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No. 25 (City of Perth) Squadron is a general reserve squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It is based at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth, Western Australia, and forms part of the RAAF's Combat Support Group. The squadron was formed in early 1937 and until early 1939 was designated as No. 23 Squadron RAAF. During World War II, it provided local air defence for the Perth region, before undertaking Army co-operation duties in 1943–1944 and then converting to a heavy bomber role in 1945. Flying B-24 Liberators, the squadron took part in operations against Japanese targets in the Netherlands (or Dutch) East Indies (NEI) and supported Allied ground operations during the Borneo Campaign.

Following the end of hostilities, No. 25 Squadron was disbanded in mid-1946 but was re-raised two years later as a Citizen Air Force (CAF) unit based at Pearce. From 1948 the squadron's reservist (CAF) and Permanent Air Force (PAF) pilots flew fighter aircraft, initially Mustangs, later also Vampire jets, to provide air defence over Western Australia. In 1960 the squadron ceased flying duties and switched to the ground support role. In 1989, flying operations resumed with the Macchi as No. 25 Squadron assumed responsibility for jet introduction training and fleet support; this role ceased in 1998 and since then the squadron has been tasked with providing a pool of trained personnel to the Air Force.

History

No. 25 Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton in Victoria on 3 May 1937 and was initially known as No. 23 Squadron RAAF. Equipped with 6 Hawker Demon, 6 Avro Ansons and 3 Avro Trainers it was originally tasked with providing support for the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy, as well as pilot training. The squadron moved to RAAF Station Pearce near Perth, Western Australia, in 1938. The squadron's first commanding officer was Raymond Brownell. It was renamed No. 25 Squadron on 1 January 1939. Following the declaration of World War II, the squadron was allocated Australian-built, 2 seater CAC Wirraway aircraft for convoy protection and anti-submarine roles off the Western Australia coast around Fremantle and Rottnest Island. Squadron aircraft participated in the protection of convoys transporting the 2nd AIF to the Middle East and in the unsuccessful search for survivors from HMAS Sydney, the RAN cruiser sunk on 19 November 1941 by the German raider Kormoran off WA’s mid-west coast. [1]

After Japan entered the war, the squadron's Wirraways were complimented in 1942 by Brewster Buffaloes originally intended for the NEI Air Force. [2] Although these two aircraft types were already considered obsolete as fighters No. 25 Squadron was tasked with providing the air defence of Perth, amid concerns of a possible Japanese invasion. The squadron' Buffalos were replaced with Vultee Vengeance dive bombers in August 1943 and in an army cooperation role it began joint exercises with Army units in WA.[5]    On 27 August 1944 Vengeance A27-295 disappeared in bad weather during a cross country formation flight exercise. 4 days after successfully bailing out the pilot reached safety at a remote farm house. The aircraft’s wreckage was found on 3 September but despite a 20 day air and land search no trace of the aircraft’s navigator/wireless operator has ever been found. [3][4]

With the threat of invasion passed, in January 1945, the squadron was re-equipped with B-24 Liberator heavy bombers and tasked with attacking Japanese shipping and base facilities in the Japanese occupied Netherlands East Indies (NEI – now Indonesia). Operations against these targets began 2 months later with the squadron’s Cunderdin based Liberators usually staging through Corunna Downs and Truscott airfields in north-Western Australia - until November 2022 The Australian War Memorial (AWM) No. 25 Squadron webpage stated the Squadron moved to Tarakan in June 1945 until the end of the war. After reviewing RAAF and other sources the AWM deleted the statement in December 2022.[5][6]

From March to August 1945 the squadron’s Liberators flew a combined total of at least 85 missions totaling 5,960 hours against enemy targets, including diversionary raids over NEI to assist the Allied landings at Brunei Bay in northern Borneo. [7][8]During these operations one Liberator (A72-133) was lost on a 26/27 April 1945 night strike when it was forced to land in shallow water off a Japanese held island in the Lesser Sunda group. The aircraft’s crew survived the war after 4 months of brutal treatment as POW’s in Batavia (now Jakarta). [9][10][11][12]

The AWM's WW11 Honour Roll for 25 Squadron lists 23 members who died on WW11 service, including 6 due to ground incidents or illness.[13]Five aircrew died as a result of 3 Wirraway crashes from February 1941 to July 1943 and 7 died in 4 Vultee Vengeance crashes from September 1943 to August 1944. The squadron's worst loss occurred on 14 February 1945 when 5 of the 11 aboard Liberator A72-124 died when it crashed on take-off at Cunderdin. [14][15][16] The aircraft was tasked to participate in the squadron’s successful search for survivors from the SS Peter Silvester after it was torpedoed 1300 kilometres off the WA coast on 6 February 1945 by the German submarine U-862. The squadron’s search flights of up to 19 hours duration were instrumental in the rescue of 100 of the 174 aboard the last Allied ship lost to enemy action in the Indian Ocean. [17][18]

In the months following the end of the war, No. 25 Squadron aircraft evacuated liberated prisoners of war to Australia from Morotai and Borneo. The squadron was disbanded in July 1946.

