No. 76 Wing RAAF
Encyclopedia
No. 76 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) wing of World War II
. Initially based in Cairns, Queensland
, its headquarters transferred to Darwin, Northern Territory
, in September 1944 to take control of three PBY Catalina squadrons, Nos. 20
, 42
, and 43
. The prime task of these squadrons was minelaying
in the South West Pacific theatre
, and they conducted these operations as far afield as Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and China. In addition to minelaying, No. 76 Wing's Catalinas flew bombing, patrol, and transport missions, and dropped millions of propaganda
leaflets in the closing months of the war. The wing headquarters disbanded in November 1945.
, in July 1944. Led by Wing Commander
Reginald Burrage, its headquarters was transferred to Darwin, Northern Territory
in September, to coordinate and control minelaying
operations in the North Western Area
by Nos. 20
, 42
, and 43 Squadrons
. Each of the squadrons was equipped with PBY Catalina flying boats, nicknamed "Black Cats"; No. 20 had been based in Cairns with No. 76 Wing headquarters, No. 42 had just been formed at Darwin in August, while No. 43 had been operating out of Darwin since March. Minelaying missions carried out by the RAAF over the past year had been credited with successfully disrupting enemy shipping for a much smaller outlay of operating hours than conventional bombing, and were thus considered profitable enough to dedicate a wing with three squadrons to furthering the work. Although the Catalinas were relatively slow and succeptible to enemy fighter attack, their loss rate was no more than one per 95 sortie
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The Catalina squadrons were expected to carry out a total of 100 missions per month from Darwin. In their first three weeks of operation from 13 September 1944 they accomplished 98, mining targets in Celebes
, Java
, and Surabaya
. In October, they were able to use the recently liberated island of Morotai
as a forward base for operations against Balikpapan
and Tarakan
. On 14 December, No. 43 Squadron, augmented by Catalinas from No. 11 Squadron
based at Rathmines
, New South Wales, mined Manila Bay
to support the Allied landing at Mindoro
taking place the next day. Flying from Leyte
, the 24 Catalinas successfully dropped 60 mines in the heavily defended target area for the loss of one of their number, and returned to base at the limit of their fuel reserves.
In the early part of 1945, monsoonal weather in Darwin reduced the number of missions flown by No. 76 Wing. On the night of 5/6 April, three Catalinas kept watch on the Japanese cruiser Isuzu
, which was subsequently struck by Allied bombers and sunk by submarines. During the month, the Catalinas mined Hong Kong
harbour, as well as targets on the coast of mainland China, flying up to sixteen hours per mission. On 26 May, they undertook the RAAF's most northerly operation during the Pacific War, against Wenchow
. The same month, Group Captain
Stuart Campbell, former leader of No. 42 Squadron, took over command of the wing. In May–June, reinforced by a detachment from No. 11 Squadron, No. 76 Wing flew mining and bombing missions in support of the forthcoming Operation Oboe Six, the Battle of North Borneo
, and Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan
. Before Oboe Six, while some of the Catalinas concentrated on mining the approaches to Surabaya harbour, others bombed airfields in Java and Celebes in concert with RAAF B-24 Liberators. The Catalinas and Liberators combined again in the lead-up to Oboe Two to raid any Japanese airfields that could threaten Balikpapan, in some cases bombing the same target around the clock, the Catalinas by night and Liberators by day.
With the Allies' decision to confine RAAF minelaying operations to areas south of China from June onwards, the number of worthwhile targets for the Catalinas was reduced. Sorties for the month were down to 58, a number of which were carried out from Labuan
against Banka Strait
. The wing's last minelaying missions of the war took place in July, again in the Banka Strait. In the final months before the Japanese surrender, the Catalinas also delivered propaganda
leaflets around the Dutch East Indies
and South China Sea
, dropping over a million in June alone. No. 76 Wing and its squadrons remained at Darwin in the immediate aftermath of the war, conducting routine patrols, transporting supplies and medicine to prisoners-of-war in the South West Pacific, and assisting in the repatriation of Australian personnel. In November 1945, under a reorganisation of RAAF units at Darwin, the wing headquarters was given orders to disband, and this took place on the 21st of the month. No. 42 Squadron disbanded the same month, while Nos. 20 and 43 Squadrons transferred to Rathmines, where they disbanded in 1946.
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
(RAAF) wing of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Initially based in Cairns, Queensland
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
, its headquarters transferred to Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, in September 1944 to take control of three PBY Catalina squadrons, Nos. 20
No. 20 Squadron RAAF
No. 20 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron of World War II. It was formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1946.-History:...
, 42
No. 42 Squadron RAAF
No. 42 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force mine laying and maritime patrol squadron of World War II. It was formed in June 1944 and conducted patrol and mine-laying operations over the Netherlands East Indies from August 1944 until the war ended a year later, as well as operations in the...
, and 43
No. 43 Squadron RAAF
No. 43 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol and mine laying squadron of World War II.-Squadron history:No. 43 Squadron was formed at Bowen in Queensland on 1 May 1943. Equipped with Catalina aircraft the Squadron flew its first operational patrols from Karumba on 8...
. The prime task of these squadrons was minelaying
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
in the South West Pacific theatre
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, and they conducted these operations as far afield as Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and China. In addition to minelaying, No. 76 Wing's Catalinas flew bombing, patrol, and transport missions, and dropped millions of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
leaflets in the closing months of the war. The wing headquarters disbanded in November 1945.
History
No. 76 Wing was established at Cairns, QueenslandCairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
, in July 1944. Led by Wing Commander
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Reginald Burrage, its headquarters was transferred to Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
in September, to coordinate and control minelaying
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
operations in the North Western Area
North Western Area Campaign
The North-Western Area Campaign was an air campaign fought between the Allied and Japanese air forces over northern Australia and the Netherlands East Indies between 1942 and 1945...
by Nos. 20
No. 20 Squadron RAAF
No. 20 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron of World War II. It was formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1946.-History:...
