page_title: No. 82 Squadron RAAF
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: No. 82 Squadron RAAF / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: Labuan, North Borneo. 2623 Flight Lieutenant Frank R. Schaaf DFC of Pagewood, NSW, who led a flight of four aircraft of No. 82 (Kittyhawk) Squadron RAAF, which destroyed three single-engined Japanese fighter aircraft, Allied code name Oscar, on Kuching airstrip. It was the longest strike flown by single-engined fighters from the Labuan base. His aircraft carries markings and insignia (nose art) indicating that he flew with the famed Desert Harassers in the Western Desert.
context_page_description: No. 82 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron that operated during World War II and its immediate aftermath. It was formed in June 1943, flying Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks and, initially, Bell P-39 Airacobras from bases in Queensland and New Guinea. The squadron became operational in September 1944, and undertook ground attack missions against Japanese targets in the Pacific theatre. Following the end of hostilities, No. 82 Squadron was re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and deployed to Japan, where it formed part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. It remained there until October 1948, when it was disbanded.
context_section_description: During 1943, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) received 399 Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft. Their arrival allowed the service to expand its combat force by forming five new Kittyhawk-equipped squadrons to join the three squadrons that had operated the type in the South West Pacific area since 1942. No. 82 Squadron was formed at Bankstown, New South Wales, on 18 June 1943. It was the third of the new Kittyhawk squadrons to be established, following No. 84 Squadron in February and No. 86 Squadron in March; No. 78 Squadron was formed in July and No. 80 Squadron in September. Commanded by Squadron Leader Stanley Galton, No. 82 Squadron's original complement was 279, including fifteen officers. It was to have been equipped wholly with P-40M Kittyhawks but initially included a flight of Bell P-39 Airacobras. No. 82 Squadron conducted training at Bankstown until April 1944, when personnel briefly moved to Hughes Airfield in the Northern Territory, before being redeployed to Townsville, Queensland, for further training.
  The squadron transferred to Port Moresby, New Guinea, at the end of August 1944 and then to Noemfoor in mid-September, joining Nos. 76 and 77 Squadrons as part of No. 81 Wing under No. 10 Operational Group (later First Tactical Air Force). Three of No. 82 Squadron's Kittyhawks crashed due to engine trouble while staging through Nadzab and Tadji. Operating from Kamiri strip on Noemfoor, the squadron flew its first combat mission on 30 September, bombing Samate airstrip with aircraft from No. 77 Squadron. On 18 October, one aircraft was lost to ground fire during an attack on Kai Island, and another was reported missing. It was difficult for No. 82 Squadron to stay operational as most of its ground crew remained in Townsville until moving forward the following month; in the meantime, the pilots were responsible for arming and refuelling their aircraft. On 23 November, they dive bombed Japanese airfields on Halmahera with aircraft of No. 76 Squadron.
  No. 82 Squadron continued to conduct ground attack missions in New Guinea until March 1945, when it relocated to Morotai Island in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). From Morotai, the squadron conducted ground attack missions in the NEI and escorted Allied convoys carrying troops bound for the liberation of Borneo. The relegation of First Tactical Air Force to areas of operation bypassed by the main Allied thrust towards the Philippines and Japan led to poor morale, culminating in the so-called "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. Squadron Leader Bert Grace, commanding officer of No. 82 Squadron, was among eight senior pilots who tended their resignations in protest at what they saw as the waste of resources on targets of dubious military value. The officers were persuaded to continue on operations, and Grace oversaw the squadron's move to Labuan island in June as part of Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of North Borneo. The Kittyhawks flew in support of Australian Army units until the end of the war. On one such mission on 8 August 1945, No. 82 Squadron made a 900-mile (1,400 km) round trip to attack targets around Kuching in Sarawak. During the first strike two Japanese aircraft were destroyed as they were taking off from the airstrip, while a transport was also destroyed and two more were damaged. The fighters then attacked several barges near Kuching Town and on the Sarawak River. Fourteen members of the squadron were killed on operations during the war.
caption: Flight Lieutenant Frank Schaaf of No. 82 Squadron at Labuan, North Borneo. The nose art on his Kittyhawk is a legacy of his membership of the "Desert Harassers" in the Middle East.
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