page_title: Wilfred Arthur
section_title: South-West Pacific
hierarchical_section_title: Wilfred Arthur / Combat service / South-West Pacific
caption_attribution_description: English: AWM Caption: Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea, c. August 1942. Four airmen, none identified, work on a Kittyhawk aircraft of 75 Squadron RAAF. Named 'Polly', and serially numbered A29-133, it was one of many flown by their fighter pilots during the battle of Milne Bay. Note that the aircraft's rear (left) has been supported by a wooden trestle to enable the ground crew to effect a tail wheel change. This aircraft was later recovered and, after restoration, acquired by the Australian War Memorial where it is now held in the aircraft collection.
context_page_description: Wilfred Stanley Arthur, DSO, DFC was a fighter ace and senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. Commonly known as "Woof", and sometimes "Wolf" or "Wulf", he was officially credited with ten aerial victories. As a commander, he led combat formations at squadron and wing level, becoming at 24 the youngest group captain in the history of the RAAF.
  Arthur joined the Air Force the day after Australia declared war in September 1939. He first saw action with No. 3 Squadron in North Africa, where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for shooting down four aircraft in a single sortie. Posted to the South West Pacific, he commanded first No. 75 Squadron, and later Nos. 81 and 78 Wings. He earned the Distinguished Service Order for continuing to lead an attack on a formation of Japanese bombers after discovering that his guns were inoperable, and was twice mentioned in despatches. Arthur also played a leading part in—and gave name to—the "Morotai Mutiny" of April 1945. Pursuing various interests in Australia and Vietnam following his discharge from the Air Force after the war, he died in 2000 at the age of 81.
context_section_description: As the Japanese advanced in the South West Pacific during early 1942, the RAAF hurriedly established three new fighter units for Australia's northern defence, Nos. 75, 76 and 77 Squadrons. Arthur was posted to No. 76 Squadron in April, flying P-40 Kittyhawks in New Guinea. His brother Norman was killed in action on 9 November 1942 while serving with the 2/31st Infantry Battalion in Papua. Promoted to squadron leader, in February 1943 Wilf succeeded Les Jackson as commanding officer of No. 75 Squadron, based at Milne Bay under the control of No. 9 Operational Group RAAF.  Arthur developed a reputation for diligence, courtesy, and concern for the welfare of his men. Despite the fact that, at 23, he was the youngest officer in his new squadron, he commanded the respect of his fellows because, he believed, "they like that I work hard; they like that I am not frightened of anything (i.e. Pretends not to be) and above those, they like that I don't boast". Having shot down a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bomber on 10 March, Arthur was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his "gallantry, matchless leadership and devotion to duty" on 14 April 1943. On this occasion, in spite of his guns jamming, he led 34 Allied aircraft, including Kittyhawks of Nos. 75 and 77 Squadrons and P-38 Lightnings of the USAAF, in "a determined head-on attack" to intercept 100 Japanese raiders, 14 of which were destroyed by the defenders. Arthur described the situation of being in combat but unable to shoot as "sort of awkward. Fortunately nobody else would know except me." To compensate for his lack of offensive weaponry, he repeatedly made as though attempting to ram one of the raiders, to try and force it down into the sea.
  Promoted acting wing commander in June 1943, Arthur became wing leader of No. 71 Wing, which controlled No. 75 Squadron and three other combat units. On 5 November, he was involved in a collision at Kiriwina Airfield with a Spitfire of No. 79 Squadron. The Spitfire pilot was killed, and Arthur received serious burns. He later recalled, "... I felt my hands disappear, felt my face go but the rest of my body was ... was just flames ... And then all of a sudden the flames dropped down a bit and I got out and went like mad and I was running away from the aircraft and trying to guess how far I could go before I'd try to put the flames out ..." Although his family was informed that his injuries were "of a very slight nature" and that he had been "burnt but not badly", Arthur was close to death for weeks while he was treated in Kiriwina.  He was finally repatriated to Sydney where he underwent plastic surgery at Yaralla Military Hospital (now Concord Hospital). After his recovery in April 1944, he attended a staff course before taking over command of No. 2 Operational Training Unit at Mildura, Victoria. In August, at the age of 24, he was promoted to temporary group captain, the youngest in the RAAF. That December he took command of No. 81 Wing of the Australian First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF), based at Noemfoor and Labuan in the Dutch East Indies.
  In April 1945, having recently assumed command of No. 1 TAF's No. 78 Wing, Arthur helped trigger an incident that became known as the "Morotai Mutiny" (a phrase originating in one of his aide memoires at the time). He was one of eight senior pilots, including Australia's top-scoring ace, Group Captain Clive Caldwell, and fellow veterans from the North African campaign, Bobby Gibbes and John Waddy, who attempted to resign their commissions in protest at the relegation of RAAF fighter squadrons to apparently worthless ground attack missions. Frustrated at the lack of attention paid by Headquarters No. 1 TAF to a "balance sheet" he produced showing that operational losses outweighed results, Arthur later said that his object for the "mutiny" was to "make as big a fuss as I possibly could with the object of getting the position corrected." A government inquiry into the incident exonerated the pilots, finding their motives in tendering their resignations to be sincere. Arthur remained in charge
caption: P-40 Kittyhawk "Polly", which Squadron Leader Arthur was flying when he earned the DSO in April 1943
exif: {}