No. 450 Squadron RAAF

Under the temporary command of Flight Lieutenant Bruce Shepherd,[11][12] No. 450 Squadron left Australia on 11 April 1941, embarking on the troopship Queen Elizabeth at Sydney, and arriving in Egypt on 3 May.[13][14] At RAF Abu Sueir, Squadron Leader Gordon Steege took command of the squadron before it was combined with the pilots and Hawker Hurricanes of No. 260 Squadron RAF, which had been established without ground crew, to form an operational squadron.[13][15] The combined unit, known as No. 260/450 (Hurricane) Squadron, then relocated to Amman in Transjordan. Its first operation was on 29 June 1941, when the Hurricanes attacked Vichy French airfields and infrastructure during the invasion of Syria.[16] No. 260/450 Squadron operated for ten days only and flew 61 sorties against airfields, 20 on offensive patrols and six on bomber-escort duties during the Syrian campaign.[17]

In August 1941, No. 450 Squadron personnel were separated from No. 260 Squadron, when the latter received its own ground crew. No. 450 Squadron moved to Rayak airfield, Lebanon, where it was allocated Hurricanes and Miles Magister trainers.[13] A batch of 20 trainee Australian, British and Canadian pilots—the majority being Australian—were posted to the squadron in early October, and it began duties as an Operational Training Unit.[15][18] A fortnight later these pilots were posted out and, lacking trained pilots, the squadron's aircraft were re-allocated. On 20 October, the squadron moved to Burg El Arab, Egypt, and began operating as an advanced repair, salvage and service unit, taking part in the North African Campaign.[3][19]

Kittyhawks of No. 450 Squadron in the Western Desert, North Africa, August 1942

By December 1941, the squadron was receiving pilots and it began taking delivery of Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters.[19][20] On 19 December, RAF Middle East Command issued an administrative instruction declaring that although manned primarily by Australians, Nos. 450 and 451 Squadrons were "paid by and loaned to the Royal Air Force under the Empire Air Training Scheme and for all practical purposes they should be regarded as R.A.F. squadrons in every way". Confusion reigned for a time, but after intervention by the British Air Ministry, a further communique on 23 January 1942 announced that "450 and 451 E.A.T.S. Squadrons are to be regarded as R.A.A.F. squadrons".[21] Training began the same month, and No. 450 Squadron commenced operations from RAF Gambut on 19 February 1942, with an uneventful patrol near Tobruk. Three days later Sergeant Raymond Shaw became the first pilot from the squadron to claim an aerial victory, after he intercepted a Junkers Ju 88 near Gazala.[15][16]

The squadron became part of the Desert Air Force's newly formed No. 239 Wing on 1 March 1942, serving alongside one Australian squadron, No. 3, and two RAF squadrons, Nos. 112 and 250 Squadrons.[22] No. 450 Squadron's main roles—escorting daylight raids by Douglas Boston bombers, and ground-attack missions in support of the Eighth Army—were hazardous and resulted in relatively heavy losses.[23] From 26 May, as Rommel launched an assault on the Gazala–Bir Hacheim line, all Kittyhawk units began to focus on the fighter-bomber role rather than air-to-air combat, to support retreating Commonwealth forces.[24][25] On 29 May, No. 450 Squadron claimed two Junkers Ju 87s and a Messerschmitt Bf 109, for the loss of three pilots killed, including Shaw.[26][27] Flight Sergeant Don McBurnie, the squadron's highest-scoring pilot with five solo victories and one shared, claimed his final "kill" on 4 July 1942 when he shot a Messerschmitt Bf 110 into the sea following a bombing mission on airfields west of Daba.[28][29]

Kittyhawk of No. 450 Squadron, loaded with six 250 lb (110 kg) bombs, in North Africa, c. 1943

No. 450 Squadron took part in the decisive Second Battle of El Alamein, during October and November 1942, attacking enemy airfields and claiming three German and Italian fighters destroyed in the air.[30] It suffered several losses during this time, including one of its leading scorers, Squadron Leader John Williams, who was shot down and taken prisoner on 31 October 1942, three days after he had been appointed commanding officer.[31][32] The squadron was frequently on the move as the Allies advanced following Second El Alamein, changing locations six times during November.[15][30] It often found itself using captured or hastily constructed airfields; one Kittyhawk was destroyed and several ground personnel killed or wounded by land mines at Marble Arch, Libya, in December 1942.[33][34]

From late 1942, No. 450 Squadron was engaged in the Tunisian Campaign. By March 1943, as the Allied forces advanced, the squadron was operating from Medinne along the Mareth Line. That month it flew over 300 sorties. Further moves occurred, and by mid-April it was based at Karouan. Throughout April and early May, 350 sorties were flown, including attacks on Axis shipping in Cape Bon and in the Gulf of Tunis.[35] The campaign came to an end in mid-May,[36] but the squadron continued defensive patrols into June.[35] Between February 1942 and May 1943, it claimed 49 German and Italian aircraft destroyed in aerial combat, for the loss of 31 pilots, four to accidents.[37] As a result of its involvement in the North African fighting, the squadron received the nickname, "The Desert Harassers",[15] and adopted the motto, "Harass", both of which were derived from a comment by the Nazi propaganda broadcaster "Lord Haw Haw", who described the unit as "Australian mercenaries whose harassing tactics were easily beaten off by the Luftwaffe."[3]

