page_title: No. 462 Squadron RAAF
section_title: 1944–1945
hierarchical_section_title: No. 462 Squadron RAAF / Squadron history / 1944–1945
caption_attribution_description: Three Australian groundcrew working on a No. 462 Squadron RAAF Halifax bomber in December 1944.
context_page_description: No. 462 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force squadron which forms part of the Information Warfare Directorate in the RAAF's Air Warfare Centre. The squadron was first formed in 1942 as a heavy bomber unit and saw combat in this role in the Mediterranean area until it was disbanded in March 1944. It was reformed in the United Kingdom in August 1944 to participate in the bombing campaign against Germany, and in December that year converted to a specialist electronic warfare unit. No. 462 Squadron continued in this role until the end of the European war in May 1945 and was disbanded in September that year. The squadron was reformed in its current role during April 2005.
context_section_description: 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. In its new incarnation the squadron had an Australian commanding officer and a higher proportion of its personnel were Australians. Many of its initial personnel were transferred from No. 466 Squadron RAAF, then also at Driffield. 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.
  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. 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. 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. The squadron flew its final operation of the war on the night of 2/3 May.
  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. 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.
caption: Australian ground crew working on one of No. 462 Squadron's Halifax bombers in December 1944
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