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The origins of the Royal Australian Air Force extend back to the early days of aviation, and we have made important contributions to defence and peacekeeping initiatives across the globe ever since.

1940-1949

Air Force Nursing service established

Formation of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force

Bombing of Darwin

Australia's first Indigenous fighter pilot

Introduction of helicopters to Air Force

Hudsons over Singapore
Display Date
05 Jun 1946

First test flight of a jet aircraft in Australia

Squadron Leader Derek (‘Jell’) Cuming flies an ex-RAF Meteor F.3 at RAAF Base Laverton.

Laverton, Vic. 1946-06-05. Gloster Meteor jet aircraft, serial no. EE427, on the tarmac at Aircraft Performance Unit (APU) RAAF Station Laverton, before making the first flight of a jet-propelled aircraft in Australia
05 Jun 1946

First test flight of a jet aircraft in Australia

An ex-RAF Gloster Meteor F.3 took off from Laverton, Victoria, on the first test flight of a jet aircraft in Australia. It was flown by Squadron Leader Derek (‘Jell’) Cuming, who earlier that year became the first RAAF officer to complete the Empire Test Pilots course. The Meteor had been received at No 1 Aircraft Depot the previous month and was provided on loan by the British War Ministry to enable the RAAF to gain experience in operating a radical new type. Two days later the aircraft was taken on RAAF strength with the tail number A77-1 and allotted to No 1 Aircraft Performance Unit for trials. Australia did eventually acquire the Meteor for squadron service, but only in 1951. By that time the de Havilland Vampire had already become, in 1949, the first jet acquired in numbers for the RAAF.

Video & Images

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Laverton, Vic. 1946-06-05. Gloster Meteor jet aircraft, serial no. EE427, on the tarmac at Aircraft Performance Unit (APU) RAAF Station Laverton, before making the first flight of a jet-propelled aircraft in Australia
Meteor jet aircraft

1950-1959

War in Korea

Air Force introduces the Women’s Royal Australian Air Force replacing the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force

Introduction of the Sabre 

RAAF Roundel adopted

End of the biplane era

RAAF's first C-130 Hercules 

Sergeant Hale with his Meteor 'Halestorm'
Display Date
02 Jul 1950

Air Force’s first operation of the Korean War

Air Force’s No 77 Squadron, based at Iwakuni, Japan, was directed to join in the fighting as part of the response by the United Nations to North Korea's all out offensive against South Korea.

Painting of Air Force’s first operation over North Korea
02 Jul 1950

Air Force’s first operation of the Korean War

After the North Korean People’s Army launched an all-out offensive against the territory of South Korea, the Air Force’s Number 77 Squadron, based at Iwakuni, Japan, was directed to join in the fighting as part of the response by the United Nations. Bad weather prevented No 77 Squadron flying on 1 July, but on 2 July the unit's Mustang Fighters flew 16 sorties during three separate missions over the Korean Peninsula.

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Painting of Air Force’s first operation over North Korea
Painting of Air Force’s first operation over North Korea
Display Date
29 Aug 1951

First use of Martin Baker ejector seat in combat

When Warrant Officer Ron Guthrie was forced to abandon his Meteor jet fighter over Korea on this day, it was the first time a Martin Baker seat had been used in combat.

A Martin-Baker ejections seat in a dummy meteor cockpit display
29 Aug 1951

First use of Martin Baker ejector seat in combat

When Warrant Officer Ron Guthrie was forced to abandon his Meteor jet fighter over Korea on this day, he unintentionally notched up several ‘firsts’. During this first clash between RAAF Meteors and Soviet MiG-15s, Guthrie’s aircraft sustained gunfire hits which caused it to enter a nose-down dive at 36 600 feet. With all controls gone, he decided to eject using the Martin Baker seat with which the Meteor was fitted. This was actually the first time that a Martin Baker seat had been used in combat, and his altitude is still the record for the highest combat ejection in the RAAF. The altitude of his ejection has only been exceeded in the RAAF by peacetime ejections at 38 000 feet from two Sabre jets involved in a midair collision in 1960. On landing, Guthrie was captured by Communist forces and spent two years as a prisoner of war. The RAAF Heritage Centre Williamtown, (Fighterworld), has an example of a Martin Baker ejection seat on display.

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A Martin-Baker ejections seat in a dummy meteor cockpit display
First use of Martin Baker ejector seat in combat
Display Date
08 May 1952

Only confirmed RAAF victory over MiG-15 in the Korean War

Pilot Officer W.H. (‘Bill’) Simmonds scored the only fully confirmed RAAF victory over a Communist MiG-15 in the Korean War.

Korea. C. 1952. 032542 Pilot Officer Bbill Simmonds of No. 77 Squadron RAAF, in his Gloster Meteor aircraft
08 May 1952

Only confirmed RAAF victory over MiG-15 in the Korean War

Pilot Officer W.H. (‘Bill’) Simmonds scored the only fully confirmed RAAF victory over a Communist MiG-15 in the Korean War. He was in a flight of four Meteors of No 77 Squadron protecting US bombers, making the biggest single attack of the war so far against an important supply depot at Sunan (now the site of Pyongyang airport), when MiGs attacked from behind. Simmonds was able to get onto the tail of one of the MiGs as it passed less than 10 metres below him and blasted it with a long burst of cannon fire. Two other members of the RAAF flight reported seeing the enemy pilot eject as his aircraft went into a spin and crashed to earth. Australian pilots reported a total of five MiGs shot down during the war, but this was the only occasion where there was absolutely no doubt about the claim.

Video & Images

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Korea. C. 1952. 032542 Pilot Officer Bbill Simmonds of No. 77 Squadron RAAF, in his Gloster Meteor aircraft
Bill Simmonds in his Meteor
Display Date
27 Mar 1953

Last air to air combat involving the RAAF

Two Gloster Meteor Mk8 jets of No 77 Squadron engaged three enemy MiG-15 near Sinmak.

Sergeant George Hale with his Meteor Mk 8 after a brush with MiG-15s over North Korea in March 1953
27 Mar 1953

Last air to air combat involving the RAAF

Two Gloster Meteor Mk8 jets of No 77 Squadron, flown by Sergeants George Hale and David Irlam, were conducting a road reconnaissance over North Korea near Sinmak when Hale saw what he thought was a lone MiG-15. It was only as he dived into the attack that he realised he was opposed by three enemy aircraft. In the ensuing dogfight, Hale’s cannon fire sent one MiG down on its back, belching black smoke and shedding bits of fuselage as it dropped from view. Immediately confronted by another pair of MiGs, he scored hits on one of these also and saw it trailing white smoke as it climbed away from him. Having expended all his ammunition, Hale broke off contact. This was the last time that 77 Squadron aircraft engaged in aerial combat in Korea, and indeed the last time that any RAAF unit has been involved in air-to-air fighting since.

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Sergeant George Hale with his Meteor Mk 8 after a brush with MiG-15s over North Korea in March 1953
Sergeant George Hale with his Meteor Mk 8
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