No. 25 Squadron was reformed in April 1948 as a Citizen Air Force unit based in Pearce. Between 1948 and 1960, the squadron trained reservist pilots and ground crew and operated Australian-built or assembled CAC Mustang and de Havilland Vampire fighters, along with Tiger Moth and Wirraway trainers. From late 1951 the Vampire jets enhanced satisfaction of the squadron’s responsibility for maintaining a fighter presence in Western Australia. [19] Doing so came at a cost. From 1948-1960 two No. 25 Squadron pilots died in flying accidents; the first when Mustang A68-13 crashed at the RAAF Pearce bombing range on 2 June 1950 [20][21][22]; the second when Vampire A79-536 crashed during a flying display at a RAAF Pearce Open Day on 18 September 1955.[23][24][25]

In 1960, the squadron's flying role ceased and it began to concentrate on providing ground support for PAF units. In 1989, the squadron resumed flying operations with the Italian-built Aermacchi MB-326 jet trainer conducting initial jet training and fleet support for the Royal Australian Navy. With the Macchi, supplemented later with Pilatus PC-9 turbo-prop aircraft, and an increased PAF personnel component, No. 25 Squadron was the only RAAF reserve unit flying operational aircraft.

On 1 July 1998, the PAF component separated from the reserve element and reformed as No. 79 Squadron, taking with it responsibility for flying operations. No. 25 Squadron returned to its role of providing a reserve pool of trained personnel to the Air Force as part of 96 Wing in the Combat Support Group.[26]

In recognition of its flying and non-flying operations the squadron was presented with the No. 25 Squadron Standard on 31 October 1975. Mounted on a wooden pike surmounted by a Golden Eagle the Standard is a fringed and tasselled Royal Air Force Blue silken banner with a decorative border of roses, thistles, shamrocks, leeks and wattle. A white scroll inscribed with the squadron’s World War II Battle Honour, Eastern Waters 1941–1945 is shown to the left of the No. 25 Squadron Crest.

On 2 March 1976 No. 25 Squadron was granted the "Freedom of Entry to the City of Perth" by the City of Perth's Lord Mayor and Council. The squadron has also received the annual Air Force Association (AFA) Trophy for "the most proficient Air Force Reserve Squadron" nine times (1961, 1963, 1964, 1969, 1976, 1999, 2005, 2006 and 2008) since the award's inception in 1961 (the award was suspended from 2010 until its re-introduction in 2017 as an award for RAAF wings and groups).

In 2015 No. 25 (City of Perth) Squadron was awarded the 2014 Hawker Siddeley trophy as "the most proficient RAAF unit with primary whole of base support functions". The Award recognised the Squadron’s part in RAAF Bases Pearce and Learmonth providing, from 18 March 2014, air basing and support for the multi-national search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 [Operation Southern Indian Ocean (SIO)]. [27]

Wiki User Shellac41  21 August 2022 Shellac41 (talk) 09:47, 21 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Shellac41: These changes look good to me Nick-D (talk) 10:33, 21 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]


Reference formatting

[edit]

I made some changes to reference formatting because this page appeared on Category:Pages using duplicate arguments in template calls. Please see the edit summary. Ira Leviton (talk) 15:04, 23 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

What you did

[edit]

What you did was copy the entire article into Talk, and then incorporated changes. This makes it extremely difficult to assess your changes. Before making major changes to the article (I see you are already making many small changes) I suggest you add multiple new sections to Talk containing only the additions and deletions you intend. And then make those changes. This way, other editors can see your actions. David notMD (talk) 12:59, 9 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

