No. 80 Wing RAAF

No. 80 Wing RAAF
Full-length portrait of moustachioed man in flying suit with parachute holding the attention of a group of twenty or so similarly kitted men in front of a single-engined military monoplane
Group Captain Caldwell (fourth from left) talking to No. 452 Squadron Spitfire pilots at Morotai in January 1945
Active1944–1945
CountryAustralia
BranchRoyal Australian Air Force
RoleFighter
SizeThree flying squadrons
Part ofAustralian First Tactical Air Force
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Clive Caldwell
Glen Cooper
Aircraft flown
FighterSpitfire

No. 80 Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing of World War II. The unit was formed on 15 May 1944 and eventually comprised three squadrons equipped with Spitfire fighter aircraft. The wing's headquarters was absorbed into the newly formed No. 11 Group on 30 July 1945.

The wing was established to provide fighter protection for an Allied offensive from Darwin in northern Australia into the eastern Netherlands East Indies (NEI). This operation was effectively cancelled in June 1944, however, leaving No. 80 Wing without a clear mission. The unit remained at Darwin until it moved to Morotai in the NEI between December 1944 and March 1945. Due to the small number of Japanese aircraft remaining in this area the Wing's aircraft were mainly used in the ground attack role. From May 1945 to the end of the war two of No. 80 Wing's squadrons participated in the Borneo Campaign.


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