page_title: No. 36 Squadron RAAF
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: No. 36 Squadron RAAF / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Douglas c47 Dakota aeroplane parked off the runway at Charters Towers airfield, 1943 The RE codes on this aircraft identifies it as belonging to the 36 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.
context_page_description: No. 36 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force strategic transport squadron. It operates Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy airlifters from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The squadron has seen active service flying transport aircraft during World War II, the Korean War, the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It has also supported Australian humanitarian and peacekeeping operations around the world, including Somalia, Cambodia, East Timor and Indonesia.
  The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in March 1942, and equipped with Douglas DC-2s, among other aircraft. Later in the war it began operating Douglas C-47 Dakotas. From 1946 to 1953 it was controlled by No. 86 Wing, which was based in New South Wales at RAAF Station Schofields and, later, RAAF Station Richmond. In 1953 it was re-formed at Iwakuni, Japan, as part of No. 91 Wing. It returned to Australia and the aegis of No. 86 Wing in 1955. The squadron began re-equipping with Lockheed C-130 Hercules at Richmond in 1958, becoming the first non-US operator of the type. Over the next half-century it flew two models of Hercules, the C-130A and C-130H.
context_section_description: During February and March 1942, the RAAF formed four transport units: Nos. 33, 34, 35 and 36 Squadrons. No. 36 Squadron was established on 11 March at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, under the control of Southern Area Command. Its initial strength was twenty-six personnel and one Douglas DC-2. This was gradually built up to a force of six DC-2s, as well as examples of various de Havilland types including the DH.84 Dragon, DH.86 Express, DH.89 Dragon Rapide, and Tiger Moth. Tasked with transport operations throughout Australia and to Port Moresby, New Guinea, the squadron relocated to Essendon, Victoria, on 17 July. One of the DC-2s crashed at Seven Mile Aerodrome, Port Moresby, on 14 September; all aboard were killed. The squadron was transferred to Townsville, Queensland, on 11 December 1942. During 1943, it maintained detachments at Essendon and in New Guinea, and began re-equipping with twelve Douglas C-47 Dakotas.
  On 27 March 1943, a Dakota of No. 36 Squadron crashed on takeoff in pre-dawn fog at RAAF Station Archerfield, killing all twenty-three occupants, twenty of whom were RAAF or Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force personnel. The squadron relocated to Garbutt on 20 February 1944. During the New Guinea campaign it was responsible for carrying troops and cargo, and undertaking courier runs and supply drops. In 1945, a detachment of No. 36 Squadron Dakotas augmented No. 84 Wing's operations in Bougainville, flying almost 800 sorties between January and June.  The squadron lost two Dakotas on supply missions in Aitape during February 1945. In August, it flew paratroopers into Singapore as part of the reoccupation of the city, after which it continued to transport troops and cargo, and repatriate prisoners of war. Following the end of hostilities, in March 1946, a detachment of six Dakotas established a courier service between Morotai and Japan, where Australian units had joined the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.
caption: Dakota of No. 36 Squadron at Charters Towers, Queensland, 1943
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