My apologies David, I only read your comments a few minutes ago.
You are correct as to what I did originally and I confess to making another addition to the text today based on more info just learnt by 'accident' -as per my new Reference #27.
I am now more than a bit confused by what it is intended to be helpful advice.
Eg. One administrator has suggested I add a header (which I had done a long time ago but deleted it recently), add text saying what the whole thing is about and summarizing the major changes I've made, and then post a message to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history inviting people to take a look and to comment on my "in toto" revision shown on No. 25 Squadron RAAF's Talk page.
Others have suggested I revise the article page on a bit by bit basis (eg by sentence and/or by paragraph) spread over several days (ie similar to your suggestion).
I do not know the best way to go but will have to pick one and hope to get it right.
My main concern is to not provoke anyone to regard my changes/revision as controversial or out of order.
They are certainly not intended to be. As an ex-25 Squadron member I just wished to add more historical info to Wiki's article as an 'anonymous' Wiki user (ie for no personal accolade).
As a result of doing so, on 6 Nov 22 I did inform the Australian War Memorial (AWM) of an apparent mis-statement of fact on their AWM 25 Squadron webpage which sometime in the past had been repeated on en.Wiki's 25 SQN article page.
On I Dec 22 the AWM Research Centre advised me by email that they had deleted their mis-statement from the AWM's 25 Squadron webpage.
Although I have "noted" and referenced the AWM's deletion of the mis-statement in my proposed Revision of Wiki's article I am now concerned that the noting may be regarded as controversial or out of order by a Wiki administrator?
Your view on any of the above would be appreciated. Shellac41 (talk) 05:39, 12 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  1. ^ "RAAF's squadron with a difference". RAAF News page 6. Canberra, ACT: RAAF. 1 September 1991. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  2. ^ G Clarke, B Cowan (20 August 2014). "RAAF A51 Brewster Buffalo". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ^ G Birkett (21 November 2017). "RAAF A27 Vultee Vengeance". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. ^ Author not stated; March 1987; Re Crash of Vultee Vengeance A27-195 (sic); Wings, Autumn/March 1987, Vol. 39 No. 1 page 53; RAAF Association, Sydney NSW.
  5. ^ "No. 25 Squadron". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  6. ^ AWM Information|Research Centre RCIS101804 response, 1 December 2022.
  7. ^ RAAF, Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force a concise history bomber units. Canberra, ACT: AGPS Press. p. 82-85.
  8. ^ Nelmes, Michael V (1994). Tocumwal to Tarakan Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Belconnen, ACT: Banner Books. p. 126-128.
  9. ^ C Tigwell (6 April 2019). "RAAF A72 Consolidated B-24D/J/L/M Liberator: A72-133". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Cunderdin Liberator Squadron Gave Japs a Hammering". Sunday Times. Perth, WA. 26 August 1945. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  11. ^ "RAAF's squadron with a difference". RAAF News page 6. Canberra, ACT: RAAF. 1 September 1991. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  12. ^ lWAGS Memorial (2021). "RAAF Prisoners of War in the Pacific". Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  13. ^ "No. 25 Squadron". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  14. ^ 25 Squadron RAAF (1987). Golden Jubilee; RAAF No. 25 Squadron (City of Perth) Squadron: 1937 – 1987. RAAF Base Pearce WA: RAAF. p. 7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ C Tigwell (6 April 2019). "RAAF A72 Consolidated B-24D/J/L/M Liberator: A72-124". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  16. ^ P Dunn (3 February 2020). "Crash of a B-24 Liberator at Cunderdin, WA on 14 February 1945". "Australia @ War" WWII Research Products. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  17. ^ Frank Carter; December 2002; Letters to the Editor; Wings, Summer Edition 2002 Vol. 54 No. 4 page 49; RAAF Association, Sydney NSW.
  18. ^ Stevens D M & N Abjorenson (20 April 1995). "The War File 1939- 1945: The saving of 100 torpedoed Americans". The Canberra Times, page 13. Canberra, ACT. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Vampire Here Sunday". The Daily News, page 7. Perth, WA. 5 September 1951. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  20. ^ S Mackenzie, M Edwards & B Cowan (10 October 2019). "RAAF A68 Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-17/CA-18 Mustang A68-1 to A68-200". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Pilot Killed in Mustang Crash at Pearce". The Daily News, page 1. Perth, WA. 2 June 1950. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Pilot Killed in Pearce Crash: Dive Into Ground At 400 m.p.h." The West Australian, Page 1. Perth, WA. 3 June 1950. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  23. ^ M Edwards & B Cowan (15 December 2020). "RAAF A78, A79 and RAN N6. de Havilland DH-100/DH-115 Vampire". ADF Serials: Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Wife sees pilot die". The Argus, page 1. Melbourne, VIC. 19 September 1955. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  25. ^ "Jet Pilot Killed In Crash". The Central Queensland Herald, page 29. Rockhampton, QLD. 22 September 1955. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Structure of the RAAF". airforce.gov.au. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Thanks for the MH370 support". Air Force News page 8. Canberra, ACT: RAAF. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
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