No. 462 Squadron RAAF

No. 462 Squadron was formed on 6 September 1942 at RAF Fayid, Egypt as an RAAF Article XV squadron.[4] However, the original air and ground staff, were transferred from three British Royal Air Force (RAF) units: 10, 76 and 227 Squadrons. Because of this, almost all of it personnel were non-Australian and it initially had only a single Australian airman and no Australian ground crew.[5][6]

The squadron was equipped with Handley Page Halifax B. Mk. II heavy bombers and flew its first operation on the night of 8–9 September 1942 against ground targets at Tobruk. No. 462 Squadron was the only Halifax-equipped squadron in North Africa during 1942 and suffered from shortages of aircrew as a result. This problem became so severe in December that the squadron became non-operational until January 1943.[7]

A No. 462 Squadron bomber crew in September 1942. Only the man third from the right is Australian and the others are from Britain, Newfoundland and New Zealand

RAAF Overseas Headquarters attempted to have more Australians posted to the squadron during late 1942, without much success. Furthermore, most of the Australian ground staff assigned to the squadron in 1942 had no experience with Halifaxes, which caused aircraft availability to decrease for a period. British personnel were also reportedly unhappy about serving in an "Australian" unit and this contributed to tensions amongst squadron personnel.[7] In January 1943, the Australian Air Board agreed to a proposal by Air Marshal Richard Williams, the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Overseas Headquarters, to concentrate eight RAAF bomber squadrons into a single group in RAF Bomber Command in the UK; this would have included re-numbering the squadron, in order to formally designate it a RAF unit, and forming a new No. 462 Squadron RAAF (with different personnel) at a base in the UK. However, British authorities were slow to accept this request, and the unit retained its original designation throughout 1943.[8]

During 1943, No. 462 Squadron remained in North Africa and conducted raids against Axis targets throughout the Mediterranean area. In the early months of 1943 it primarily attacked harbours and shipping in Sicily. These raids were initially made from Cyrenaica until the squadron moved to Gardabia Main in Tunisia on 14 February. From this base it participated in the Tunisian campaign until it concluded in May.[9] More Australian personnel were posted into the squadron in early 1943, but by March only 120 of its 660 personnel were Australian. By August almost all aircraft maintenance was being conducted by Australian ground crew and the relationship between the Australian and British members of the squadron had improved. Following the end of the Tunisian Campaign the squadron moved to Hosc Raui in Libya from where it attacked targets in Sicily and southern Italy.[10]

On 1 October, the squadron moved again to Terria in Libya and conducted raids against German targets in Greece, Crete, Rhodes and other islands in the Dodecanese. In December 1943 its operations included conducting attacks on Greek ports and bays including Salamis Island, Piraeus, Salonika, and Suda to divert attention away from aircraft laying naval mines nearby.[1][7][11] By late 1943 – despite the efforts of the RAAF to "Australianise" the squadron – it still contained mostly British personnel. RAAF Overseas Headquarters again requested that No. 462 Squadron be officially re-numbered and officially cease to be an RAAF unit; the RAF agreed to this request in December 1943,[7][12] although it was not put into effect for more than two months. The squadron moved to RAF El Adem, Libya, on 1 January 1944 and continued operations over Greece, mainly attacks on ports and dropping propaganda leaflets.[13]

On 1 March 1944, after No. 462 Squadron relocated to Celone Airfield in Italy, it was re-designated No. 614 Squadron RAF.[13] The squadron's Australian personnel were gradually posted to other units, although it was not until mid-1944 that Australian ground crew left and the Australian aircrew in the unit had dropped to a proportion similar to that of other squadrons in No. 205 Group RAF.[12]

Australian ground crew working on one of No. 462 Squadron's Halifax bombers in December 1944

No. 462 Squadron was reformed at RAF Driffield, Yorkshire in Britain on 12 August 1944 as an Australian heavy bomber squadron within RAF Bomber Command, now equipped with Halifax B.Mk.III bombers.[13] In its new incarnation the squadron had an Australian commanding officer and a higher proportion of its personnel were Australians.[7] Many of its initial personnel were transferred from No. 466 Squadron RAAF, then also at Driffield.[13] No. 462 Squadron flew its first operational mission on 25 August and subsequently took part in attacks against 39 different targets over the next four months in support of Allied ground forces in Western Europe and as part of Bomber Command's campaign against Germany.[7][14]

On 27 December 1944 No. 462 Squadron was relocated to RAF Foulsham and became part of No. 100 Group RAF. This group specialised in electronic warfare and No. 462 Squadron's aircraft were modified to radar jamming equipment and other countermeasures.[15][16] Until the end of the war the squadron used its special equipment and mounted small diversionary attacks to deceive the Germans as to the location of the raids conducted by Bomber Command. While the squadron maintained a high rate of operations at times, its losses were relatively light as the countermeasures carried by the aircraft also protected them from attack.[16] No. 462 Squadron continued to operate until almost the end of the war in Europe, and was the only Australian squadron in Bomber Command to either fly a higher number of sorties in April 1945 than March or operate in May.[17] The squadron flew its final operation of the war on the night of 2/3 May.[16]

Following the end of the European war, the RAF sought to retain No. 462 Squadron for a period so that it could be used to test radio countermeasure equipment and techniques.[18] As a result, the squadron continued to fly training and ferry flights and also conducted armed patrols over Germany. These duties continued until the squadron was disbanded at Foulsham on 24 September 1945.[16]

No. 462 Squadron was reformed in April 2005 as a non-flying squadron within the Information Warfare Directorate of the RAAF's Air Warfare Centre. The squadron's role is to "protect the Air Force's capability through the conduct of information operations".[19] The squadron has a detachment in Canberra but is primarily based at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia. The squadron is supported by an Intelligence Flight, Training and Standards Flight, Operations Support Flight, and Engineering Maintenance Section. No. 462 Squadron attends to the requests of multiple customers seeking expert advice, accreditation of Air Force's standalone mission systems and networks and an incident response capability. It also supports exercises and operations across the world, receiving widespread recognition for its effectiveness and cutting-edge approach as Air Force's emerging cyber capability.[20]