, 42
No. 42 Squadron RAAF
No. 42 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force mine laying and maritime patrol squadron of World War II. It was formed in June 1944 and conducted patrol and mine-laying operations over the Netherlands East Indies from August 1944 until the war ended a year later, as well as operations in the...
, and 43 Squadrons
No. 43 Squadron RAAF
No. 43 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol and mine laying squadron of World War II.-Squadron history:No. 43 Squadron was formed at Bowen in Queensland on 1 May 1943. Equipped with Catalina aircraft the Squadron flew its first operational patrols from Karumba on 8...
. Each of the squadrons was equipped with PBY Catalina flying boats, nicknamed "Black Cats"; No. 20 had been based in Cairns with No. 76 Wing headquarters, No. 42 had just been formed at Darwin in August, while No. 43 had been operating out of Darwin since March. Minelaying missions carried out by the RAAF over the past year had been credited with successfully disrupting enemy shipping for a much smaller outlay of operating hours than conventional bombing, and were thus considered profitable enough to dedicate a wing with three squadrons to furthering the work. Although the Catalinas were relatively slow and succeptible to enemy fighter attack, their loss rate was no more than one per 95 sortie
Sortie
Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
s.
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, and Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
. In October, they were able to use the recently liberated island of Morotai
Morotai
Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
as a forward base for operations against Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
and Tarakan
Tarakan Island
Tarakan is an island off the coast of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a marshy island situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island occupies an area of .-Petroleum:...
. On 14 December, No. 43 Squadron, augmented by Catalinas from No. 11 Squadron
No. 11 Squadron RAAF
No. 11 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol squadron based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. It was formed in 1939 and has seen active service in World War II, East Timor, the War on Terrorism and the 2003 Gulf War...
based at Rathmines
RAAF Base Rathmines
RAAF Base Rathmines was a Royal Australian Air Force base located on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.RAAF Base Rathmines was established in 1939 and was the RAAF's main flying boat base during World War II and the early 1950s...
, New South Wales, mined Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
to support the Allied landing at Mindoro
Battle of Mindoro
The Battle of Mindoro was a battle in World War II between forces of the United States and Japan, in Mindoro Island in the central Philippines, from 13-16 December 1944, during the Philippines campaign....
taking place the next day. Flying from Leyte
Leyte Island
Leyte is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines.The island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places...
, the 24 Catalinas successfully dropped 60 mines in the heavily defended target area for the loss of one of their number, and returned to base at the limit of their fuel reserves.
In the early part of 1945, monsoonal weather in Darwin reduced the number of missions flown by No. 76 Wing. On the night of 5/6 April, three Catalinas kept watch on the Japanese cruiser Isuzu
Japanese cruiser Isuzu
was one of six s in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after the Isuzu River, near Ise Shrine in the Chūbu region of Japan.-Background:Isuzu was the second of the six vessels completed in the Nagara-class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as...
, which was subsequently struck by Allied bombers and sunk by submarines. During the month, the Catalinas mined Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
harbour, as well as targets on the coast of mainland China, flying up to sixteen hours per mission. On 26 May, they undertook the RAAF's most northerly operation during the Pacific War, against Wenchow
Wenzhou
Wenzhou is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. The area under its jurisdiction, which includes two satellite cities and six counties, had a population of 9,122,100 as of 2010....
. The same month, Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
Stuart Campbell, former leader of No. 42 Squadron, took over command of the wing. In May–June, reinforced by a detachment from No. 11 Squadron, No. 76 Wing flew mining and bombing missions in support of the forthcoming Operation Oboe Six, the Battle of North Borneo
Battle of North Borneo
The Battle of North Borneo took place during the Second World War between Allied and Japanese forces. Part of the wider Borneo campaign of the Pacific War, it was fought between 10 June and 15 August 1945 in North Borneo...
, and Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan
Battle of Balikpapan (1945)
The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign . The landings took place on 1 July 1945. The Australian 7th Division, composed of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing, codenamed Operation Oboe Two a few miles north of...
. Before Oboe Six, while some of the Catalinas concentrated on mining the approaches to Surabaya harbour, others bombed airfields in Java and Celebes in concert with RAAF B-24 Liberators. The Catalinas and Liberators combined again in the lead-up to Oboe Two to raid any Japanese airfields that could threaten Balikpapan, in some cases bombing the same target around the clock, the Catalinas by night and Liberators by day.
With the Allies' decision to confine RAAF minelaying operations to areas south of China from June onwards, the number of worthwhile targets for the Catalinas was reduced. Sorties for the month were down to 58, a number of which were carried out from Labuan
Labuan
Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...
against Banka Strait
Bangka Strait
Bangka Strait is a strait which separates the island of Sumatra and Bangka Island in the Java Sea, Indonesia.-See also:* Japanese cruiser Ashigara* List of straits...
. The wing's last minelaying missions of the war took place in July, again in the Banka Strait. In the final months before the Japanese surrender, the Catalinas also delivered propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
leaflets around the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, dropping over a million in June alone. No. 76 Wing and its squadrons remained at Darwin in the immediate aftermath of the war, conducting routine patrols, transporting supplies and medicine to prisoners-of-war in the South West Pacific, and assisting in the repatriation of Australian personnel. In November 1945, under a reorganisation of RAAF units at Darwin, the wing headquarters was given orders to disband, and this took place on the 21st of the month. No. 42 Squadron disbanded the same month, while Nos. 20 and 43 Squadrons transferred to Rathmines, where they disbanded in 1946.