Author Description

79 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) flight training unit that has been formed on four occasions since 1943. The squadron was established in May 1943 as a fighter unit equipped with Supermarine Spitfires, and subsequently saw combat in the southwest Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the only Spitfire squadron raised in Australia; others were formed elsewhere. The squadron flew against the Japanese in the New Guinea area 1943-44 and from Morotai in 1945. This history relates the life and times of the pilots and ground crew, their successes and losses, the problems met trying to operate the Spitfire in that environment, and the lack of support throughout from higher RAAF echelons.