No. 79 Squadron
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

Background
On April 26, 1943 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 79 Squadron was formed at Laverton Field under the command of Squadron Leader Alan Rawlinson.

Wartime History
During the middle of April 1943 moved to Wooloomanata Airfield for training to prepare for combat. On May 3, 1943 the squadron was allocated with twenty-four Spitfire Mark Vc and their mission would be to provide high cover for RAAF P-40 Kittyhawks. In the middle of May 1943 the Spitfires were flown northward to Goodenough Island while the ground echelon departed for Sydney and were shipped to New Guinea.

In early June 1943 the squadron arrived at Vivigani Airfield on Goodenough Island and was operational by the end of the month.

On June 13, 1943 while landing at Garbutt Field an accident when Spitfire A58-179 Sgt L H Gardiner (injured) collided with Spitfire A58-181 pilot Flying Officer Virgil Paul Brennan DFC DFM (died) and was the squadron's first fatality.

On August 18, 1943 the squadron moves to Kiriwina Airfield on Kiriwina Island.

On December 15, 1943 destroyed is Spitfire Mark Vc A58-159 while doing a test run at Vivigani Airfield when a short circuit caused a fire in the fuselage. Afterwards, the plane was written off. During 1974 the wreckage was salvage.

On December 31, 1943 lost is Spitfire Mark Vc A58-145 pilot F/Lt Llewellyn Wettenhall (MIA) on a patrol mission over New Britain. In the 1990s, the crash site was found but no trace of the pilot.

On March 16, 1944 the squadron moves to Momote Airfield on Los Negros Island.

On November 24, 1944 the squadron moves to Sattler (20 Mile) south of Darwin.

On February 6, 1945 the squadron moves to Morotai and reequipped with Spitfire Mark VIII and continued to fly missions until the end of the Pacific War and official surrender of Japan. Afterwards, the squadron dropped surrender leaflets to the scattered and isolated Japanese forces in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI).

Postwar
On November 12, 1945 No. 79 Squadron disbanded. During June 1962, reformed for service in the Vietnam War based at Ubon, Thailand.

Commanding Officers (C.O.)
S.Ldr Alan Rawlinson
S.Ldr Kenneth Elwyn James

References
Australian War Memorial (AWM) No. 79 Squadron