No. 462 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 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.
Squadron history
1942–1944
No. 462 Squadron was formed on 6 September 1942 at RAF Fayid, Egypt as an RAAF Article XV squadron. However, the original air and ground staff, were transferred from three British Royal Air Force (RAF) units: 10, 76 and 227 Squadrons. Because of this, almost all of it personnel were non-Australian and it initially had only a single Australian airman and no Australian ground crew.
The squadron was equipped with Handley Page Halifax B. Mk. II heavy bombers and flew its first operation on the night of 8–9 September 1942 against ground targets at Tobruk. No. 462 Squadron was the only Halifax-equipped squadron in North Africa during 1942 and suffered from shortages of aircrew as a result. This problem became so severe in December that the squadron became non-operational until January 1943.
RAAF Overseas Headquarters attempted to have more Australians posted to the squadron during late 1942, without much success. Furthermore, most of the Australian ground staff assigned to the squadron in 1942 had no experience with Halifaxes, which caused aircraft availability to decrease for a period. British personnel were also reportedly unhappy about serving in an "Australian" unit and this contributed to tensions amongst squadron personnel. In January 1943, the Australian Air Board agreed to a proposal by Air Marshal Richard Williams, the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Overseas Headquarters, to concentrate eight RAAF bomber squadrons into a single group in RAF Bomber Command in the UK; this would have included re-numbering the squadron, in order to formally designate it a RAF unit, and forming a new No. 462 Squadron RAAF (with different personnel) at a base in the UK. However, British authorities were slow to accept this request, and the unit retained its original designation throughout 1943.
During 1943, No. 462 Squadron remained in North Africa and conducted raids against Axis targets throughout the Mediterranean area. In the early months of 1943 it primarily attacked harbours and shipping in Sicily. These raids were initially made from Cyrenaica until the squadron moved to Gardabia Main in Tunisia on 14 February. From this base it participated in the Tunisian campaign until it concluded in May. More Australian personnel were posted into the squadron in early 1943, but by March only 120 of its 660 personnel were Australian. By August almost all aircraft maintenance was being conducted by Australian ground crew and the relationship between the Australian and British members of the squadron had improved. Following the end of the Tunisian Campaign the squadron moved to Hosc Raui in Libya from where it attacked targets in Sicily and southern Italy.
On 1 October, the squadron moved again to Terria in Libya and conducted raids against German targets in Greece, Crete, Rhodes and other islands in the Dodecanese. In December 1943 its operations included conducting attacks on Greek ports and bays including Salamis Island, Piraeus, Salonika, and Suda to divert attention away from aircraft laying naval mines nearby. By late 1943 – despite the efforts of the RAAF to "Australianise" the squadron – it still contained mostly British personnel. RAAF Overseas Headquarters again requested that No. 462 Squadron be officially re-numbered and officially cease to be an RAAF unit; the RAF agreed to this request in December 1943, although it was not put into effect for more than two months. The squadron moved to RAF El Adem, Libya, on 1 January 1944 and continued operations over Greece, mainly attacks on ports and dropping propaganda leaflets.
On 1 March 1944, after No. 462 Squadron relocated to Celone Airfield in Italy, it was re-designated No. 614 Squadron RAF. The squadron's Australian personnel were gradually posted to other units, although it was not until mid-1944 that Australian ground crew left and the Australian aircrew in the unit had dropped to a proportion similar to that of other squadrons in No. 205 Group RAF.