No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight RAAF
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No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight was a Royal Australian Air Force unit which saw action in the Second World War.
No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight was formed at Lae in New Guinea on 20 October 1944. Operating four Auster light aircraft the Flight initially supported the Australian Army units on the north coast of New Guinea.
On 28 March 1945 No. 16 Flight departed for Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies in preparation for the Borneo campaign (1945). Detachments from the Flight initially supported the Australian 9th Division's campaigns on Tarakan and British North Borneo. In July 1945 the detachment at Tarakan was re-located to Balikpapan where it supported the Australian 7th Division during the Battle of Balikpapan. The Flight landed detachments at both Tarakan and Balikpapan on the day of the initial landing (1 May and 1 July respectively). The Flight's only fatality was Captain Ket who was killed on the day of the landing at Tarakan when his Auster crashed on take off.
No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight returned to Australia in December 1945 and was based in Canberra until its' disbandment on 23 June 1947. The Flight was re-activated on 25 September 1958 at Canberra to provide training for Army officers.
On 1 December 1960 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron was formed as a joint Army/RAAF unit and No. 16 Air Observation Post Flight was disbanded on 20 December 1960. 16 Squadron was expanded to form the 1st Division Army Aviation Regiment in 1966 and was re-named the 1st Aviation Regiment in 1967.
Sources
- RAAF Historical Section (1995), Units of the Royal Australian Air Force. A Concise History. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
- Australian Army Aviation Association 1 Aviation Regiment
