No. 12 Squadron RAAF

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No. 12 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber and helicopter squadron. The Squadron was formed in 1939 and was disbanded in 1989.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Bomber squadron 1.2 Helicopter squadron 2 Aircraft operated 3 References

[edit] History

[edit] Bomber squadron

No. 12 Squadron was formed at RAAF Base Laverton on 6 February 1939. The first elements of the Squadron moved to Parap Airfield, Darwin in July 1939, with the remainder following in September, making it the first RAAF unit to be permanently based in the Northern Territory. Equipped with Avro Anson and CAC Wirraway aircraft, the Squadron conducted reconnaissance flights from Darwin until June 1940 when its flying operations were severely disrupted by the formation of RAAF Base Darwin and No. 13 Squadron from its resources and personnel. Following this the Squadron appears to have not been fully fit for operations until April 1941.

Following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, No. 12 Squadron conducted anti-submarine patrols and reconnaissance flights over northern Australia. Despite being dispersed at several airfields in the Darwin region, two of the Squadron's Wirraway aircraft and much of the Squadron's stores were lost during the Japanese air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942.

In October 1942, No. 12 Squadron was re-equipped with Vultee Vengeance aircraft. The Squadron did not use these aircraft in their primary dive bomber role until June 1943 when a raid was mounted to disrupt the construction of an airfield on Selaru Island in the Netherlands East Indies. This was the only time the Squadron used its Vengeance aircraft in this manner as its primary task remained providing anti-submarine patrols and escorting allied shipping.

In July 1944, No. 12 Squadron moved to Strathpine, Queensland where it was reduced to cadre status ahead of converting to a heavy bomber squadron. The Squadron returned to operational status in February 1945 when it was re-equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. After converting to the new aircraft the Squadron was deployed to Darwin where it began flying bombing raids against Japanese facilities in astern islands of the Netherlands East Indies on 24 May.

Following the end of the war, No. 12 Squadron operated in the transport role before moving to RAAF Base Amberley in March 1946 where it was re-equipped with Avro Lincoln bombers. The Squadron continued in the heavy bomber role until 23 February 1948 when it was renumbered No. 1 Squadron.

[edit] Helicopter squadron

No. 12 Squadron was re-formed at Amberley on 3 September 1973 to fly the RAAF's twelve new CH-47C Chinook helicopters. The helicopters were delivered in March 1974 and the Squadron made its first flight in the aircraft on 8 July 1974. The Chinook helicopters were primarily used to support Australian Army units based in northern Australia, though they also on occasion conducted air-sea rescues and provided flood relief and performed a range of other tasks in support of the civil authorities.

Due to the need to reduce defence expenditure the Australian government decided to retire the Chinook aircraft in June 1989. Following the retirement of the Chinooks No. 12 Squadron was disbanded on 25 August 1989.

While it was hoped that the Army's new S-70A Blackhawk helicopters could fulfil some of the Chinook's roles, this was not successful, and contributed to the Blackhawks' severe serviceability problems in the mid 1990s. As a result, six CH-47D Chinook helicopters were ordered to equip 'C' Squadron of the Army's 5th Aviation Regiment.

[edit] Aircraft operated

• Hawker Demon (February-September 1939)
• Avro Anson (February 1939-October 1942)
• CAC Wirraway (September 1939-October 1942)
• Vultee Vengeance (October 1942-July 1944)
• Consolidated B-24 Liberator (February 1945-March 1946)
• Avro Lincoln (March 1946-February 1948)
• CH-47C Chinook (June 1974-June 1989)

[edit] References

• RAAF Museum 12 Squadron
• 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.

Royal Australian Air Force flying squadrons
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Empire Air Training Scheme squadrons 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 466 467
Joint Netherlands-Australian squadrons No. 18 (NEI) No. 119 (NEI) No. 120 (NEI)