Following the conclusion of the fighting in the desert, No. 450 Squadron was allocated a ground-attack role during the Allied invasion of Sicily. Moving to Malta on 13 July 1943,[36] the squadron staged out of RAF Luqa, and undertook its first attack in Sicily against Carlentini. Four days later, on 17 July, No. 450 Squadron relocated to Pachino, Sicily, from where it continued ground-attack missions. A further move came on 1 August, when Nos. 450 and 3 Squadrons relocated to Agnone, near Catania, where they commenced close air support operations on 11 August, working closely with Allied ground units around Mount Etna.[35] On the night of 11 August, the airfield was attacked by Ju 88 bombers, which dropped incendiary, anti-personnel and high-explosive bombs for more than an hour. No. 450 Squadron's personnel had been located some distance from the airfield and only one Australian was wounded, although casualties among other units amounted to twelve killed and 60 wounded.[38] Eighteen RAAF Kittyhawks were destroyed, including eleven belonging to No. 450 Squadron.[39][40] Despite this, the two RAAF squadrons flew 22 sorties the following day.[41]

During the early stages of the Allied campaign on the Italian mainland, which commenced in early September 1943, the squadron undertook bomber escort missions in support of the Eighth Army's landings. In the middle of September, it reverted to the close air support role, operating from Grottaglie, although it also undertook anti-shipping operations, including an attack on Manfredonia on 21 September, during which its aircraft sunk two vessels.[42] The following month, No. 450 Squadron was transferred to Foggia, and then to Mileni, where it was briefly withdrawn from operations to convert to newer model Kittyhawk IVs before rejoining the campaign in late November.[42] In December, the squadron moved to Cutella, near Termoli, on the central Adriatic coast of Italy. There it encountered problems with severe winter weather restricting operations. Cutella airfield was located close to the beach; heavy rains caused a storm surge on 1 January 1944 and flooded the airfield, damaging some aircraft.[43]

Kittyhawk of No. 450 Squadron at Cervia, Italy, where it operated in early 1945

Meanwhile, Williams and another prisoner of war from No. 450 Squadron, Flight Lieutenant Reginald Kierath, were incarcerated with other Allied POWs at Stalag Luft III, in eastern Germany. In March 1944, both took part in "The Great Escape" and were among 50 POWs murdered by the Gestapo, after being recaptured.[44] Williams, who was 27 years old and from Sydney, was officially an RAF officer, as he had joined the British service under a short service commission in 1938.[44][45] Kierath, who was 29 and from Narromine, New South Wales, was an RAAF officer.[46]

Throughout January 1944, No. 450 Squadron undertook anti-shipping operations as well as ground support tasks. It flew missions against targets off Dalmatia and in the harbour at Šibenik, as well as around the ports of Velaluka and Zera. In March, the squadron's attention returned to Italy, launching strikes against rolling stock; the following month saw it heavily tasked, flying a total of 430 sorties.[35] On 29 April 1944, a USAAF Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilot strafed Cutella by mistake. No. 450 Squadron suffered no fatalities or aircraft destroyed but the pilot of a float plane belonging to an air-sea rescue unit was killed, some ground personnel were wounded, a Kittyhawk of No. 3 Squadron was destroyed and several others were damaged.[47][48] The following month, No. 450 Squadron moved to San Angelo, mounting a series of attacks against a 200-vehicle convoy near Subiaco in concert with other Kittyhawk squadrons that claimed 123 vehicles destroyed or damaged.[42][49] No. 450 Squadron later operated from several airfields in central and northern Italy, under the "cab rank" system, whereby patrolling fighter-bombers would attack as requested by army air liaison officers.[3][50] It flew over 1,100 sorties in June and July. The Australian Kittyhawk units were regularly lauded for the accuracy of their assaults; following a mission by No. 450 Squadron on 12 July, the Eighth Army wired No. 239 Wing headquarters: "Excellent bombing. Good show and thank you. No further attacks required."[51]

Personnel of No. 450 Squadron, May 1945

No. 450 Squadron took part in the major offensive against the Gothic Line in August–September 1944.[52] Its first attack in early August was a strike on an artillery battery, during which three Kittyhawks were shot down; subsequent attacks throughout the following months were made against various targets including rolling stock, armour, and troop concentrations.[42] From November, after it had moved to Fano on the Italian north-east coast, the squadron also began attacking German forces in Yugoslavia.[53] Its average complement of pilots during the second half of 1944 was 25 from the RAAF, seven from the RAF and five from the South African Air Force.[54] No. 450 Squadron commenced operations from Cervia in February 1945; that month, it lost three pilots to prematurely detonating bombs.[36][55] On 21 March, it took part in Operation Bowler, a major air raid on Venice harbour.[42] The attack resulted in the sinking of a merchant ship, a torpedo boat, and a coastal steamer, as well as the destruction of five warehouses and other harbour infrastructure.[56]

In May 1945, following the end of the war in Europe, No. 450 Squadron transferred to Lavariano, a few miles south of Udine in north-eastern Italy.[11][56] It also began replacing its Kittyhawks with North American P-51 Mustangs.[3][36] The squadron was disbanded at Lavariano on 20 August 1945.[11][56] During the war, it had lost 63 personnel killed in action, of whom 49 were Australian.[3]