Labuan airport in Borneo, with servicing tents set up in the
back-round. A detachment of Sabres was moved from Malaya to Borneo for duty during the confrontation
with Indonesia. |
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