No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, part of Air Combat Group, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role stealth fighters.
The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Pearce, Western Australia, in March 1942 and saw action in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, operating Curtis P-40 Kittyhawks. After the war, it re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and deployed to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. The squadron was about to return to Australia when the Korean War broke out in June 1950, after which it joined United Nations forces supporting South Korea. It converted from Mustangs to Gloster Meteor jets between April and July 1951 and remained in Korea until October 1954, claiming five MiG-15s and over five thousand buildings and vehicles destroyed during the war for the loss of almost sixty aircraft, mainly to ground fire.
No. 77 Squadron re-equipped with CAC Sabres at Williamtown in November 1956. Two years later it transferred to RAAF Butterworth in Malaya to join the air campaign against communist guerrillas in the last stages of the Emergency. The squadron remained at Butterworth during the 1960s, providing regional air defence during the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia. It returned to Williamtown in early 1969 to re-equip with Dassault Mirage III supersonic jet fighters. No. 77 Squadron began converting to McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters in June 1987. It supplied a detachment of four aircraft to the American base on Diego Garcia in 2001–02, supporting the war in Afghanistan, and deployed to the Middle East as part of the war against the Islamic State in 2015–17. Along with its Hornets, the squadron briefly operated Pilatus PC-9s in the forward air control role in the early 2000s. It began converting to F-35A Lightnings in January 2021.
Role and equipment
No. 77 Squadron is located at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, and controlled by No. 81 Wing, which is part of Air Combat Group.Royal Australian Air Force, Air Force Capability Guide 2020, p. 38 No. 81 Wing maintains three fighter squadrons for offensive and defensive counter-air operations. As well as air-to-air combat, No. 77 Squadron is tasked with land strike, close air support and maritime strike missions. Its staff includes maintenance, supply and other support personnel. The unit motto is "Swift to Destroy" and the crest features an oriental temple lion, a legacy of No. 77 Squadron's role in the Korean War. Nicknamed the "grumpy monkey", the lion represents "a defender of peace, which, when disturbed, is swift to destroy".
The squadron is equipped with the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multi-role stealth fighter, which it began operating in January 2021. Capable of 9G manoeuvres, the single-seat, single-engined F-35 is armed with a 25 mm cannon and can carry short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles and guided air-to-surface ordnance in an internal weapons bay. It can be refuelled in flight by the RAAF's Airbus KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transports. RAAF staff are responsible for day-to-day maintenance of the F-35; deeper-level maintenance is performed by Lockheed Martin through a contract with BAE Systems Australia. No. 77 Squadron regularly undertakes exercises with air forces from South-East Asia, New Zealand and the United States.
History
World War II
As the Japanese advanced in the South West Pacific during early 1942, the RAAF hurriedly established three fighter units—Nos. 75, 76 and 77 Squadrons—equipped with Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawks recently delivered from the United States.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 139–141 No. 77 Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Pearce, Western Australia, on 16 March, with a complement of three officers and 100 men. Temporarily commanded by Squadron Leader D. F. Forsyth, the unit was initially responsible for the defence of Perth.RAAF Historical Section, Fighter Units, pp. 54–56No. 77 Squadron (1942–1950), "Operations Record Book", p. 1 Squadron Leader Dick Cresswell assumed command on 20 April.RAAF Historical Section, Fighter Units, pp. 60–61 The squadron transferred to Batchelor Airfield near Darwin, Northern Territory, in August, the first RAAF fighter unit to be stationed in the area.Eather, Flying Squadrons of the Australian Defence Force, pp. 89–91 Until this time, air defence over Darwin had been provided by the P-40s flown by the USAAF's 49th Fighter Group.Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 136, 249 No. 77 Squadron moved to another of Darwin's satellite airfields, Livingstone, in September.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 644 Among its pilots was John Gorton, future Prime Minister of Australia.Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 250 No. 77 Squadron saw action defending Darwin from Japanese air raids and claimed its first aerial victory just after 5 a.m. on 23 November 1942, when Cresswell destroyed a Mitsubishi "Betty" bomber.Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 250–251 It was the first "kill" for an Australian squadron over the mainland, and the first night victory over Australia. As of 24 December, the unit's strength was twenty-four Kittyhawks.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 649
