No . 457 Squadron RAAF No . 457 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) fighter squadron of World War II . The squadron was formed in England during June 1941 as an Article XV squadron equipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters . It was transferred to Australia in June 1942 and saw combat in the South West Pacific Area before being disbanded in November 1945 . The squadron saw combat against both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan during the war . From March to May 1942 it was based in southern England and flew missions over German - occupied France during which it shot down at least five Luftwaffe aircraft . After being deployed to Australia No . 457 Squadron was based near Darwin as part of No . 1 Wing RAAF and intercepted several Japanese raids on Allied bases in northern Australia between March and November 1943 . The squadron remained at Darwin and saw almost no combat during 1944 , but moved to Morotai and later Labuan in 1945 from where it attacked Japanese positions in the Netherlands East Indies and Borneo as part of Allied offensives in these areas . History . Britain . No . 457 Squadron was formed at RAF Baginton in England on 16 June 1941 . It was equipped with Supermarine Spitfire s and was the second RAAF fighter unit to be formed in England after No . 452 Squadron . The establishment of both these squadrons formed part of an expansion of RAF Fighter Command which sought to improve its ability to defend Britain from a renewed German air offensive and to conduct offensive operations over occupied Europe . At the time of its formation the squadron ' s commanding officer , Squadron Leader Peter Malam Brothers , both flight commanders and all members of the ground crew were British , but most pilots were Australian . The squadron ' s ground crew component had been formed at RAAF Station Williamtown in Australia on 10 June , and departed for England on 7 August . On the same day No . 457 Squadron moved to RAF Jurby and thence to RAF Andreas , which were both situated on the Isle of Man to undertake training . While at the Isle of Man the squadron trained both its own pilots and pilots from other squadrons for operational duties , and for a time functioned as an operational training unit at RAF Andreas . It also escorted Allied convoys in the Irish Sea , but did not make contact with German aircraft . By October all the British pilots other than Brothers and the flight commanders had been replaced by Australians . The squadron ' s ground crew arrived in Britain during October and November , making it an almost entirely Australian unit . In March 1942 the squadron moved to RAF Redhill , Surrey where it assumed No . 452 Squadron ' s front line duties as part of No . 11 Group RAF . These included shipping protection patrols , escorting bombers , conducting fighter sweeps over northern France and contributing to the air defence of southern England . Fighter Command had received authorisation to launch a full - scale offensive campaign against German air units shortly before No . 457 Squadron arrived at Redhill , and it became part of this effort . The squadron first saw action on 26 March when Brothers shot down a Bf 109 during a multi - squadron fighter sweep over France , though one of its Spitfires was lost in this action . By the end of its first week of operations No . 457 Squadron had shot down three German aircraft and inflicted damage on several others and it went on to conduct 32 operations over German territory by 26 April . These operations often encountered fierce opposition , and German Fw 190 fighters proved superior to the Spitfire Mark Vs that No . 457 Squadron was equipped with . The squadron scored its last victory over Europe on 29 April , though fighter sweeps over France continued until almost the end of May . On 28 May 1942 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to an Australian Government request to dispatch three fully equipped Spitfire squadrons to Australia to reinforce the RAAF . The squadrons selected were the Australian No . 452 and No . 457 Squadrons as well as the British No . 54 Squadron RAF . Accordingly , No . 457 Squadron was withdrawn from operations on 28 May to prepare to be redeployed to Australia . By this time its pilots had been credited with five confirmed " kills " and another four " probables " and damaging seven aircraft . On 20 June the squadron left England on board the MV " Stirling Castle " , which was also carrying the men of No . 452 and No . 54 Squadrons . Darwin . The " Stirling Castle " arrived at Melbourne on 13 August . After being given 14 days leave the squadron ' s personnel reassembled at Richmond , New South Wales on 6 September . On 7 October it became part of No . 1 Wing RAAF along with No . 54 and No . 452 Squadrons . Most of the Spitfires intended for the wing had been diverted to the Middle East during the voyage to Australia , however , and the squadron initially only had CAC Wirraway and Ryan ST aircraft for training purposes . No . 457 Squadron was fully equipped with Spitfires by November and moved to Camden on the 7th of the month where it continued an intensive training program . In December the squadron was informed that it would be deployed to Darwin in the Northern Territory to counter the Japanese air raids against the town . The squadron ' s advance party departed on 31 December , and the main body followed by sea on 12 January 1943 . No . 457 Squadron commenced air operations from Batchelor Airfield on 20 January and moved to Livingstone Airfield on the last day of the month . No . 457 Squadron first saw combat against the Japanese in March 1943 . Although the squadron was scrambled a number of times in February , it did not claim its first " kill " until 7 March when two Spitfires shot down a Mitsubishi Ki - 46 " Dinah " reconnaissance aircraft near Darwin . On 15 March No . 1 Wing ' s three squadrons intercepted a large raid on Darwin , and No . 457 Squadron shot down two A6M Zero s and damaged another of the fighters . The squadron was also credited with damaging a Mitsubishi G4M " Betty " bomber and claimed another three Zeros as " probables " . No further Japanese aircraft were encountered over northern Australia until May . During this period No . 457 Squadron practiced tactics and cooperation with RAAF and Australian Army units . Flying was normally limited to just one hour each day , however . On 2 May No . 