No. 457 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadron of World War II. Equipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters, it was formed in England during June 1941 under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The squadron 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 Spitfires 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 By October all the British pilots other than Brothers and the flight commanders had been replaced by Australians.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.