In February 1943, concurrent with No. 1 Wing and its three Supermarine Spitfire squadrons becoming operational in the Darwin area, No. 77 Squadron was transferred to Milne Bay in New Guinea.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 651Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 267, 291 Along with Nos. 6, 75 and 100 Squadrons it came under the control of the newly formed No. 71 Wing, which was part of No. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's main mobile formation in the South West Pacific Area.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 23–24 Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, p. 144 No. 77 Squadron registered its first daytime victory on 11 April, when a Kittyhawk shot down a Mitsubishi Zero taking part in a raid on Allied shipping near Buna. Three days later the Japanese attacked Milne Bay; the squadron claimed four bombers and a fighter for the loss of one Kittyhawk.Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 285–287 By this time, Allied headquarters had finalised plans for a drive north to the Philippines involving heavy attacks on Rabaul and the occupation of territory in New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomon Islands.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 21–22
No. 77 Squadron began moving to Goodenough Island in May 1943, and was fully established and ready for operations by 15 June.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 33–36 As Japanese fighter opposition was limited, the squadron took part in several ground-attack missions in New Britain, armed with incendiary and general-purpose bombs, a practice that had been employed by Kittyhawk units in the Middle East.Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 320 During one such raid on 2 August, Cresswell's designated successor as commanding officer, Flight Lieutenant Daryl Sproule, was forced to crash-land on a beach and was captured and executed by the Japanese.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 71 Cresswell remained in command until Squadron Leader "Buster" Brown took over on 20 August. Japanese fighter strength in New Britain and New Guinea increased in September and October, and eight of No. 77 Squadron's Kittyhawks were briefly detached to Nadzab as escorts for the CAC Boomerangs of No. 4 Squadron, which were supporting the 7th Australian Division.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 80, 86
In January 1944, No. 77 Squadron took part in the two largest raids mounted by the RAAF to that time, each involving over seventy aircraft attacking targets in New Britain.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 130–131 It was subsequently assigned to Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands, joining Nos. 76 and 79 Squadrons under No. 73 Wing.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 170 No. 77 Squadron's ground party went ashore at Los Negros on 6 March, in the middle of a firefight with Japanese forces.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 173 Fourteen of the squadron's Kittyhawks arrived a week later, and another ten on 28 March.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 176, 179 Their primary duty was providing air cover for Allied shipping, though no Japanese aircraft were encountered; they also flew ground-attack missions in support of US troops on Manus Island.Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 340 Following the capture of the Admiralties, which completed the isolation of Rabaul, No. 77 Squadron remained with No. 73 Wing on garrison duty at Los Negros from May to July 1944.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 180–181 Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 249
Between 13 August and 14 September 1944, the squadron transferred to Noemfoor in western New Guinea to join Nos. 76 and 82 Squadrons as part of No. 81 Wing under No. 10 Operational Group (later the Australian First Tactical Air Force), which had taken over the mobile role previously performed by No. 9 Group and was supporting the American landings along the north coast of New Guinea. Cresswell, now a wing commander, arrived for his second tour of duty as commanding officer on 26 September. Operating P-40N Kittyhawks, No. 77 Squadron bombed Japanese positions on the Vogelkop Peninsula in October and on Halmahera in November.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 312 Cresswell handed over command in March 1945. The squadron moved to Morotai on 13 April and conducted ground-attack sorties over the Dutch East Indies until 30 June, when it redeployed with No. 81 Wing to Labuan to support the 9th Australian Division in North Borneo until hostilities ended in August 1945.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 470–473 The squadron's tally of aerial victories during the war was seven aircraft destroyed and four "probables", for the loss of eighteen pilots killed.Johnston, Whispering Death, p. 448
Occupation of Japan
No. 77 Squadron began re-equipping with North American P-51 Mustangs at Labuan in September 1945.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 495–496 In the wake of Japan's surrender, No. 81 Wing became part of Australia's contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). No. 77 Squadron was the last of the wing's three flying units to deploy to Japan, arriving at Bofu, a former kamikaze base, on 21 March 1946.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 213–216 No. 481 (Maintenance) Squadron provided technical service for the Mustangs.Stephens, Going Solo, p. 214 Occupation duties proved uneventful, the main operational task being surveillance patrols, but units maintained an intensive training regime and undertook combined exercises with other Allied forces.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 216–218 Many RAAF personnel were accompanied to Japan by their families.Stephens, Going Solo, p. 220