1 Wing responded to a major Japanese raid on Darwin . In the resulting air battle No . 457 Squadron shot down one fighter and claimed another two " probables " , but lost two Spitfires . Overall , the RAAF suffered 14 Spitfires destroyed or damaged while claiming only six " kills " , and the operation was not considered a success . Seven days later No . 457 Squadron deployed a detachment of six Spitfires to Milingimbi Island after the island ' s airfield was attacked . This detachment intercepted Japanese raids on 10 and 28 May , shooting down two Zeros and two Bettys for the loss of three Spitfires . The squadron also continued to take part in operations over the Darwin region , seeing combat on a number of occasions . During the last major battle near the town on 6 July No . 457 Squadron shot down a Zero and damaged five Bettys , but lost three Spitfires . Japanese air activity over northern Australia dropped away after 6 July , and No . 457 Squadron saw little further combat . As a result the squadron ' s personnel suffered greatly from boredom . No . 457 Squadron scored its next " kills " on 17 August , when its aircraft shot down three of the four Dinahs sent over Darwin that day ; the fourth was destroyed by No . 1 Wing ' s acting commander , Wing Commander Clive Caldwell . The squadron shot down another two Dinahs on 20 August . On 7 September No . 1 Wing intercepted a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft escorted by 20 fighters . In the ensuing battle No . 457 Squadron shot down four Zeros without loss . On 4 November No . 457 Squadron deployed six Spitfires to Drysdale River Mission Airfield , and two days later they intercepted and damaged a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft . The squadron maintained a detachment at Drysdale River Mission until December , when No . 54 Squadron assumed this duty . During the early hours of 12 November three No . 457 Squadron Spitfires were part of a force which intercepted a raid on Darwin . No . 457 Squadron pilot Flying Officer John Smithson made the only interception and destroyed two Betty bombers . The attack on 12 November was the final Japanese raid on the Darwin area . As a result , No . 1 Wing ' s flying squadrons had little to do and the pilots became bored . No . 457 Squadron conducted little operational flying until 8 March 1944 , when it and No . 452 Squadron were ordered to Perth , Western Australia in response to fears that a Japanese naval force would raid the area . The squadrons departed Darwin on 9 March and arrived at RAAF Station Guildford ( modern Perth Airport ) three days later after flying through very difficult weather conditions . No attack eventuated , however , and the squadron returned to Livingstone Airfield between 23 and 28 March . The squadron next saw action on 18 April when two of its Spitfires took part in an attack on a Japanese radar station in the Babar Islands . In May 1944 , No . 1 Wing ' s headquarters and No . 57 and 457 Squadrons were deployed to Exmouth Gulf , Western Australia to protect the facilities which had been established to refuel the British Eastern Fleet before Operation Transom , during which the fleet attacked Surabaya , Java . No . 457 Squadron departed for Exmouth Gulf on 10 May and returned to its new base at Sattler Airfield on the 24th of the month . The squadron again provided a detachment at Drysdale River Mission from 1 June 1944 and began to be reequipped with Mark VIII Spitfires on 2 July . Morotai and Labuan . On 1 July 1944 No . 452 and No . 457 Squadrons were transferred to the newly formed No . 80 Wing RAAF . This wing had been established to support a planned offensive from Darwin into the Netherlands East Indies . The offensive was cancelled in June , but this was not communicated to the wing , which continued to train for the operation until August . After the operation was cancelled the wing and its squadrons had no purpose , but continued to conduct training exercises as a means of maintaining morale . In November the wing was informed that it was to move to Morotai island in the Netherlands East Indies to take part in Allied offensives in the region . No . 457 Squadron ' s movement to Morotai was delayed until early 1945 . The squadron ' s ground crew departed Darwin by sea on 18 January and arrived on the island on 1 February . The Spitfires departed Sattler on 6 February and arrived at Morotai two days later . No . 457 Squadron flew its first operations from Morotai on 10 February . The squadron ' s main roles in this period were to conduct ground attack missions against Japanese camps and shipping as well as escorting other aircraft engaged in attacking these targets . This involved a heavy workload , and the squadron flew over 293 operational sorties between February and the end of April . From May No . 457 Squadron ' s Spitfires began using dive bombing tactics as well as strafing targets with their guns . No . 457 Squadron participated in the Borneo Campaign during the final months of the war . On 27 May it was ordered to prepare for deployment , and on 5 June its personnel and equipment sailed for Labuan island off the north - west coast of Borneo . During this operation the squadron was attached to No . 81 Wing . The Spitfires departed Morotai on 17 June and commenced operations from Labuan two days later alongside No . 76 Squadron RAAF with the primary roles of providing air support to Allied troops in the area and air defence for the island . On 20 June two No . 457 Squadron fighters shot down a Dinah ; this was the squadron ' s first " kill " since 12 November 1943 . Operations against the Japanese continued until the end of the war on 15 August 1945 . During the war 25 of the squadron ' s Australian personnel were killed . Following the Japanese surrender No . 457 Squadron initially remained at Labuan . During this period it flew security patrols as well as training exercises and air tests . The squadron ' s serviceable aircraft left Labuan on 9 October for Oakey , Queensland and arrived there on the last day of the month . No . 457 Squadron was officially disbanded at Labuan on 7 November 1945 . Following the war the squadron was awarded the battle honour s " Fortress Europe , 1940 – 1944 " , " Pacific , 1941 – 1945 " , " Darwin , 1941 – 1944 " , " Morotai " , " Borneo , 1945 " and " Defence of Britain , 1940 – 1945 " .